Anyone who has set up a Facebook profile, or more or less any other social media profile, already has the skills to set up their own LinkedIn presence. The difference is that LinkedIn has a purpose beyond leisure and enjoyment, and that you must play the game within tighter, more specific parameters if you are to advance your career and make encouraging new connections.

Like Facebook, however, it all begins with photos. On LinkedIn, you tend to make your first impression with a pair of photos at the top of your page – a profile and a cover photo – and it’s important to spend some time getting them right, by:

• Dressing appropriately
• Getting a well-lit, well-focussed headshot
• Making your cover photo an ‘action’ shot of you at work or doing your hobby.

It’s fairly straightforeward to add your work experience and qualifications, but your headline and summary are a bit more subjective. These are the areas where recruiters will start to get an idea of your personality, so:

• Make your headline engaging and memorable
• Include your profession, but also something about the way you work
• Break your summary up into 3-5 short paragraphs (no wall of text)
• Use workplace examples to illustrate the story of ‘you’.

Once your profile is looking buff, be sure to keep it up to date, to ‘Accept’ the invitations of people you know, and to continue building not just the size but the strength of your network, by:

• Joining groups that are relevant to your industry and passions
• Asking people you know to give you Recommendations
• Publishing your own content to get people talking.

This is just the start of what you can do if you’re serious about powering-up your LinkedIn experience – for a step-by-step guide on how to push it to the max, work through this infographic.