These days it’s not just the resume that’s reviewed for your credentials and experience. LinkedIn is now a critical part of your job search as the majority of employers will look for you there. Your LinkedIn profile is also an important tool and an important part of your job search strategy. Related: 15 Ways LinkedIn Can Supercharge Your Job Search Results Your LinkedIn profile may be promoted on the signature of your email address, your website, your blog and business cards. It may also be added to your resume as an additional resource employers can go to in order to scope out your experience, knowledge, skills, and connections. One of the most important things you can do is personalize your LinkedIn URL. By default, when you set up your profile on LinkedIn, you are given a LinkedIn ID that may look like this: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/firstname-lastname/0/000/246 The URL above is a temporary LinkedIn ID. A temporary LinkedIn ID typically has /pub/ and numbers that follow it. Personalize your LinkedIn ID to something that is more memorable. For instance: www.linkedin.com/in/dongoodmanjobexpert/ Changing your temporary LinkedIn ID to a personalized one is simple and takes only a few clicks of a button. Here are the easy steps you need to take to personalize your LinkedIn URL: (Note that LinkedIn keeps changing their interface so there may be differences between users).

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1. Sign in to LinkedIn and select Edit Your Profile.
2. At the bottom of your profile box you should see your LinkedIn ID.
3. Click on Edit next to the temporary ID.
4. This should open a box to the right of the screen called Customize Your Public Profile. Under it, there is a box for Your public profile URL.
5. Select on Customize your public profile URL. Now, you can enter how you want your permanent LinkedIn ID to appear. It may be your name or some variant related to your profession or field of work.

You now have a private LinkedIn URL that can be used to further promote your experience, knowledge and skills for job opportunities. If you have a common name, then try to add something that defines you. In my case there are a number of Don Goodmans so I use "DonGoodmanJobExpert." Keep in mind when creating your permanent LinkedIn ID to keep it to something that is timeless. You know using your name is a safe bet and you likely won’t have to make changes to it in the future. While you are allowed to change your URL at any time, LinkedIn will not redirect anyone clicking on an old URL you have created previously. Creating a personalized LinkedIn URL allows you to enhance your personal brand. It is particularly helpful to use on your resume. Resumes have limitations on the type and depth of information you can offer, so when you can include your LinkedIn URL, employers have the opportunity to learn much more about you through recommendations received, skills and expertise endorsements and other information that’s available on your LinkedIn profile!

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