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Although it may seem like an unsolvable mystery and the 

constant changes are maddening, LinkedIn is a great way 

to find clients or a job and to build a strong network. This 

article highlights recent changes that medical communica-

tors should know about and the 3 steps to making LinkedIn 

a career-building tool: (1) develop a complete, relevant,  

compelling profile; (2) build a big, relevant network; and  

(3) be active.

 With 58 million companies on LinkedIn and 774 million 

members (as of September 2021),1 LinkedIn is a great way 

to find clients or a job and to build a strong network. Every 

minute of the day, 3 people are hired through LinkedIn and 

4 out of 5 people on LinkedIn are decision-makers for their 

businesses.2

 That’s why medical communicators need to know how 

to use LinkedIn, even if it seems like an unsolvable mystery 

and the constant changes, like the recent new look, feel, 

and features, are maddening. To make LinkedIn a career-

building tool, you need to

1. develop a complete, relevant, compelling profile,

2. build a big, relevant network, and

3. be active.

 These 3 things help you rank higher when LinkedIn  

generates search results so more clients or employers  

will find you. Also, you can strengthen your network and 

gain knowledge, advice, and support from colleagues.  

This article highlights how to make LinkedIn a career-build-

ing tool and the recent changes—some good and some not 

so good—that medical communicators need to know about.

Develop a Complete, Relevant, Compelling Profile
Profile completeness and relevant keywords in your head-

line are at the top of LinkedIn’s search algorithm criteria.  

A complete profile includes

• the industry and location,

• a profile photo,

• the current position (under Experience),

• 2 past positions,

• education,

• at least 3 skills, and

• at least 50 connections (not technically part of your 

profile, but this is part of LinkedIn’s criteria for a  

complete profile).3,4

Write a Clear, Compelling Headline With  
Relevant Keywords
Your headline is the most important part of your profile, 

followed by the About section. LinkedIn’s recent changes 

increased the number of characters you can use for both.

• Headline: from 120 to 220 characters

• About: from 2,200 to 2,600 characters 

 Having more space for your headline and About section 

can be helpful, but you don’t need to use all of it. You only 

have 3 seconds to capture attention with your LinkedIn  

Lori De Milto, MJ / Freelancer Medical Writer, Lori De Milto Writer for Rent LLC, Sicklerville, NJ

SOCIAL MEDIA

How Strong Is Your LinkedIn Profile?

•  Click on your profile.

•  Scroll down to your dashboard  
(only you can see this).

•  Move your cursor over your profile strength meter 
to see what you’ve already done.

•  Follow LinkedIn prompts to complete your profile.

How to Make                  a Career-Building Tool



170    AMWA Journal / V36 N4 / 2021 / amwa.org        

profile.5 Headlines at or close to 220 characters are too 

crowded to create a good first impression (Figure 1).

 In your headline, clearly say what you do and how you help 

your clients or employers. Include relevant keywords, such as 

“freelancer,” or your job title. Here is a simple headline formula:

• For freelancers: 

Freelancer medical writer [or editor, etc.] |Helping X do Y

• For employees: 

[Job title] | Helping X do Y

 Use a professional, high-resolution head and shoulders 

shot, and if you create a custom banner, make sure it’s profes-

sional and clear. The OpenToWork photo frame around a head-

shot is a new feature that I think makes freelancers and job 

seekers look desperate. If you have a complete, relevant, com-

pelling profile, clients or employers will find you through their 

searches. Also, the use of the OpenToWork frame can lead to 

scams and spam.6

Make Your About Section Compelling and Relevant
Once clients or employers click on your profile, keep their 

attention by making your About section compelling and rel-

evant. The first 220 to 270 characters with spaces count most. 

That’s what shows before people must click “see more.” On 

mobile devices, about 102 to 167 characters show.

 Make sure the first 220 to 270 characters build on your 

headline and offer a clear, client- or employer-focused mes-

sage. Attract clients viewing your profile on a smart phone or 

tablet by putting as much of your key message as possible in 

the first 102 to 167 characters.

 In the rest of the About section, include just enough  

content to show clients and employers that you’re a good 

choice for them. Briefly summarize your relevant experience, 

including services if you’re a freelancer, and your background. 

Make sure your profile is public.

Your LinkedIn profile isn’t a resume

• Be interesting and conversational.

• Write short sentences and short paragraphs.

• Use bulleted lists for anything else that works well  

in a list.

• Include a call to action (eg, contact me to [benefit to 

client or employer]) at the end, and include your  

contact information again.

 The new Featured section is very useful for medical com-

municators (Figure 2). The Featured section lets you display 

your best work to anyone who looks at your profile. It’s prime 

LinkedIn real estate: below the About section and above the 

Activity section. You can include many types of content in the 

Featured section, such as

• media files, such as documents, presentations,  

and videos;

• links to external blogs or work samples; and

• your website (for freelancers) or your resume  

(for employees).

 If you had any media in your About section before, 

LinkedIn moved it to the Featured section. Check your 

Featured section and customize it to highlight your best work. 

If you didn’t have media before, it’s easy to add a Featured 

section. If you have at least 2 pieces of relevant (to clients or 

employers) content, you should have a Featured section. It’s 

easy to add, delete, and move content in the Featured section.

Build a Big, Relevant Network
Even if you have a complete, relevant, compelling profile,  

you won’t show up in search results unless the searcher is  

connected to you. LinkedIn has 3 types of connections:

• First-degree connections: your direct connections

SOCIAL MEDIA

Figure 1. A clear, concise headline vs a too-long headline.

Figure 2. Sample Featured Section: Lori De Milto.



      AMWA Journal / V36 N4 / 2021 / amwa.org    171

• Second-degree connections: people who are connected 

to your first-degree connections

• Third-degree connections: people who are connected to 

your second-degree connections

 The closer the searcher is to you (first- or second-degree 

vs third-degree connection), the more likely you’ll show up in 

search results.

 Having at least 500 first-degree connections gives you a 

powerful network. Say that you’re connected to 500 relevant 

people, other medical communicators and people doing 

related work. If each of your connections has 500 connections, 

you now have access to 250,000 people, many of whom are also 

medical communicators. It looks good on your profile when 

you have at least 500 first-degree connections because after 

500, LinkedIn just notes “500+ connections.” 

It’s easy to build a relevant network of 500+. Invite

• colleagues from professional associations,

• people you’re working with now (colleagues, clients,  

and employers),

• people you’ve worked with in the past, and

• friends and colleagues from school.

 You can also build your network through your LinkedIn 

activity.

 When you invite someone to connect with you, always add 

a personal note. Mention what you have in common or why 

you want to connect. For example,

 “Hi Lori. I see that we’re both members of AMWA. Please 

join my LinkedIn network.”

 Accept connection requests from people you don’t know as 

long as they are also medical communicators or are relevant 

to you in another way. Don’t accept connection requests from 

people you don’t know who aren’t relevant to your career.

Be Active
Being active means engaging with other people on their con-

tent and posting your own content. Along with ranking higher 

in search results, being active helps you build relationships 

that can lead to referrals for freelance work or jobs. You can 

strengthen relationships with people you know and build 

relationships with people you meet on LinkedIn. Once  

you learn what to do, being active doesn’t take much time  

or effort.

 Review your LinkedIn feed—the content that shows up 

when you click on your LinkedIn Home page—about twice a 

day. Look for relevant posts by relevant people. LinkedIn offers 

4 ways to respond: like, comment, share, or send.

 Liking is lazy and won’t help you build relationships with 

people. Responding under “like” with an emoji is a new fea-

ture. The only time I think this is acceptable is if you’ve already 

made a meaningful comment, the person who posted the  

content has responded, and you just need to acknowledge  

that response. But be careful which emoji you use; the 2 emojis 

with a heart aren’t professional, and the emoji of a face is  

questionable.

 Commenting is the gold standard on LinkedIn. Each com-

ment is a way to boost your career because your name and  

the beginning of your headline are visible along with your 

comment. Also, commenting allows you to actively engage 

with the person who wrote the post and with other people  

who comment on the post.

 Write a meaningful comment. For example, if the post 

highlights an article with 10 tips for being productive, com-

ment on which tip you want to try or what you’ve already 

learned from the article. Make sure the person who wrote the 

post sees your comment by tagging them. To tag someone

• type the @ symbol,

• type the beginning of the person’s name, and

• choose their name from the list that LinkedIn provides.

 If you comment on the post of someone you’re not con-

nected to, that person is likely to accept a connection request 

from you, as are other people who comment on the same post. 

Your invitation could be something such as,

“Hi Lori. I really liked your post on XYZ. Please join my 

LinkedIn network.”

 or

“Hi Lori. I see we both commented on Lisa’s post on XYZ. 

Please join my LinkedIn network.”

 Sharing means you can share the post with anyone, your 

connections, or groups. Reshares get fewer views than other 

content and people are less likely to comment on a shared post 

than on an original post. Sending, a new feature, lets you send 

posts to a specific person or people you choose.

 Once you get comfortable commenting on other people’s 

posts about once or twice a week, do your own post. You can 

post about medical communication news and updates; useful 

free content like blog posts, podcasts, and webinars; and much 

more. Include about 2 to 5 sentences about the content, with 

a link to the full content (news, blog post, etc). Increase the 

number of views and engagement by using an image. If the 

full content has an image, LinkedIn will automatically use 

this image after you add the link. Easily find content to post 

through AMWA and other professional associations and email 

newsletters (eg, Smart Briefs).

 Whether you’re engaging with other people on their  

content or posting your own content, always be professional 

SOCIAL MEDIA



172 AMWA Journal / V36 N4 / 2021 / amwa.org 

on LinkedIn. Ignore anything that is controversial or  

disrespectful.

Know LinkedIn’s Limitations
When used as described in this article, LinkedIn is a career-

building tool for medical communicators. Like all social media, 

however, it is easy to waste time on LinkedIn. It is important 

to be strategic about building your network and your LinkedIn 

activity.  Also, certain features, such as Stories, can be risky.

LinkedIn says that the Stories feature is like a virtual water 

cooler in an office. But in an office, you know the people you 

are talking to, and can say the right things to the right people. 

On LinkedIn, your connections and followers can see your sto-

ries, and they can share them with anyone. In addition, the 

stories are only visible for 24 hours. Writing a relevant post is a 

much more efficient way to use LinkedIn to build your career 

than posting a story.

Make LinkedIn a Career-Building Tool
With the tips in this article and a little effort, you can more 

easily get clients or a job and build a strong network. Just 

follow these 3 steps

1. develop a complete, relevant, compelling profile,

2. build a big, relevant network, and

3. be active.

Author declaration and disclosures: The author notes no commercial 
associations that may pose a conflict of interest in relation to this article. 

Author contact: loriwriter@comcast.net

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Additional Resources

mailto:loriwriter@comcast.net
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https://blog.hootsuite.com/linkedin-statistics-business
https://www.themuse.com/advice/allstar-linkedin-users-are-40-times-more-likely-to-get-contactedheres-how-to-score-that-rating
https://www.themuse.com/advice/allstar-linkedin-users-are-40-times-more-likely-to-get-contactedheres-how-to-score-that-rating
https://www.themuse.com/advice/allstar-linkedin-users-are-40-times-more-likely-to-get-contactedheres-how-to-score-that-rating
https://www.themuse.com/advice/allstar-linkedin-users-are-40-times-more-likely-to-get-contactedheres-how-to-score-that-rating
https://www.themuse.com/advice/allstar-linkedin-users-are-40-times-more-likely-to-get-contactedheres-how-to-score-that-rating
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https://executivecareerbrand.com/should-you-display-opentowork-on-your-linkedin-profile/
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https://topdogsocialmedia.com/linkedin-changes/
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https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/how-to-write-an-effective-linkedin-headline
https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/how-to-write-an-effective-linkedin-headline
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https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/110/your-network-and-degrees-of-connection?lang=en



