How to Add a Position to Your LinkedIn Profile

4 of 8 in Series: The Essentials of Setting Up a LinkedIn Account

One key aspect of your LinkedIn profile is the list of positions you’ve held over the years, including your current job. This list is especially important if you’re using LinkedIn to find a new or different career or to reconnect with past colleagues.

Hiring managers want to see your complete history, and past colleagues can’t find you as easily through LinkedIn if the job they knew you from isn’t on your profile. Therefore, it’s critical to make sure you have all the positions posted on your profile with the correct information.

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Go to LinkedIn and log in. Click the Profile link in the left navigation menu.

This step takes you to the Profile page.

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Scroll down your profile until you see the Experience header and click the Add Position button.

You’re now taken to the Add Position page.

In the text boxes provided, enter the information about your position, including company, title, time period, and job description.

When you type in your company information, LinkedIn checks that name against a database of thousands of companies from their records, and you see suggested company names as you type. If you see your company name in that list, click the name, and LinkedIn automatically fills in all the company detail information for you.

When you’re done entering information, click the Save Changes button.

This adds the newly entered position into your profile, and you’re taken back to your Profile page.

Repeat the previous steps for any additional position you want to enter.

To edit a position you already have listed, simply click the Edit link next to that record, instead of clicking the Add Position button.

The Experience section isn’t just for paid full-time employment. You can add position information for any contract work, non-profit assignments, or other valid work experience you did that added to your skill set. If you’ve written a book, maintain a blog, or have a regular magazine column, you might want to list that as a separate position.

If you have most of the information that LinkedIn asks for a given position but you’re missing a few details in the description, go ahead and add whatever you've got. (You must provide a job title, company, and time period to save the position in your profile.) You can always come back later and fill in any missing information. In addition, if you make your profile public, then make sure any position information you enter is something you don’t mind the whole world — including past employers — seeing on your profile.