Recently I was asked to create a profile from scratch for someone, but wasn’t given a lot of information about their background for their Experience section.
However, I was given a list of projects they had been involved in which gave me the opportunity to use the Projects section in a way I hadn't fully appreciated before.
Projects give us some really good options and sit in the middle of our profiles between Education and Volunteering. When the Accomplishments section existed it sat right at end of profiles with all sorts of additional sections lumped together, including Projects. Now they're all separate and Projects has moved higher up.
Here’s what the Project section offers:
- Its own URL so if somebody is interested in working with you or hiring you, you can send them this URL to show the projects you've worked on.
- Projects are added individually and each one can be given a name or explanatory title.
- A description up to 2000 characters long in which you can fully detail the project.
- The addition of skills just like other sections of your profile.
- The dates of projects you've worked on.
- A media section where you can add images, links, PDFs, but not native video, only those hosted on YouTube or Vimeo. These throw up nice little thumbnails that give the project great visibility and energy.
- Add other project contributors. Their faces show up in little circles but without names or individual information about them or their role in the project.
How we can use this section
This is a good way to showcase your achievements, the projects you’ve been involved with and your role in them.
If, for example, in one role you were involved in five projects this would be a great way to showcase them individually and the skills involved. People might miss that information in your Experience section but scrolling down your profile they might see it because it's a separate area.
It's ideal for freelancers who are working with different clients on different kinds of projects, and an excellent place to share clients’ stories.
If you’ve not recently investigated the Projects section of your profile, I encourage you to take the opportunity to do so.