To: Esteban Margaron
From: Michaela Basciano
Date: July 7th, 2020
Peer Review: LinkedIn Profile of Esteban Margaron
LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esteban-margaron/
Thank you for submitting your LinkedIn profile for review. Welcome to the platform! This profile is a great start for joining the platform and with the following suggestions and considerations, the profile will be nearly complete!
First Impressions:
Overall, this profile is neat, easy to read, and a great start for joining LinkedIn, as stated earlier.
Using a custom URL with your name for the profile was also a good choice as it removes the clutter of random numbers that LinkedIn assigns by default, making this profile much easier to find by recruiters and colleagues. Moreover, one of the first things noticed is that not much is posted within the different headings. In fact, some headings are missing completely as they are empty.
- Think outside of the norm in terms of experience. Do you speak any languages? Have you won any awards? Experiences that fall within questions like these can be put into their own category on the profile.
Profile Photo:
- While the profile photo is neat, friendly, and presentable, there is room for improvement. Consider having a less “busy” background so that you are the focus of the image.
- Additionally, have a friend or colleague take a photo of you (rather than snapping a photo of yourself with a device) and dress in a shirt with some variation of a collar. This will give off a more professional image.
- Although not necessary, it is recommended to update the cover/banner photo as well to give the profile a nice personal touch away from the standard.
Introductory Header (Title Box):
Recruiting professionals most commonly use the current title box, so it is important that it encompasses your work. Therefore, “Computer Science Student” is not efficient enough when reviewing your experience.
- Consider mentioning your teaching assistant experience and breaking up the Title Box with experience and dummy titles. Adding your computer science teaching assistant experience outlines tangible experience while encompassing your student status.
- As for “dummy titles”, a good example can be found on my good friend Harleen’s profile: “UBC Sauder Marketing & Business Law Student | Sports Enthusiast | Community Builder”. Notice the use of “dummy titles” and how they outline her passions and involvement in a softer way. Dr. Paterson’s title box is also a wonderful example, adding creative titles before her PhD notation.
Summary Effectiveness (About Section):
While your About section outlines your passions and accomplishments, more may be needed to outline who you are as a professional.
- As mentioned in the First Impressions points, add points that summarize more than just accomplishments and passions. What drives you? What are you hoping to achieve on this platform? What are your values? Professionals are going to want to know who you really are from reading this summary.
- Do not be afraid to mention your educational experience(s) within this summary.
- There is mentioning of taking courses within this summary. Consider adding them into the course section of your profile so that elaboration is possible.
Summary of Experiences:
- Summaries of experiences are neat and easy to read. Bullets assist in easy reading flow.
- Seeing as few experiences are listed, consider adding a summary, even if short, for all experiences listed.
Education and Courses:
- As stated earlier, there is mentioning of taking courses within your summary. Add and elaborate on these within the possible Courses
- Awards listed within the details box can be further elaborated on in within the possible Awards
Volunteer Work:
- As a student, it may be beneficial to add any volunteer experience accumulated from high school or in a general sense, especially if not many experiences are listed. Listing any experience in this realm would be notable if possible.
Skills:
- Passing LinkedIn Assessments on possessed skills is impressive and great for your page’s credibility.
- Consider adding a few soft skills and other hard skills that can be generalized to more workspaces outside of computer science. Listing as many as possible and working to increase your endorsements is important for reputability and gaining recruiters’ interest.
Connections:
With only six connections, it is noticeable you may be new to LinkedIn. That’s okay — it is encouraged to search for coworkers, fellow students, and mutual connections to expand your network.
- Joining and following a few more relevant associations and groups will increase opportunities for connecting with others and will assist in remaining well informed on the job market.
Posts/Feed:
- Consider drafting a post to announce joining the platform. Posting will generate presence in the main feed and increase views to your profile, accumulating connections, naturally.
Grammar & Expression:
- Expression is professional and direct.
- Tone is friendly.
- Although no grammar errors were noticed when reviewing this time, keep this in mind when expanding and editing all the text within the profile going forward.
Conclusion:
You have a great beginning for an excellent profile page and with a few tweaks and some additions, you are well on your way into the world of professional online networking.
To summarize what has been discussed, here is a list of the key suggestions:
- Adding more sections onto your profile and elaborating on the acquired gains
- Volunteer work
- Awards
- Courses
- Improving your profile and banner images
- Rewriting the summary with a focus on highlighting your personality and listing keywords for recruiters, including your values and goals
- Searching for connections and expand your network count
- Creating a post announcing your arrival to LinkedIn
- Updating your title box to encompass valuable experience
- Encompassing more positivity and excitement within the text
I hope my suggestions are helpful. If you require assistance or clarity, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you.
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