LinkedIn Profile Redesign: 5 Key Takeaways to Usher You Into 2022

Here we go again! LinkedIn is in the process of rolling out a newly designed profile. As of this writing, very few people have it, but rest assured it is coming! LinkedIn typically has a very random rollout process. I don’t have It yet myself, but I want to thank two friends (@Bill Soroka and @Jeff Young) for their helpfulness as I always strive to be an early learner of all things LinkedIn.

There are dozens of more minor cosmetic and navigational changes, along with some significant layout changes. I won’t explain all the differences here, but here are my five major takeaways after spending many hours exploring all the nooks and crannies.

1.        Change of Priority Sections and Categories

The top-level profile categories under Add to Profile are new. Now we get a clear sense of how LinkedIn prioritizes the fields. I find it interesting to see what LinkedIn now calls the Core and Recommended categories. The Core sections include work experience, education, and skills, while the Recommended category includes featured, licenses /certifications, courses, and recommendations. The new Additional segment comprises all the accomplishments such as Organizations, Languages, Publications, Patents, etc.

Your dashboard is now divided into two new private sections on your profile. The new Resources section includes Creator mode, My Network, Salary Insights, My Items, and a new link to your Activity page. The updated Analytics section includes profile view counts, post views, and Search Appearances. One thing I can no longer find is the profile strength indicator. Is it gone? I don’t know. Other than that, this modification is just a simple clean-up.

Courses and Recommendations enjoy better digital real estate. The Courses were previously lost in the long list of Accomplishments area but now appear prominently in the new Recommended category. Recommendations have come out of hiding and show up under the Recommended list too. Additionally, these valuable entries now display higher up on the complete profile and show your three most current testimonials. Big step up for Recommendations!

What does all this signify? Well, Courses and Recommendations have been given a massive promotion in this newest profile layout. I understand the need to elevate Recommendations. It’s been a long-forgotten area of the profile, yet so valuable. Not so sure about Courses. Is this new orientation appealing to more students and recent grads? I do think so!

2.        Featured Section and Activity Sections Get Even Better

LinkedIn publishing and content engagement is the newest magic on the platform. LinkedIn is capitalizing on this with the new profile release. The Activity section is greatly expanded. Now you can see a few lines of the post or the comment right in the profile and when it was posted. Discover much better views of the Activity sections!

My favorite LinkedIn profile feature keeps getting better! The new profile design will show three full images from the Featured section. This change is fabulous. Below is an example from my profile.

3.        About Essay Visibility Improvement

The About Essay should always be one of the backbones of our LinkedIn profiles. Now you can expect better visibility for your strategic content. Find your essay in a more prominent position in the profile. You will also notice four lines of preview as compared to three. This is a critical area of the profile that many of my clients, readers, and audiences ask me about every day. Use this update as a reminder to update your About Essay for 2022!

4.        Improved Navigation to Special Sections and Pages

There are three unique pages connected to the profile, and they have been complicated for some people to find. Now that is fixed. Click on Add to Profile to find:

👉 Providing Services Page for freelancers

👉 Finding a New Job with Open to Work feature

👉 Hiring and Creating a job post

5.        Skills are Redesigned

The editing pins are gone, but Skills will still be a bit of a challenge for people who aren’t comfortable with the overall navigation. It should be much easier to use the new drag and drop capability for most people. In addition, the skills have a simplified view which only includes only the skill name and number of votes without dividing that view into categories. The top three skills remain most visible. Now's a good time to make sure you are displaying the most strategic skills on your profile!

In Summary: Those are my top five takeaways, but what are your key insights? What did I miss? Do you have a favorite profile feature change? Do you HAVE it now or are you WAITING for it?  Let me know what's on your mind.......and your reaction to the newest profile changes in the comments. I can’t wait to hear from you!

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