The Master Guide to LinkedIn for iOS Developers

Building a profile that gets the right leads to your dream job

I use Swift & iOS as examples since thats what I do.

One of my biggest mistakes in my career was not having my LinkedIn filled out until 2017.

I thought since I’d mostly made my living freelancing and as an entrepreneur, that filling out a LinkedIn was a boring waste of energy.

Two years later, I realized I could not have been more wrong.

I was desperately looking for new ways to get more leads for freelance work or the right fulltime opportunity and needed to maximize my search.

I read books on it and studied the best profiles. I created the best profile I could based on the latest information available.

My LinkedIn brings me several leads per week with potential new jobs, all because I’ve made it easy for those who need my skills to find me.

My LinkedIn attracted iOS opportunities from several companies including:

Facebook and Instagram

Apple (for several positions)

Amazon (for several positions)

Expedia

Duolingo

DoorDash

Just about every funded startup in Austin (where I live)

Several developer circles will tell you LinkedIn is a laughable waste of space only useful for Suits.

They are wrong.

I get that it feels salesy. We didn’t become developers to be salesy.

But we also want to work at a company we like.

If you take advantage to its fully capabilities, you can get access to your dream job.

And access is the first step.

Who this guide is for

This guide is for iOS developers, but it also works for developers who know the specific type of job they want. It’s important to pick a niche.

Ex: iOS ARKit developer.

The guide also assumes you have some experience, even if informal like a side project. You can’t sell yourself if you got nothing to sell.

If you’d like to use a LinkedIn for Reference, here’s mine.

Picking a Great Cover Image 🌃

Use websites Pexels.com and PixaBay.com and search for terms related to the type of job you’re trying to get.

If you’re looking for a iOS job, you might search “iPhone” and find an image that stands out to you.

You might also brainstorm traits you want to convey, like “welcoming” or “collaborative” and search for those terms, too.

Once you download an image, you can open it using PhotoPea.com (or Photoshop), select the crop tool (press ‘C’) to fit LinkedIn’s cover image size (1584px by 396px).

If you’d like to be extra, you can add your name to the image like me.

If you put it on the right like me, it gets cut off on mobile so add it to the center to avoid that.

How your Profile Picture can make a great first impression 🤝

Having a have decent photo will make you look better than 90% of developers.

Look at mine — it’s not great, but it’s good enough.

It’s great if you can take a great photo without it being professionally done — a good natural photo is valuable.

If you do want to get it professionaly done, use Thumbtack.com and search for “Portrait Photography”. You can get a good deal there.

Golden Hour right when the sun is going down

If not — find a place with good lighting and has either a blank light-colored background or a pretty background.

A good time to do it outside is during the golden hour, right as the sun begins to set.

When taking the photo, take the photo where the camera is equal level as your head or slightly above it.

Move your neck forward (literally to the point its almost straining) and adjust your head to face directly at the camera.

When the shot is being taken, you will want to squint — close your eyes a bit. It helps you look more relaxed and confident.

Practice this look a lot. Getting a good photo might take some time.

I recommend wearing something business casual. A suit doesn’t look right on a developer.

Once you’ve taken a good photo, open a photo editor. You can adjust the brightness and contrast so you stand out more and even blur the background a bit. Look at my medium photo: I did similar things there.

Here’s a great video on creating a great Linked Profile Pic.

How to Craft a Title that gets Noticed 👀

Your title will serve you best if you Craft it in a way that helps you achieve your goals.

Sometimes, this is easy. If you’re a Senior iOS Developer and work for Amazon, setting your title as that will attract high quality leads itself.

Sometimes your job title isn’t enough. Maybe you’re a Junior iOS Developer and you are positioning yourself to be a mid-level Developer next job.

Omit the “Junior” part of your Job title. So now you’re just “iOS Developer @ [Company]”.

You might find you want to work with a specific technology like ARKit. Use a separator after your title: “iOS Developer @ [Company] | ARKit trained”

If you have NO job but are looking for one, the title is a great way to share that:

“iOS Developer| Swift | Looking for new opporunties”

Building a Winning Summary Section 🤓

Your Summary is perhaps your best opportunity to sell yourself, so you’ll want to pitch yourself as best as you can here.

One underrated part of the profile is you can show you’re also someone fun to work with. Start your profile with a small story that leads into your accomplishments.

Check mine out: