Everyone you message will look at your profile before they reply. It doesn't need to be impressive. It needs to be clear: who you are, where you're headed, and that you're a real person worth 15 minutes.
Set aside about 30 minutes.
The checklist
1. Photo. Recent, friendly, your face filling most of the frame. A phone photo against a plain wall is fine. No photo gets far fewer replies. 2. Headline. Say where you're going, not just where you've been. Up to 220 characters. - Before: "Server at The Capital Grille" - After: "Aspiring SDR · 4 years in fine dining, top seller on a team of 30 · Learning B2B sales" 3. About. Three or four short lines. Who you are, what you've done that's relevant, why tech sales, what you're looking for. Write it like you talk. 4. Experience. Every job, with one to three bullets that show results. Use numbers wherever you can (see below). 5. Location. Your real city, so people near you and local recruiters can find you. 6. Open to work. Turn it on for "recruiters only" if you'd rather not show the green banner. Either is fine. 7. Custom URL. Change it to linkedin.com/in/yourname under "Edit public profile & URL". Small, but it looks finished.
Turning past work into sales experience
You've done more sales than you think. Translate it:
- Restaurant or retail: "Upsold wine pairings; highest average check on a team of 25." "Hit 120% of monthly credit card sign-up goal."
- Teaching: "Kept 30 thirteen-year-olds engaged every day" is persuasion and handling objections. "Raised family conference attendance from 40% to 85%" is outreach.
- Military: discipline, working to targets, staying calm under pressure, leading a team.
- Customer support: product knowledge, handling frustrated people, explaining technical things simply.
- Recruiting: you've literally cold-called people and sold them on something.
An About section you can adapt
I spent five years in restaurants, most recently as a lead server, where I learned to read people fast and sell without being pushy. I'm now moving into tech sales, starting as an SDR. I'm learning everything I can about B2B software and the sales process, and I'd love to hear from people already doing the job.
Two habits that help
- Post or comment once a week. Even a short comment on a post from someone at a company you like makes your name familiar before you message them.
- Follow your target companies. You'll see their news, which gives you something real to mention in your outreach.
When you're done, tick this step in your plan. Your profile doesn't have to be perfect to start reaching out. Good enough beats waiting.