September 2020
Should you add your résumé to your LinkedIn profile? This is a question that comes up often so let me share my thoughts. My short answer is no. The main reason is customization. If you are using a résumé effectively, you are adapting it (slightly or greatly as appropriate) to each individual opportunity.
If you are applying for mostly accountant type roles, you probably don’t need to make major edits each time. However, you will still want to reflect any specific qualifications. For example, if you don’t normally include your excellent knowledge of Excel on your résumé but one job opening asks for experience with that software, you might want to make a point to add “Advanced skills with Excel” somewhere on that version.
That’s only one example but trust me, you shouldn’t post a résumé on LinkedIn. In case you’re thinking of a workaround, it’s also not a good idea to upload five different versions of your résumé to appeal to as many audiences as possible. That will make you look odd at best, and at worst desperate and confused.
The best strategy is to develop a warm and compelling LinkedIn profile. At minimum this would include: a decent picture, a keyword rich headline, a useful and conversational About/Summary, and ten skills that are on point with some information under experience and education. Your goal is for someone to come across your profile and want to reach out to ask for a résumé. At that point, you can ask more about the opportunity and tailor your résumé accordingly.
There may be some unique situations where it’s helpful to have your résumé on your LinkedIn profile, mainly if you are constantly asked for it. For example, a consultant who is regularly asked last-minute to provide a résumé for a contract or a speaker who is often asked for background information. In those cases, it might be OK (but even then, for branding reasons, I would suggest a landing page on your own website). For most of us professionals, adding a résumé to your profile will only limit your chances of being sought after for an opportunity. So next time you are thinking about it, consider instead adding any type of portfolio work, media, PDFs, videos, or links to content but please, don’t add your résumé to your LinkedIn profile.
