internships 101: tips for updating your LinkedIn

Having a professional and organized LinkedIn can get you father than you would ever imagine in the business world. Take a few moments and follow some tips, tricks and advice below for updating your social media profile to grab the attention of future employers, peers and network contacts. 

Make the First Impression

• Get a custom LinkedIn URL (ideally linkedin.com/yourname)
• A profile with a picture has more views than one without! A photo showing your head and shoulders is ideal; photos taken from a distance are too impersonal.
• Use your headline to stand out: include key search words (Leader, Speaker, Blogger, Researcher)
• Tell your reader how you can help them - what value do you add? example: “Helping small business owners connect with more clients” (Sales, Marketing)
• Contact Info: Make it easy for people to contact you - don't forget to include your email address. 
• Include links to websites or projects - adding pieces of your professional portfolio will help employers understand the success you have had. 

Highlight your Achievments 

• Summaries are key, but also scanned - make sure the important stuff sticks out. 
• Using spacing here is key in order to differentiate among other profiles.
• Include information on who you would like to connect with, and make it easy for them to do so - are you open to having recruiters contact you?

Stay up to Date

• Include all relevent experiences but make sure they are up to date - employers are going to scan right over that award you won in third grade for being awesome (even though you still are - no award needed!)
• Make sure the information is as accurate (and concise!) as a resume.
• Include your current internship placement as your workplace.
• Get creative by including images, videos, and presentations to showcase your work.
• Show what else is important to you, such as volunteer experience.

Have some tips of your own? We would love to share them with future Global Interns. Get in touch!

CIEE offers a range of full-time and part-time internship abroad opportunities for students. With internships spanning a diversity of fields — from public policy to the arts, business administration to marketing — CIEE has you covered. You’ll develop the skills you need to succeed in the next steps of your career.

For more than 30 years, we've been placing students into high-impact internships across a wide range of industries and fields. We know that global work experience paired with a strong academic framework will turn today's students into the next generation of forwardthinking innovators, teachers, and leaders.