Reviewer: Richard Chen, Team Undefined Team Member
Reviewee: Syed Ahmed, Team Undefined Team Member
Date: November 4, 2020
Subject of the Peer Review: Peer Review of LinkedIn Profile Page
Please see the comments below for the peer review of the LinkedIn page for Syed Ahmed.
Initial Impressions
Overall, the profile does well to convey a clear interest in computing and data science while highlighting an extensive background in biological research. Each section is substantially complete but would improve with some slight modifications as detailed below. The profile particularly excels in being inviting to recruiters and potential employers through the profile picture and summary. The profile provides a good foundation to be further built upon.
Profile Picture
The profile picture included is high quality, cropped well, and projects a professional image through well-chosen attire. This has the effect of increasing the likelihood the profile page will be clicked on by employers.
Intro / Summary
The introduction tagline and ‘About’ summary section is well written. The tagline accurately reflects the reviewee’s current status as a student. Optionally, consider rephrasing ‘Studying Integrated Computer Science’ to ‘Integrated Computer Science Student’ to be more formal.
The ‘About’ summary, clearly conveys the reviewee’s interest in sciences and problem solving, as well as their desired pivot from pure biological sciences to a combined data science and healthcare discipline. The summary is to the point and well written, making it easy for employers to quickly get a sense of the reviewee’s goals and personality.
Experiences
In its current form, the experiences section lays a solid foundation to be built on but is currently lacking in some detail. It does a good job of providing a summary of what the reviewee’s past responsibilities were but is otherwise sparse on details regarding specific achievements.
Ideally, the experiences section should be modelled around action statements such as “I accomplished” or “Improved X process by Y% metric”. This gives potential employers a better sense of how you have added value to organizations you have been a part of in the past. Consider adding some more detail to each job position with the above in mind.
The last point for the professional experience section would be to consider removing ‘Student’ from the top of your experience section, as any potential employers will see that you are a current student under your ‘Education’ section as well as your tagline/summary.
The ‘Volunteer Experience’ section is well done and detailed. Consider reordering the experiences in chronological order with most recent at the top, to be consistent with the professional experience section.
Education
The ‘Education’ section is likewise well done. It clearly displays the reviewee’s assets, mainly the master’s degree and corresponding high grade point average. Consider rephrasing the description for the ongoing University of British Columbia degree to match the ‘Integrated Computer Science’ description in the tagline.
Licenses & certifications
The displayed certification is non-expired and relevant to the biological theme of the profile page. No specific recommendations.
Skills and endorsements
It is good that the ‘Skills’ has a few entries; however, it would be optimal to add a few more and break up the current ones into more specific skills. For instance, ‘Computer Science’ is a broad area. Consider replacing that with a specific skill, like a programming language. This would assist employers in noting particular relevant experience you have that would match potential job openings.
As for endorsements, in recognizing that the profile is newly made, there are no current endorsements. However, consider reaching out and writing endorsements for past colleagues. This increases the likelihood those colleagues will write one in turn.
Accomplishments
The ‘Accomplishments’ does a nice job of highlighting earned scholarships and awards. No recommendations.
Portfolio / Projects
As there are no current projects displayed on the profile or directions to access a portfolio on an external website, consider creating one for any past projects/research you can display without confidentiality issues. Having a personal portfolio gives employers a sense of how skills can translate to the workplace.
Connections / Interests / Groups
Once again, in recognizing the LinkedIn page is newly created, it is understandable that a connection network has not yet been established. However, considering using LinkedIn’s alumni tools to build said network, and find past colleagues or persons in companies you would like to work for to connect with.
It would also be beneficial to add some more interests and join a few groups based on those interests to gain more exposure to the computing science and data science fields, as is consistent with the theme of the profile page.
Grammar
No grammatical issues noted. No specific recommendations.
Overall Impressions & Conclusion
The profile page provides a solid basis to be built upon and tweaked over time. Focus on building and maintaining a network of connections while honing the data science and computer science theme of the page.
In specific:
• Use tools such as the alumni tool to gain more connections
• Add more details regarding specific accomplishments at job positions held in the past, ideally with measurable metrics
• Add more skills, and ensure skills displayed are specific rather than broad
• Focus on creating a portfolio section to give employers a sense of how skills can be translated to their workplace
Profile Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/syedahmed11/
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