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SUPERINTENDENT’S LINKEDIN HOW-TO

Creating a Profile:

1. Go to www.linkedin.com, and fill in the information in box on the main screen. Click “Join Now” when

complete.

2. Now, LinkedIn will prompt you to answer a series of questions. You will need to complete each of the

following questions by filling in your information:

a. Ensure that the Country and ZIP code are listed correctly. Click “Next”.

Input your

information

here

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b. Enter your current employment information. Click “Create your profile”.

c. LinkedIn will then ask you what you’re most interested in using it for. Select whichever answer

you think fits best. If you don’t have a specific answers, click “Not sure yet. I’m open!”

3. You will now have the option to import your email address book to connect with those who have LinkedIn.

a. If you want to do this, ensure the email address is correct and click “Continue”

b. If you do not wish to do this, you need to click “Skip.” (Note: You will be able to go back and do this

later if you want.)

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4. Now, you should have received an email from LinkedIn to confirm your email address, so you will need to

go to your email account.

5. Open the email from LinkedIn, and click “Confirm your email address”.

6. LinkedIn will now open up in a new window of your internet browser.

7. You will see that LinkedIn has selected people you may want to connect with.

a. If you would like to connect with all of those selected, click “Add Connections”

b. If you don’t want to do this, click “Skip”

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8. You will then be prompted to select your interests.

a. The green check means that interest has been selected. If you want to unselect something, click

on the green check.

b. To add an interest, click on the + sign.

c. Click “Follow channels” when you’re done selecting interests.

d. OR click “Skip” to skip this step altogether.

9. Next, you will be asked if you want to have a link to the LinkedIn Mobile App sent to your phone.

a. If you want to do this, enter your cell phone number and click “Get the app.”

b. If you don’t want to do this at the moment, click “Skip.”

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10. You will now be taken to your LinkedIn profile, so you can continue to fill in information and complete your

online resume.

11. *IMPORTANT: The first thing you need to do after creating your profile is to edit your email notifications

settings if you want to avoid an onslaught of emails from LinkedIn. To do this, hold your curser over your

picture in the far top right corner (it’s really small), and select “Privacy & Settings.”

12. On your account settings page, click “Communications” to the right.

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13. Under Basics, click “Change” next to Email frequency.

14. Now you can either turn notification emails Off/On by clicking the toggle next to that category. You can

also choose more detailed options (as seen in the gray below) by clicking “Details” next to the category.

The more regularly you check your LinkedIn account, the fewer email reminders you will need to receive.

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Adding & Editing Information in Your Profile

1. On your page, you already should have your current position listed under experience.

a. To edit this information, hover over and click the pencil icon

b. You can then edit or add to the existing information. Click “Save” when you’re done.

i. *NOTE: If you were to leave your current position, be sure to edit this work experience,

and uncheck the “I currently work here” box. You would then add the month and year you

left the position.

c. Click “Add position” to add your previous work experience. Repeat until you’ve entered all

relevant work experience.

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2. On your profile, click “View More” to display a full list of options for the sections you can add to your

profile.

3. The following options will be appear. To add any of them, click on the “Add” button for that section.

4. I recommend adding at lease the following sections:

a. To add education, click “Add school”

i. Fill in the information fields for each degree or level of education you have completed.

Click “Save” when you’re done.

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ii. You will need to “Add education” for every degree you have. For instance, if you have

your Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate, you will have at least three education slots

under this section.

b. Click “Add skills”.

i. In the “What are your areas of expertise?” field, type in a skill you would like listed on your

profile (i.e. Public speaking, Leadership, or Curriculum development)

1. If the skill is already in the system, it will come up as you type it. Select the skill.

2. If it’s not in the system, type in the skill and click “Add.”

3. The skills selected will populate in the box at the bottom. When you have added

as many as you wish, click “Save.”

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c. Click “Add advice for contacting.”

i. This is where you need to list the best way for someone to contact you if they’re trying to

reach out.

d. Other sections you should consider adding:

i. Certifications

ii. Honors & awards

iii. Summary

iv. Volunteer experience

v. Any others you wish to add

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Adding and Changing a Profile or Background Photo:

1. Go to your profile and click on “Add a Photo” to edit your profile picture.

2. *NOTE: If you attended the Superintendent Study council Conference in fall 2015 and had your headshot

taken, we would be happy to share that image so you can use it as your profile picture if you want. Email

requests to sara@tosstn.com.

a. Click “Choose File” and find the photo you would like to upload in your files.

b. When you have a photo you are pleased with, move the yellow square to adjust the photo, and

click “Save” when finished.

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3. Once you have set your photo, you can always go in and change it in the future.

a. Hold your cursor over your current profile picture, and click on the “Change photo” option that

appears.

b. When the Edit Photo window opens, click “Change photo.”

c. After selecting the new photo from your files and adjusting it to your liking, click “Save”.

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4. To add a background photo to the top of your profile, go to your profile and click “

5. Select the photo from your files that you would like to use. You can move the photo around to position it

to your liking. When you’re done, click “Save.”

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Creating a Company Page

1. Hover over the “Interests” tab and select “Companies.”

2. Click “Create” on the right side of the page.

3. Fill in the “Company name” and email fields. Check the verification box, and click “Continue.”

4. You will then add your company information to the page. It will prompt you to fill in information regarding

the following:

a. Company description

b. Specialties

c. Website

d. Industry (select “Education Management”)

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e. Type (select Educational)

f. Headquarters (enter your address)

g. Company size

h. Founding year

5. Here is a great example from the Metro Nashville Public Schools company page. I highly recommend using

this for reference when creating your own page.

6. Also, be sure to add profile and header photos to represent your organization. Again, I’m using MNPS as a

great example here:

7. Now people will be able to “Follow” your company to see your district’s updates in their newsfeed.

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Connecting with People:

1. Importing email contacts

a. Hover your cursor over “My Network” and select “Add Contacts.”

b. If you would like to import and connect with all of your email contacts who have a LinkedIn

account, ensure your email address is correct and click “Continue.”

2. Using the “People You May Know” feature

a. Hover your cursor over “My Network” and select “People You May Know.”

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b. LinkedIn will then pull up a curated list of individuals that, based on your current network,

education background, work experience, etc. you may be interested in connecting with. To

connect with anyone on the list, click “Connect” under their name.

c. *NOTE: By clicking “Connect” at any point, you are only sending that individual an invitation to

connect. They must then accept the invitation to join your network.

3. Searching for an individual to connect with

a. Type the name of the person you’re wanting to connect with in the top Search bar, and click on

the magnifying glass icon.

b. You will see a list of individuals that match your search. Click “Connect” beside the correct profile.

c. It will then tell you that your invitation has been sent. It is now up to that person to accept or

deny the invitation to connect.

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Posting an Update:

1. If you would like to share an update or photo to be shared on the newsfeeds of your connections, go to

the Home page and click “Share an update” or “Upload a photo.”

2. Once you fill in the content you want to share, select whether you want to share with the Public, Just your

connections, or Public + Twitter. Then click “Share.”

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Following Companies:

1. To see updates from a particular company in your newsfeed, you will need to “Follow” that company’s

page. Type the organization’s name in the Search bar at the top of the page, and click on the magnifying

glass icon to search.

2. You many need to click “Companies” to the right of the page after searching to narrow the results to only

Company pages.

3. Now, click “Follow” next to the organization you wish to follow.

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Joining a Group:

1. Type the name of the group or a category of groups you would like to search in the Search bar, and click

the magnifying glass icon.

2. You may need to click “Groups” to the left of the page to narrow the search.

3. From the list provided, click “Join” next to the correct group.

4. Some groups, like AASA, require permission to join. Therefore when you click “Join” you are just

requesting to join, and a page administrator will either accept or deny your request.

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Search for Candidates:

1. Click “Advanced” next to the Search bar at the top of the page.

2. This will open the Advanced People Search panel. Here you will enter all of the relevant information to

narrow your search results to those who match what you’re looking for in a potential candidate. Click

“Search” when you’ve filled in all the necessary information.

a. You will want to input a few Keywords to describe the person you’re looking for (i.e. “teacher”

AND “science” AND “high school” if you’re looking to hire a high school science teacher with that

past experience)

b. If there’s a particular position you would like the candidate to hold or have held in the past, enter

that in the “Title” field (i.e. teacher)

c. For industry, you will probably want to select “Education Management,” unless you’re looking for

someone in accounting, HR, etc. Select the industry that best fits the position you’re hiring for.

d. You can also add a location if you’re looking for candidates from a particular area.

e. The search sections with the gold LinkedIn logo beside them are only for those using the paid

version of LinkedIn (LinkedIn Pro).

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f. You will then see a list of results with individuals matching the details you were looking for.

i. It is not guaranteed that any of these people are currently looking for a new position, but

you can always reach out to them through “InMail” (private message on LinkedIn) to ask

them if they are interested in a new position.