Looking for a way to stand out in the college application process? Your digital presence is a strategic way to showcase your skills and personality to the world. A digital portfolio can include areas such as research, academics, sports, internships, volunteer work, passion projects, and hobbies. Tap into your creative inspiration and brush up on your communication and marketing skills along the way!
Photo:
Your LinkedIn photo should present you at your professional best. Remember the old adage – “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
Details:
The recommended size of your LinkedIn picture is 400 x 400 pixels.
Choose a high-resolution image.
Use a headshot taken by a professional photographer if you have one. (You can use your smartphone camera to capture the image as well!)
Videos:
A video is a good way to reveal what you are like in real life. Well-researched and stimulating content recorded with confidence and eloquence will do the trick! You can also post interviews with people relevant to the major you want to pursue.
Details:
You can record and upload your video directly through LinkedIn
You can also upload a pre-recorded video
The minimum video size for LinkedIn is 75 KB and the maximum is 5 GB
The maximum length of the video is 10 minutes. Remember that attention spans are around 30 seconds to a minute, so make your video punchy and effective!
Background:
The background is an area on LinkedIn where you can customize your profile and stand out.
Details:
The LinkedIn background size is 1584 pixels wide X 396 pixels tall
Canva provides many templates that you can edit according to your potential major and intended career choice.
You can use images relevant to your profile.
Athletes can put images of themselves playing sports.
Artists can upload their artwork.
Examples of Headlines:
Create a catchy headline such as “Honors Student and Aspiring 2025 Physics Major”.
Details:
Make your headline creative and catchy
Add your major or career goals
You can add that you are searching for a summer internship or volunteer work.
Summary:
Your summary should be a seamless story about your academic experience and aspirations. You should give a comprehensive overview of all your extracurriculars, research undertakings, and passion projects. Test scores and GPAs are not usually included on LinkedIn.
Details:
Present your academic work and experience in a way that is easy to read, interesting, and informative.
Use this space to summarize what your entire profile and portfolio are about.
Experience:
Add any volunteer work, internships, or summer programs that will add to your story and overall profile.
Details:
Add all positions relevant to the major and career you want to pursue.
Ask any supervisors or peers to recommend you and your experiences on LinkedIn
Honors and Awards:
LinkedIn URL:
Here is our student Linda Ye’s LinkedIn profile. She will be starting at Harvard this fall.
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