LinkedIn is your professional profile of record. With over 313 MM people on the network and over 30,000 companies using it for recruiting, it is your opportunity to project your potential to the professional world.

You’ve likely heard the phrase “dress for the job you want.” In the case of LinkedIn, create your profile for the job you want. No employer is expecting you to catapult their business into an IPO within the first few months on the job, but they want to see your potential.

While interviewing for your first job after college, someone is going to Google your name early on in the process. Search “Scott Swedberg” and the first thing you’ll see is my LinkedIn profile. For most of you, it’ll be the same. Does your profile tell the story you want it to? Make sure it does by fine tuning these three areas:

Profile Picture
What does it say about you? A conservative picture is safer, but most creative design firms don’t want to hire a designer who presents himself like a CPA. Make the picture representative of who you are and what you plan to accomplish.

Headline
Like the headline of a news article, it’s your chance to grab someone’s attention so they want to learn more. “College Senior Seeking Job” isn’t going to get anyone excited.

Summary
This is your elevator pitch. Use creative language to tell your story, giving potential employers plenty to ask you about in your first interview.

Beyond those three focuses, remember that potential employers and future coworkers will spend more time looking at the top of your profile than the bottom. If you want someone to know you were student body president, vice president of your fraternity, or winner of a community service award, make sure it stands out high up on your profile.

Your SigEp experience puts you in the top tier of job-seeking young professionals. Take advantage of LinkedIn to tell your story.

Join the Sigma Phi Epsilon (Official) LinkedIn group to network with over 20,000 brothers.

After working at LinkedIn headquarters, SigEp alumnus Scott Swedberg wanted to further his work helping individuals thrive in the work place. He founded a career coaching and speaking business to help young professionals find and secure their dreams jobs. This post also appeared on scottswedberg.squarespace.com.