# LinkedIn and GitHub Profiles That Attract Recruiters

Source: https://skills101.in/learn/career/linkedin-and-github-profile — Skills101 free tutorial (Interview & Career). Updated 2026-11-09.

Recruiters search **LinkedIn** for candidates and check **GitHub** to see real work. Together they are your online résumé — working for you even when you aren't applying.

![Hiring pipeline: application, online test, technical interviews, HR interview and offer — a strong profile gets you into the top of this funnel more often](https://skills101.in/learn-img/career/hiring-funnel.svg)

## Part A — LinkedIn

### Profile basics

| Part | Do this |
|---|---|
| **Photo** | clear face, plain background, smile — no group or party photos |
| **Headline** | role + skills + proof: *"Final-year CSE · Java & React developer · 400+ DSA problems · Open to SDE roles"* |
| **About** | 3–5 short lines: what you build, your best project, what you're looking for |
| **Featured** | links to your best project, GitHub, portfolio, a certificate |
| **Experience** | internships and freelance work with bullets and numbers |
| **Projects** | each with a link |
| **Skills** | the top 10 relevant skills |
| **Open to work** | turn on (visible to recruiters only, if you prefer) |

### Be active (a little)

- Post when you finish a project or learn something real: a screenshot, what you built, one lesson learned. Short, honest posts work better than long motivational ones.
- Comment thoughtfully on posts by engineers at companies you like.

### Networking messages that get replies

❌ *"Hi sir, please refer me."*

✅ *"Hi Rahul, I'm a final-year CSE student. I saw Razorpay's SDE-1 opening (ID 1234). I've built a UPI-style payment simulator in Node.js (link) and solved 400+ DSA problems. If you think I'm a fit, would you be open to referring me? I've attached my résumé. Thank you!"*

Short, specific, shows proof, makes it easy to say yes.

## Part B — GitHub

### What recruiters look at

- **Pinned repositories** (pin your 4–6 best).
- A good **README** for each project:
  1. what it does (one line + a screenshot or GIF)
  2. live demo link
  3. tech stack
  4. features
  5. how to run it locally
- **Commit history:** regular, meaningful commit messages.
- A **profile README** (a repo with your username) introducing you.

### Make projects look professional

- No passwords or API keys in the code (use `.env` + `.gitignore`).
- Clean folder structure; remove unused files.
- Deploy it — a working link beats ten screenshots.

## Common mistakes

- A headline that just says "Student at XYZ College".
- Empty GitHub repositories, or only tutorial copies with no README.
- Mass-messaging people for referrals without a specific job or proof.

## Quick recap

- LinkedIn: photo, headline with proof, short About, Featured links, skills, open to work.
- Post occasionally about real work; network with specific, polite messages.
- GitHub: pinned projects with strong READMEs, live links, clean history, no secrets.


Practice quiz and free certificate: https://skills101.in/learn/career/linkedin-and-github-profile