How one college student conveys his talents with his LinkedIn profile

Someday, Ivan Cisneros will become a communications titan of the interactive content industry. I’ve known him for about a year, and he has shown that key leadership capabilities of someone who can make things happen.

I ran into Ivan last week, and he showed me how he’s using LinkedIn to connect with people who can help him as he continues his last semester of studies at his Texas college.

As we talked about his future goals, Ivan showed me a LinkedIn message he sent to someone in the web content industry. It clearly conveyed what he hoped to get from connecting with the person and how they could help him after his graduation.

I would bet that the person who got Ivan’s message will look at his full LinkedIn profile to get a sense of his “who” element. And, here’s what he or she will find when they view his profile.

Here are four things other college students can learn from Ivan. First, he probably went to his college career center and got a free professional photo taken. Or, he had someone take his photo. Notice, the professional attire in the photo. Again, the University of Texas at San Antonio Career Services Office provides the loan of a tie, white shirt and suit coat for those who need one.

The second thing I love about this profile is his use of his middle name. This middle name distinguishes him from the other Ivan Cisneros who also have a profile. With more than 600 million LinkedIn users out there, it’s a good chance someone could find more than one person with his name. Adding his middle name, Baromi truly narrows the odds for him.

Ivan’s about section (formerly known as the summary) has a clear mission statement. As shown in the blue colored text, it gives a first time visitor to his profile a clear idea of who is right now.

Finally, he has a clear call to action statement. I used the purple color to show this key element.

While Ivan has a good start to his profile, there are some subtle things he can do to improve it. For example, he can change the background of his profile from the standard LinkedIn blue to showcase his profession. That gives him an extra nonverbal headline to convey his artistic talents. Next, he can add a more proactive headline to his profile. There is a better one than his current “summer intern at Burnt Nopal Creative Studio.”

Ivan and I will be meeting next week. I hope to show him how to make some needed changes. If we do make those, I’ll share them with others on how to make similar changes to your profile.

(Note: I’m working on a new book aimed at helping students from high school to grad school update their profile. I welcome the chance to professionally work with school groups. You can visit my LinkedIn profile — https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattscherer/ to contact me.)