Scholarly Identity: A Guide

LinkedIn is a professional networking and job-seeking site popular both within and outside of academia: 

• ​Ensure your profile is 100% complete. Complete profiles are more useful and may be retrieved faster than incomplete profiles
• Update your profile regularly so connections will be made aware of changes
• Make sure your last name is visible to the public
• Make good use of your "headline" which can accommodate up to 120 characters. Use this to highlight your current and future research interests, and anything that distinguishes you from others on LinkedIn 
• Insert keywords in highly visible locations such as headlines, job titles, company names, skills, etc
• Join and contribute to discussions and groups
• Endorsements allow close contacts the ability to endorse specific skills. Every time you receive an endorsement, you are branding yourself 
• Turn on "Views of this profile also viewed" so your profile will appear in search results when someone views a similar profile that contains the same keywords as your profile
• Customize your public profile URL. The address should look something like: www.linkedin.com/in/yourname. 
• Primary audience is non-academics

• Lots of spam and update emails
• Can be easily gamed: endorsements, accomplishments, education, etc are not verified for accuracy. Do your own fact-checking if evr approached by a head-hunter or a potential collaborator
• Security concerns since users upload often their entire c.v and other highly personalized and detailed information. See how to make your account more secure: https://www.lifewire.com/linkedin-privacy-and-security-tips-2487723
• Encouraged to build your connections, but be careful whose invitation you accept, as they might be fraudulent or malicious individuals interested in collecting your data