What the Featured section is and why it is underused
The Featured section sits near the top of a LinkedIn profile, below the About section, and lets you pin specific posts, articles, links, or media files for visibility. Despite its prominent placement, most profiles leave it empty or use it inconsistently, which means a well curated Featured section is a relatively easy way to stand out simply because so few people use it thoughtfully.
What actually belongs there
- A portfolio piece or work sample directly relevant to your target roles, such as a writing sample, a design project, or a case study.
- A well performing or particularly substantive post you have written that demonstrates your expertise.
- A link to an external project, publication, or press mention that adds credibility.
- A recommendation letter, certificate, or award, if it is genuinely relevant and not simply decorative.
- A link to a personal website or portfolio site, if you maintain one.
What to leave out
Avoid featuring content that is outdated, only tangentially related to your current career direction, or purely promotional without substance. A featured item should give a viewer something concrete to evaluate, not just a link with no context. If you do not have strong material to feature yet, it is better to leave the section empty than to fill it with weak placeholder content.
How many items to include
Two to four well chosen items is a reasonable range. Fewer than that and the section may look sparse, though an empty section is still better than a padded one. More than four or five starts to dilute attention, since a viewer is unlikely to click through many items, so put your strongest one or two pieces first.
Keeping the Featured section current
Revisit this section every few months, or whenever you complete a notable piece of work worth showcasing. An outdated Featured section, still highlighting a project from several years ago while your actual recent work goes unmentioned, undersells your current capabilities and can make your profile look inactive even if the rest of it is up to date.
Using the Featured section to speak to different audiences at once
If your profile is viewed by a mix of audiences, such as potential employers and potential clients if you also freelance, the Featured section can be used to include one item aimed at each, giving a broad range of visitors something relevant to click into rather than assuming a single, uniform audience for your entire profile.
Making the Featured section work for a career change
If you are changing fields, the Featured section is a useful place to highlight evidence of your new direction, such as a certificate, a personal project, or a piece of writing related to the new field, even if it predates any formal job title change. This gives a visitor concrete proof of your direction beyond what your work history alone shows.
A few common mistakes in this section
- Leaving default, auto suggested content in place without reviewing whether it is actually the strongest option available.
- Featuring content with broken links or outdated information.
- Including too many items, which dilutes attention rather than focusing it.
- Featuring content that is not clearly connected to your current professional direction.
How to add items to the Featured section
From your profile, scroll to the Featured section, or add it from the Add profile section menu if it is not already present, then choose to add a post, an article, a link, or a media file directly. LinkedIn will generate a small preview card for links and articles, so it is worth checking how that preview renders before finalizing, since an unclear or broken preview image can undercut an otherwise strong piece of content.
What to do if your work does not naturally produce shareable artifacts
Not every job involves work that is easy to showcase externally, such as internal operations, confidential client work, or highly regulated fields. In these cases, a well written LinkedIn post reflecting on a lesson learned or an approach you use in your work, written specifically to be featured, can stand in for a more traditional portfolio piece and still give a visitor something substantive to engage with.
Review your Featured section before interviews, not just before applying
Interviewers sometimes look at a candidate's LinkedIn profile shortly before a conversation, including whatever is featured at the top. Make sure anything featured there is something you are prepared to discuss in detail if it comes up, since it effectively becomes part of your interview material the moment someone views your profile ahead of meeting you.
The order of featured items also sends a signal
LinkedIn generally displays featured items in the order you add them, and you can typically rearrange them afterward. Put your single strongest, most relevant item first, since a visitor may only glance at the first card before scrolling on, and the strongest piece deserves that first, most visible position rather than being buried behind weaker supporting material.