Only connect with people you know.
The entire point of using LinkedIn is to find and connect with other people. These may be people in your industry, a field that interests you, or connections through your first-degree connections with whom you really don’t share much in common.
I urge you not to accept every request for connection – there is no reason to do that unless you want to see your connection numbers grow exponentially. However, I do recommend that you be open to making connections that may not seem to fit your usual profile.
Limiting yourself to only those people you already know may negatively impact your ability to get in front of recruiters and hiring managers who can enhance your career. You may wish to implement a rule for yourself that you only connect with those you know and those who explain why they wish to connect with you.
But again, use this as a guide, not as a hard and fast rule that keeps you from improving your connections. And remember, the expectations that others will help you in your career goals is just the flip side of the coin that others expect you to help them in their career goals.
Make room and time in your life to help others with advice and connections – helping others cements the relationship that began with accepting their request to connect. Keep moving forward!
You uploaded your resume, so you don’t need a summary.
Remember, LinkedIn is a way to provide MORE information to recruiters, hiring managers, and connections. So while uploading your resume is recommended, it is not the only or last step in your LinkedIn resources.
Resumes must be written in a language that is specific to resumes. So having the opportunity to tell the story of your accomplishments and successes in a more narrative format is wonderful. In LinkedIn, you get to use the personal pronouns I, me, and my that we tend to eliminate from resumes.
In Linked you have the opportunity to define your achievements in your own words. Adding in all the details that explain just WHY this is a wonderful triumph and the positive influence the experience, skills, and knowledge gained will have on current and future employers.
Beware of overselling your accomplishments, but do learn to factually explain your genuine achievements in language that will make recruiters and hiring managers sit up and take notice!