The average LinkedIn user (November 2011 stats) is 44 years old. Or 41, or 42 depending on who you believe. There was an article published on my birthday stating the 44 figure, so that’s what I’ll stick to. 
This means the average user has been out of school a good 20+ years. What are the changes that YOU, a LinkedIn user, are still working in a field closely related to your education? I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in “Youth Welfare” a far cry from delivering LinkedIn training to corporate teams and coaching to executives isn’t it? The youth I was working with hardly ended up in those positions. So what to do with the ‘education’ section on my profile?
My education bears no relevance to my current endeavours, so I won’t bother listing it!
WRONG! The education section on your LinkedIn profile gives you many opportunities to maximise achieving results with your online (LinkedIn) presence.
- Joining Alumni Groups
- Networking with (long lost) Uni Friends
- SEO’ing your LinkedIn Profile
- Expanding on your Summary
So how do you make the most of the education section in your LinkedIn profile?
Fill out every detail you can! Truly, don’t ignore this section. By listing ALL your education, including courses and seminars it’s easier for people to find you. That’s right, you make yourself easier to find. People may look for others they studies with, took that course with or someone with similar education. By listing educational institutions on your profile, you are also eligible to join the alumni groups of that institution.
Another neat little trick is to use the ‘additional notes’ area.
Here you can pack your profile with keywords! Remember, if anyone is interested enough in you to scroll/read this far down your profile, treat them to proper sentences. Meanwhile, don’t ignore the search engines like Google. Have a look at my profile, Petra Fisher LinkedIn Profile , and scroll down to my college degree (2nd last entry under education). Can you see how I managed to fit the words training, trainer, coaching, coach and public speaker quite neatly and naturally even though I studied “Youth Welfare”.
YOUR TURN!
Once you’ve spruced up the education section in your profile, I’d love to hear about the clever ways you’ve found to use keywords. Or maybe you found very useful connections by searching your old university. You may even have other tips for maximising the education section…