Your profile · 6 min read
How do I update my LinkedIn profile for a career change?
Lead with where you're going: a headline naming the new field, an About section that bridges old and new, and evidence near the top.
The short answer
Write your headline for the job you want, not only the one you have: 'Teacher moving into instructional design | Course design, adult learning, e-learning'. Use the About section to bridge in three short paragraphs: what you've done, what connects it to the new field, and what you've built in it so far. Put new-field evidence near the top using the Featured section, and reword past roles to emphasise transferable work. Add the skills recruiters in the new field search for.
On this page 4 sections
Headline and About
| Section | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Headline | Secondary School Teacher | Teacher moving into instructional design | Course design, adult learning |
| About, first line | Passionate educator with 8 years' experience | I design lessons people actually learn from, and I'm bringing that to workplace training. |
Experience, reworded
Rewrite each role's description to lead with the work the new field cares about. A teacher's 'planned lessons' becomes 'designed 120+ hours of learning material and assessments each year'.
Show the move is real
- Add one project or piece of work to Featured.
- Post a short note about something you made or learned.
- Connect with people in the new field and ask one good question.
OffLadder CV, our free Chrome extension, shows which of a post's must-haves your CV already shows and rewrites it for that job, checking every change against the CV you gave it.
Questions people ask
- Should I say I'm changing careers on LinkedIn?
- Yes, clearly. Recruiters can't guess. A headline that names the new field helps the right people find you.
- Will my current employer see I'm looking?
- Profile changes can be visible to your network. LinkedIn lets you turn off sharing profile updates and signal openness to recruiters only. Check your settings first.
- Should I remove old jobs?
- Keep them, but trim descriptions to the parts that matter for the new field. Gaps raise more questions than unrelated jobs.
- What goes in the Featured section?
- Your best new-field work: a project, a write-up, a portfolio link, a certificate tied to a real task.
- Is LinkedIn the same as my CV?
- No. It's broader and searchable, so it can cover more of your story. Your CV is tailored for each post.
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