LinkedIn: Set System Settings

In the toolbar at the very top of the screen, off to the right you will see a smaller version of your profile picture. Click on that to access the privacy settings menu. There are lots of different options there to look through and decide what is best for you. A few tips as you get started:

• Be sure to connect your preferred email address to your LinkedIn profile so that any messages sent to you through LinkedIn get directly to you without you having to login to LinkedIn. You don’t want to get the contact you’ve been waiting for from a recruiter and then not see it for a week because you forgot to check LinkedIn.
• When you initially create your account your profile will be public. Change the setting to private until you have your profile mostly complete. You want it to be ready before you share it with the world.
• After you have created your profile, you will want to edit or add more to it over time. On your profile page there is a button that says, “Notify your network?” If you leave this button set to “on” every individual change you make will be sent out as a new update to all your connections. If you just started a new job, this is a great feature. However, if you are going into your profile to make 50 different edits in one day, this will really annoy, and confuse, your network. Turn that button to the “off” position during major edits!
• There are a number of different privacy settings available to you, some of which will be discussed later in relation to specific sections. Choose whatever level of openness with which you are most comfortable. However, unless there is a compelling reason to maintain a high level of privacy, you should keep your LinkedIn profile completely visible to everyone. The platform is designed for sharing information and being accessible. Creating a profile, only to hide it from the world, defeats the main purpose of establishing an account in the first place.