Until recently, I've been figuring that you can't make your private LinkedIn profile accessible to the general public, but my friend Jono sent me a note explaining exactly how to accomplish this. Let's document it here...

First off, log in to your account on LinkedIn, and click on My Profile and then the sub-option Web Profile:

Now you can see the key: a public profile link that's otherwise not very obvious:

My public profile can be found at http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/6/54b, but much more excitingly, I can also specify a unique mnemonic link to my profile instead, which I've done. Click on https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetaylor and you'll see!

While we're here, you can fine-tune what's shown in your public profile:

If you did click on the earlier link, you'll find that I've actually tweaked my own profile to add a bit more information than is usually shown.

Notice on the bottom of this page the link "View my profile as seen on the web". That's how you fine-tune exactly what you want shown. And when you do go to a public LinkedIn Profile, here's perhaps the most important part of what you'll see:

As I have said before, it's well worth spending the time to ensure that your LinkedIn profile properly reflects your experience, expertise and interests, and now you can see why!

Hope this helps you get the most you can out of LinkedIn.

Additional useful reading:

  •   Getting Started with LinkedIn
  •   Find a job with LinkedIn
  •   Invite someone to join your LinkedIn network
  •   Invite someone to join your LinkedIn network
  •   LinkedIn Etiquette