How are millennials and Gen Z using LinkedIn? Most likely like anyone else – as job seekers, business owners, veterans, students, or employed individuals. 

Millennials were born 1980 – 2000, while Gen Z, or the Net Gen, were born after 1997 (Brown, 2011; Social Security Administration, n.d.). 

They are connecting with their colleagues, friends, and alumni. They are reaching out to others for internships, which they may get leads on by engaging in informational interviews.

As digital natives, born before 1981 and after the information age, they have grown up with technology. 

However, just because they find it intuitive to fill in the blanks on their LinkedIn profile, does not mean that all of them are aware of strategies to optimize their profiles. That awareness, however, applies to all ages. 

So what are some dos and don’ts for LinkedIn profiles, especially considering there are upcoming graduations coming up right around the corner? Here are ten tips below.

DON’TS

• Try to be cool and use Unicode in your name, headline, or much anywhere else on LinkedIn because it may not be readable
• Write paragraphs; instead, make content more skimmable and scannable
• Forget to leave white space in between bullet points for easier readability
• Stuff with hashtags or not use any; 3 to 9 hashtags is the appropriate amount
• Post Youtube videos if you can post a native video, as LinkedIn wants to keep folks on their platform longer and not send them off to watch a video elsewhere

DOs

• Utilize keywords where keywords matter, like your headline, About section, embellished job titles, Skills & Endorsements, Projects, and Publications
• Include a headshot on your profile
• Create a custom banner using Canva or create a word cloud 
• Include your email and phone number in the Contact Info section and the bottom of the about section to make sure people can contact you
• Customize your URL

Although there does not appear to be more current research on LinkedIn than this article from 2016, there are still some interesting statistics and research on how and why millennials are using LinkedIn.

AUTHOR BIO

Lynne Williams is the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Area Great Careers Group, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, that provides career education and networking. Lynne also writes for vista.today, montco.today, delco.today and bucksco.today