1. Add A Profile Picture.

A profile picture on LinkedIn is like a book cover. It is often the thing (in combination with your headline, or for the sake of the metaphor, title) that makes an employer click on your profile. It is best to go with a simple headshot or other professional looking picture.

That's not to say you need to shell out for a professional photographer, most iPhone cameras can take quality photos, so just put on your Sunday best, a little makeup, and find a suitable location. LinkedIn themselves wrote a helpful article on picking the right profile picture and explains that just having a profile picture will make your 14 times more likely to be viewed. Also, whatever you do, don't post just a generic selfie. Sure, having a picture is better than not, but a selfie will not come across well professionally.

2. Reach Out To Literally Everyone You Know.

It's time to delve deep into your Facebook friend's list and everyone you've had email correspondence with. While it may be awkward, LinkedIn is the one place you should reach out to family members and people you went to high school with. Often times, you might not even realize what these people are up to nowadays and they may be able to lead you to more connections in your field. Even if they aren't your field, it's still helpful to have at least one connection that's a microbiologist or that just graduated with an MFA. You never know how those worlds could connect.

3. Follow Companies You Like.

This is the easiest way to stay in the know within your industry, plus, you'll automatically get a notification whenever a company you follow posts a new job. And, if you're in the know about the company, it can help impress them in a cover letter or interview. Showing that you know, understand, and are passionate about the company can make the difference in getting hired and, well, not.

4. Follow As Many Companies/People In Your Field As You Can. 

Going along with the last tip, follow as many as you can. Use the search function to discover companies you didn't immediately recall, forgot about, or have never heard of. This will make you more knowledgeable in your field, but also will broaden your job prospects.

5. Follow Searches For Your Future Job Title.

LinkedIn allows you to follow search results for certain phrases. For example, if you are looking for a public relations job, you could follow the "public relations" search results/ job title and even narrow it down to the locations you most want to work in or your local area. This helps you stay up to date on job postings in the field from companies you don't follow and can help you see all possible future careers.

6. List As Many Skills As You Can.

When filling out your profile, there is a section for listing your various skills. In this section, dive deep. List skills that you may not think are relevant to your field. Such as, even if you're going into a writing field, it might be worth it to mention your accounting skills or your public speaking skills. You never know when this might pique a recruiter's interest, or at least lead to fun and interesting talking point in an interview.

7. List At Least One Way To Contact You.

While LinkedIn provides it's own messaging feature, many employers and recruiters will prefer to contact you in a more professional way via your email address or phone number. Make sure you publicly list at least one other way to contact you. For privacy and safety reasons, it's probably easiest to list an email address as it's easier to block any spam or unwanted solicitations than it is with your cell phone number.

8. Post Often.

If you're a writer or creator, post links to your craft often. Whether it be your weekly Odyssey article, your new short film on YouTube, or a new publication. Even if you aren't in a creative field, share and interact with articles from your field. Share articles from companies you follow and the people you follow. Being active will show that are active within your field and someone with the know-how for the job.

9. Tighten Your Headline.

The Headline is probably the trickiest part of your LinkedIn profile. Everyone has a different way and there are multiple ways to do it right and stand out. You want your headline to be straightforward about who you are and your skills, but you also want it to stand out from the crowd. Often including your current job title is helpful and/or any recent graduations.

Make sure to include some sort of nod to the industry you want to be in though if you're going into PR make sure that is in your headline. Some people have more creative approaches to headlines, which may work if you're entering a creative field, but may not if you're going into something straight-laced. My best advice here is to do some research and look at other people's headlines (especially those in your industry).

10. Cater Your Summary To Your Field.

Your summary is the one place on your LinkedIn profile that you can have a little fun and get creative. However, you also need to pack in a lot of information. Make sure to include your passion for your field and elaborate on your past experience (don't just list your past experience, your account already does that for you in another section). Talk about what you learned from an internship, give a little interesting and relevant background, and mention that you just graduated with a degree. If you're entering a creative field, this is where you can really let your skills shine. Even if you are going into business or science field, you can still get creative and it's totally possible that doing so will help you stand out.

11. Don't Be Afraid To Link.

Link to anything that a future employer may want to see. Where you published in your school's academic journal? Link to it if you can! Have you contributed to letters to the Editor? Link to it! Do you write Odyssey articles? Link to your writer page! Doing this can help show that you really know what you are doing and in some cases creates a portfolio that a future employer can easily access. Don't link to your personal social media accounts (although if you have a public page for art or writing, it may be helpful to link!). It's likely an employer may look up your personal accounts anyway, so it's not necessary to link directly to them.