The LinkedIn Featured Section: Your Personal Portfolio on LinkedIn
The LinkedIn Featured Section: Your Personal Portfolio on LinkedIn
Your LinkedIn profile gets maybe 30 seconds of a recruiter's attention. In those 30 seconds, they scan your photo, headline, headline, recommendations, and... if they're paying attention, your featured section.
The featured section is where you make your case visually. It's your portfolio, your proof, your shorthand for "here's what I actually do and can do."
Most people leave it blank. That's leaving opportunity on the table.
What the Featured Section Actually Does
The featured section sits prominently on your profile (right after your headline and above your about section on mobile). It's meant to showcase:
- Your best work samples
- Projects you've led
- Articles you've written
- Presentations you've given
- Certifications you've earned
- Media mentions and recognition
The goal: answer the question "What proof do you have that you're good at what you claim?" without anyone having to search for it.
What NOT to Put in Your Featured Section
Before we talk about what works, let's be clear about what doesn't:
- Personal photos or memes: Unprofessional
- Vague articles: "10 Things You Didn't Know About LinkedIn" is vague. "How I Increased Sales by 150% Through Outbound" is specific.
- Old work: Featured content should represent you now, not five years ago
- Competitors' content: Only feature your own work or things that genuinely helped you think differently
- Too much text: These are visual previews. Keep captions short
The Strategy: 5 Effective Featured Section Setups
Setup 1: For People Changing Careers
Feature:
- Relevant certification or course completion (LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, etc.)
- A project from your new field that shows your capability
- An article or post about your career transition (explains your journey)
- A recommendation from someone in your new field
Why it works: You're directly addressing "Can you actually do this new thing?" Your featured section shows: education, portfolio work, thought leadership, and third-party validation.
Setup 2: For Job Seekers (Traditional)
Feature:
- Your best portfolio piece or work sample (if shareable)
- A strong recommendation (preferably from a manager or client)
- A case study or project writeup from your current/recent role
- A certification or skill badge that's relevant to jobs you want
Why it works: You're showing work samples + credibility. Recruiters see proof without asking for it.
Setup 3: For People Doing Thought Leadership
Feature:
- Your most impactful article or blog post
- Speaking engagements or conference appearances
- Media mentions or podcast appearances
- Recommendations that speak to your expertise
Why it works: You're a thought leader. Your featured section should reflect that.
Setup 4: For People With Limited Work Samples
Feature:
- Certifications (cloud certifications, coding bootcamp completion, etc.)
- Open source contributions or GitHub projects
- Personal projects that show capability
- Articles you've written about your field
Why it works: You show you're learning and building, even if you don't have traditional portfolio pieces.
Setup 5: For Freelancers and Consultants
Feature:
- Case studies of client work (anonymized if needed)
- Testimonials or recommendations from clients
- Articles about your approach or methodology
- Speaking engagements or media appearances
Why it works: Prospects want proof of past work and happy clients. Your featured section delivers both.
How to Add Things to Your Featured Section
LinkedIn lets you feature:
- Links: To articles, portfolio sites, or case studies (copy the URL)
- LinkedIn posts: Your own or others' posts you want to highlight
- Media: Images, documents, PDFs, videos
- Articles: LinkedIn articles you've published
- Documents: PDFs, presentations, whitepapers
Step-by-step:
- Go to your profile
- Click "Edit profile"
- Scroll to "Featured"
- Click the "+" to add
- Choose the type of content
- Add a title and description (captions matter—be specific)
The Power of Captions
You get 300 characters for your featured item description. Use them strategically:
Weak: "My case study"
Strong: "Led redesign of sales onboarding process. Result: 40% faster time-to-productivity for new reps. Full case study attached."
Captions should tell a mini-story: problem, action, result. Make recruiters want to click.
Featured Section Mistakes to Avoid
- Featuring everything: Less is more. 3-5 strong pieces > 10 mediocre ones
- Outdated work: Update your featured section as you take on new projects
- Weak captions: "Check this out" doesn't work. "Led X, achieved Y" does
- Non-shareable work: Can't share client work? Write a blog post about the approach instead
- No relevance to target role: Everything featured should connect to the jobs you want
Featured Section for Different Industries
Design/Creative
Feature portfolio pieces, design case studies, client testimonials, design awards.
Engineering/Data
Feature GitHub projects, technical articles, certifications, open-source contributions.
Marketing
Feature campaigns you've led, content pieces, case studies with metrics, speaking engagements.
Sales
Feature client testimonials, case studies of deals or revenue impact, articles about sales methodology, awards.
Operations/HR
Feature process improvements with impact metrics, certifications, articles about your discipline, recommendations from leaders.
The Featured Section + Your Whole Profile
The featured section works best when your entire profile is aligned:
- Headline: Clear about your value
- About section: Explains what you do and why you do it
- Experience: Shows progression and impact
- Featured: Provides specific proof
- Recommendations: Third-party validation
Together, they tell a cohesive story. Recruiters don't just check one element—they scan the entire picture. Your featured section is an important part of that picture.
If you're not sure what to feature or whether your featured section is actually moving interviews, get a LinkedIn audit from Avery. We'll review your featured section in the context of your whole profile and tell you exactly what will increase your chances of landing the roles you want.
FAQ: Featured Section Strategy
How often should I update my featured section?
Quarterly at minimum. When you take on a big project, complete a certification, or get published, add it. Keep your featured section current.
Can I feature other people's articles?
Yes, but sparingly. Maybe 1 out of every 5 featured items can be external. Mostly, feature your own work.
What if I don't have portfolio pieces to share?
Feature certifications, courses you've completed, articles you've written, open-source work, or case studies (anonymized). There's always something.
Should my featured section match my target role?
Yes. If you're job searching, feature work that's relevant to the role you want, not just work you're proud of.
Do recruiters actually look at the featured section?
Yes. If your headline grabs them, they'll scroll. A featured section with proof stops them from moving on to the next candidate and actually clicks through to learn more.