Creating a Vanity URL on LinkedIn in 5 Easy Steps

by paulfalconehr.com

There’s a common question in resume writing about including your LinkedIn address at the very top of the page under your phone number and email address. While there’s no general rule that says you should or shouldn’t include your LinkedIn address, it’s becoming more common to display it these days because of LinkedIn’s growing popularity.

I generally recommend including your LinkedIn address if you have an account that’s fully developed, meaning that you’ve completed a significant portion of the sections, including your work history, education, foreign language abilities, and the like. (And you’ll definitely want to create a LinkedIn presence if you don’t already have an account!) What’s important, though, especially at the top of your resume, is to use a “vanity URL” rather than the full URL address that LinkedIn initially provides when you open an account. The vanity URL is much shorter and can be customized around your name, so it’s much easier on the eye and takes up less space.

For example, when you initially open up a LinkedIn account, it will assign a URL address with lots of numbers and symbols that strains the eye a bit and is generally long and clunky. It might look something like this:

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=20362799&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
Your vanity URL, in comparison, will look something like this:
www.linkedin.com/in/paulfalcone1

See the difference? Much nicer, isn’t it?

Here’s what the finished product might look like at the top of your resume:

PAUL FALCONE
Los Angeles, CA
(310) 691-3838 Cell
Paul@PaulFalconeHR.com
www.linkedin.com/in/paulfalcone1

With all of that information right at the top of your resume, you’ll have made yourself very easy to research and contact, which every employer appreciates. Note that you no longer need to include your street address: once posted to the Internet, resumes take on a life of their own, and you never know where they’ll end up. So rather than posting your home address for the whole world to see, simply include your city and state. This guards your privacy while still giving a prospective employer a good idea of where you currently live.

To create a vanity URL in Linked In, simply take the following steps:

1. Log in to your LinkedIn account.
2. Hover your mouse over your name in the top right corner of the page and click on “Privacy and Settings” in the drop-down menu that appears.
3. Click on the “Edit your Public Profile” link, which you can find at the bottom of that page under the “Helpful Links” heading. You’ll then be in edit mode and will see your current LinkedIn URL address under your photo. Click on the edit link right next to your current URL address.

Steps 4,5, and the complete article