Updating Your LinkedIn After a Placement or Internship
Your placement is one of your strongest assets. A step-by-step guide to making sure it reads like the professional experience it was.
5 min read
Your placement or internship is one of the most valuable things on your LinkedIn profile. A lot of students either forget to update it, add only a job title, or write a description that undersells what they actually did. This guide walks you through updating every section properly.
Step 1: Add or update the experience entry
If you added your placement at the start, you need to update the end date and review the description. If you haven't added it yet, add it now.
The experience entry should include:
- Company name and your job title — exactly as it appeared in your contract or on company documentation
- The correct start and end dates (or present, if still ongoing)
- Employment type set to "Internship" or "Full-time" as appropriate
- A description of at least three bullet points or sentences
- At least one mention of a specific outcome, achievement, or project
- Any tools, systems, or platforms you used regularly
Step 2: Write a strong description
This is where most students undersell themselves. Think through the following: What was your main purpose in the role? What projects did you contribute to? What did you achieve or help achieve? What skills did you develop or use? Did you take on any responsibility beyond your initial brief?
Example description structure:
[Role overview — what you were there to do and what team you were part of] [Main projects or responsibilities — with specifics] [Key outcomes or achievements — with numbers if possible] [Skills or tools used — particularly if relevant to your target roles]
Step 3: Add relevant skills
Update your skills section to include any tools, platforms, or competencies you gained during the placement. If you used Salesforce, Google Analytics, Adobe Creative Suite, or any sector-specific software — add it. If you improved at presenting, project management, or stakeholder communication — add those too.
Step 4: Update your headline and About section
After a placement, your headline should reflect where you are now and what you have done. 'Final Year Marketing Student | 12-month placement at [Company]' is significantly more compelling than just 'Marketing Student'. Your About section should be updated to mention the placement and what you took from it.
Step 5: Request a recommendation
A LinkedIn recommendation from your placement manager is one of the most powerful things you can add to your profile. It is social proof from a real professional who observed your work. Ask your manager before your last week — it is much harder to get a recommendation weeks or months after you leave.
💡 Make it easy for them
When you ask for a recommendation, give your manager a brief guide: mention specific projects you worked on together, the skills you developed, and the outcomes you contributed to. This makes it easier for them to write something specific — and a specific recommendation is far more valuable than a generic one.
For guidance on rewriting your experience descriptions to show the impact of your placement work, read How to Write Experience Descriptions That Show Impact at /resources/experience-descriptions.
Next step
Get your updated profile reviewedA Profile Polish reviewer will check that your placement is described effectively and your profile reflects your new level of experience.
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