LinkedIn: Build Your Profile & Network
Why LinkedIn Matters
LinkedIn is an on-line platform for building your professional identity, expanding your network, showcasing your work, and staying connected to your industry.
As an FIT student or recent graduate, it can help you connect with alumni, faculty, employers, and industry professionals; research companies and career paths; discover internships, jobs, and networking events; and build professional relationships and a discoverable online presence before you need them.
Your profile should tell the same professional story as your résumé, with more room to show your personality, projects, and goals. A strong LinkedIn presence isn’t built in a day; it’s an ongoing practice: build your profile, build your network, explore your industry, showcase your work, and discover opportunities, then keep those relationships alive over time. Used this way, LinkedIn becomes less of a static account and more of an active career-development tool. Your profile tells people who you are, your work shows what you can do, your network shows where you can go, and your activity keeps you connected to what’s happening in your field.
On This Page
Build Your Profile & Set Up Your Account
- Build a Strong Profile Header
- Create a Strong Headline
- Customize Your LinkedIn URL
- Review Your Privacy & Contact Settings
- Write an Effective About Section
- Build Your Experience Section
- Highlight Your Education
- Add Relevant Skills & Keywords
9. Showcase Your Work
10. Add Projects
11. Add Accomplishments & Additional Sections
12. Build Your Network Strategically
13. Use FIT Alumni to Your Advantage
14. Request Recommendations
15. Follow Companies & Industry Professionals
16. Engage With Your Network
17. Use LinkedIn for Job & Internship Searching
18. Use the LinkedIn Mobile App
19. Keep Your Profile Current
20. Make Your Profile & Résumé Work Together
Build Your Profile
1. Build a Strong Profile Header
Your profile header is often the first thing someone sees. Make it professional, clear, and reflective of who you are and where you want to go professionally.
Profile Photo: Use a recent, clear, close-up photo. It doesn’t need to be a formal headshot. A well-composed smartphone photo works.
Tips:
- Use good lighting
- Choose a simple, non-distracting background
- Make sure your face is clearly visible
- Wear something appropriate for the type of work you’re pursuing
- Aim for a friendly, approachable expression
- Avoid group photos, vacation photos, distracting selfies, or heavily edited images
Ask yourself: Would I feel comfortable using this photo when applying for a job?
Background Photo: This is another opportunity to communicate your professional identity. Consider an image that reflects your industry, creative discipline, portfolio, or personal brand. For example, a fashion design student might feature their design work, while a photography student might use one of their own photographs. Keep it professional, visually clean, and relevant to your career direction.
Name and Pronunciation: Use the name you want to be known by professionally. LinkedIn also lets you add name pronunciation and, where available, a short introductory video. Both are optional but can help personalize your profile.
2. Create a Strong Headline
Your headline appears prominently on your profile and in LinkedIn search results. Don’t simply use the default “Student at FIT”, use it to communicate who you are, what you study, your skills, and where you’re headed.
Ask yourself:
- What am I studying?
- What type of work interests me?
- What skills do I bring?
- What industry or roles am I pursuing?
- What makes me distinctive?
Generic: Student at FIT
Strategic: Fashion Business Management Student | Merchandising | Brand Strategy | Retail
More examples:
- Fashion Design Student | Womenswear Design | Technical Design | Sustainable Fashion
- Advertising & Marketing Communications Student | Brand Strategy | Social Media | Creative Marketing
- Illustration Student | Editorial Illustration | Digital Art | Visual Storytelling
- Photography & Related Media Student | Fashion Photography | Editorial | Digital Imaging
A strong headline communicates your professional direction, includes relevant keywords, and gives people a reason to learn more about you even if you’re still exploring your options.
3. Write an Effective About Section
Think of this as your professional introduction. Write in the first person and let some personality come through.
A simple structure:
- Who are you? Introduce yourself and your area of study or focus.
- What do you bring? Highlight your skills, experience, and accomplishments.
- What are you interested in? Identify the roles, industries, or projects that interest you.
- What are you looking for? If appropriate, mention whether you’re seeking an internship, job, freelance opportunity, or connections.
Instead of: I am a student at FIT looking for a job.
Try: I am a Fashion Business Management student at FIT with an interest in brand strategy, merchandising, and the evolving relationship between fashion and technology. Through coursework, internships, and student projects, I have developed skills in market research, trend analysis, visual presentation, and consumer insights.
A strong About section tells the reader who you are, what you can do, and where you’re headed
4. Build Your Experience Section
Your Experience section isn’t limited to traditional full-time jobs. Consider including internships, part-time or campus jobs, freelance or contract work, relevant volunteer experience, student organization leadership, entrepreneurial projects, and significant extracurriculars. You may have more experience than you realize.
Describe what you did, don’t just list a title. Use strong action verbs: created, designed, developed, managed, coordinated, researched, analyzed, produced, collaborated, led, presented, organized, increased, improved, supported.
Focus on accomplishments, not just duties.
Instead of: Responsible for social media.
Try: Created and scheduled social media content across Instagram and TikTok, increasing engagement and helping promote new product launches.
Quantify impact whenever possible:
- Managed a team of 8 students
- Created 25 social media posts per month
- Assisted more than 100 customers per week
- Increased event attendance by 20%
Your LinkedIn descriptions can be adapted from your résumé. They don’t have to be identical.
5. Highlight Your Education
Include your program, major, expected graduation date, relevant coursework, study abroad experience, student organizations, and any honors or awards.
Relevant coursework can help demonstrate knowledge when you have limited professional experience. For example:
Relevant Coursework: Consumer Behavior, Fashion Marketing, Brand Strategy, Visual Merchandising, Digital Marketing
Choose coursework that supports the opportunities you’re pursuing.
6. Add Relevant Skills & Keywords
The Skills section helps employers and recruiters quickly identify your qualifications. Include skills related to your major, target industry, technical abilities, and transferable skills.
Examples by category:
- Creative: Illustration, Photography, Fashion Design, Styling, Art Direction, Visual Storytelling
- Business: Market Research, Merchandising, Brand Strategy, Retail, Trend Forecasting, Consumer Insights
- Technology: Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Excel, Canva, CAD, CLO 3D
- Communication: Presentation, Public Speaking, Copywriting, Social Media, Client Relations
- Professional: Project Management, Collaboration, Leadership, Problem Solving, Research
Finding the right keywords for your Skills, About, and Headline sections alike:
- Review job descriptions for roles that interest you
- Study LinkedIn profiles of professionals already in those roles
- Check employer websites for the language they use
- Note common industry terminology in your field
Only include skills and terms that accurately represent your experience. Ask classmates, professors, and supervisors to endorse skills they’ve seen you demonstrate firsthand.
Show Your Work
7. Showcase Your Work
For FIT students, your work is one of the most important parts of your professional identity. Use LinkedIn’s Featured section as a mini portfolio within your profile choose quality over quantity, and feature work that supports the direction you want employers to see.
Consider featuring: your best portfolio project, a personal website or online portfolio, a capstone project, a campaign or design collection, a published article, or a professional presentation. If appropriate, link out to your full portfolio or personal website.
8. Add Projects
Projects can demonstrate experience even before you’ve held a formal internship or job from class assignments, student organizations, personal creative work, freelance work, or research.
For each project, explain what it was, what you did, what skills you used, and what the result was. For team projects, be specific about your individual contribution.
Instead of: Worked on a group marketing project.
Explain what you personally contributed and accomplished.
9. Add Accomplishments & Additional Sections
LinkedIn lets you add sections that round out your background. Include the ones relevant to you:
- Honors & Awards: scholarships, academic awards, competitions
- Certifications: relevant professional or technical certifications
- Languages: languages you speak and your proficiency level
- Volunteer Experience: demonstrates initiative and transferable skills
- Organizations: student, professional, or community organizations
- Courses: courses that add useful context to your skills
- Publications: any authored or co-authored work
Network with Purpose
10. Build Your Network Strategically
Networking isn’t about collecting as many connections as possible, it’s about building meaningful professional relationships. Connect with FIT alumni, classmates, professors, internship supervisors, employers, recruiters, and professionals working in roles that interest you.
Personalize your connection requests. Instead of a generic request, briefly explain why you’re reaching out:
Hi Maya, I’m an FIT student studying Fashion Business Management and I’m interested in merchandising. I came across your profile while researching careers in the industry and would love to connect.
Keep it short, professional, and genuine.
It’s okay if reaching out feels awkward at first. Many students worry about being a nuisance. The key shift is this: don’t ask for a job, ask for advice. When you reach out to learn about someone’s career path, you’re asking them to share their experience, not asking them to hire you.
Hi David, I’m an FIT student studying Fashion Business Management and I’m exploring careers in retail buying. I came across your profile and was impressed by your work at [Company Name]. Would you be open to a brief 15-minute conversation to share advice on how you got started in the field? I would really appreciate your perspective.
Keep your message short, come with two or three specific questions ready (e.g., “What is the most important skill for someone starting out as a junior buyer?” or “What do you wish you’d known when you were a student?”), and remember: a lack of response isn’t a rejection of you personally. Most professionals have been in your shoes, some will respond, some won’t, and that’s okay. Keep reaching out.
11. Use FIT Alumni to Your Advantage
FIT alumni are an especially valuable resource for career exploration and networking. Search LinkedIn for FIT alumni including through LinkedIn’s built-in Find Alumni tool on the FIT school page, to explore where they work, what they studied, how they started their careers, and what skills got them there.
Alumni research can help you answer:
- What jobs do graduates from my major pursue?
- What companies hire people with my background?
- What internships helped people get where they are?
- Who might be willing to share advice about entering the field?
12. Request Recommendations
Recommendations let other people describe your skills and contributions in their own words. Consider requesting them from supervisors, professors, employers, clients, or project collaborators.
Make your request specific. Instead of “Will you write me a recommendation?” try:
Would you be comfortable writing a short LinkedIn recommendation about the work I did on our marketing project and the skills you saw me demonstrate?
A strong recommendation reinforces skills already highlighted elsewhere in your profile. Giving recommendations to others is also a meaningful way to strengthen professional relationships.
Stay Active & Discoverable
13. Follow Companies & Industry Professionals
Follow companies and organizations that interest you to learn about company news, hiring activity, internships, job openings, and industry trends. Also follow professionals, industry organizations, and publications relevant to your career interests.
Don’t just follow, learn. Pay attention to the skills, experience, job titles, and career paths of people working in positions you may want in the future.
14. Engage With Your Network
You don’t need to be an influencer to use LinkedIn effectively. Simple, professional engagement helps you stay visible: comment thoughtfully on industry posts, congratulate connections on new roles, share a relevant article, or post about a class project or internship.
Before posting, ask yourself:
- Is this professional and relevant to my career or interests?
- Does it contribute something useful?
- Would I be comfortable with an employer seeing it?
Your LinkedIn activity contributes to your overall professional identity, treat it accordingly.
15. Use LinkedIn for Job & Internship Searching
LinkedIn is a valuable supplement to your job search. Use it to find openings, research employers, identify people who work at companies that interest you, and network with recruiters.
Turn on job preferences. If you’re actively looking for work, use LinkedIn’s Open to Work or job-preference features, and be specific about the roles, locations, and work arrangements you want.
Decide how public your search should be. If you’re comfortable with your broader network knowing you’re job-hunting, make your Open to Work status visible to everyone to increase visibility. If you’d rather keep it discreet, for example, if you’re currently employed, LinkedIn offers settings to limit who sees your job-seeking status. Choose what fits your circumstances.
16. Customize Your LinkedIn URL
Customize your profile URL so it’s simple and professional. Ideally some variation of your name. A clean URL is easier to add to your résumé, email signature, portfolio, or business card.
17. Review Your Privacy & Contact Settings
Take a few minutes to review who can see your profile, what’s publicly visible, who can contact you, and what information appears in search results. Make sure your contact information is current, and add a link to your portfolio or personal website if you have one.
18. Use the LinkedIn Mobile App
You don’t need to be at a computer to manage your presence. The mobile app is useful for quick updates, liking and commenting on the go, and sending connection requests right after you meet someone at a career fair or event while the interaction is still fresh.
Check the app regularly, keep notifications from becoming a distraction, and save longer profile edits for a computer where they’re easier to manage. The same professional standards apply on mobile as anywhere else.
19. Keep Your Profile Current
Your profile should evolve as your career develops. Update it when you start an internship, get a new job, complete an important project, learn a new skill, earn a certification, or complete your degree.
Think of LinkedIn as a living professional profile, not a one-time assignment.
20. Make Your Profile & Résumé Work Together
Your résumé and LinkedIn profile should be consistent but not identical.
Your résumé should:
- Be targeted to a specific opportunity
- Prioritize the most relevant experience
- Be concise and use the language of the position
Your LinkedIn profile can:
- Provide a broader picture of your experience
- Include additional projects and accomplishments
- Showcase your personality and interests
- Display recommendations and endorsements
- Help you build and maintain your professional network
Think of your résumé as a targeted application document, and LinkedIn as your broader professional presence.
