LinkedIn for teenagers and school leavers

LinkedIn matters for certain career paths and not for others. If your target is a graduate program, banking cadetship, consulting role or any professional services pathway, recruiters will look at your profile before they invite you to interview. If you are applying for trade apprenticeships, retail or hospitality, your LinkedIn is essentially invisible. This page is for the first group.

The minimum viable profile

Five sections will move you from invisible to plausibly hireable:

1. Headline: 'Year 12 student at [school] | Aspiring [field] | Open to internships from January 2027'.
2. Photo: clear, well-lit, neutral background, looking at the camera. School uniform is fine; party photos are not.
3. About: 3 to 5 sentences. What you are studying, what you want to do, what you have done that supports the claim.
4. Education: school and current year. List ATAR or strong subject results if you have them.
5. Experience: any casual work, volunteering, school leadership, sport coaching or tutoring. Each role gets a 1 to 2 sentence description.

Headlines and About sections are the two fields recruiters' search engines weight most heavily. Spend more time on those than on optional sections like 'recommendations'.

What to actually write

Australian recruiters read your About section as a 30-second pitch. Try this structure.

Year 12 student at Marcellin College in Sydney, applying for actuarial cadetships starting 2027. I sit comfortably in maths and economics (HSC Extension 2 maths, Economics Band 6 trial) and have spent the last 18 months tutoring year 9 and 10 maths through the school mentor program. I am also captain of the school debating team. I am most interested in roles that combine technical work with client interaction.

The pattern: who you are, what you want, two specific pieces of evidence, one personality detail. Half a page on a phone screen.

Photo: what works

• Daylight, ideally near a window. Not artificial overhead light.
• Plain background (white wall, garden, school field).
• Looking at the camera.
• Shoulders up.
• Wearing what you would wear to a first interview at the company.

Photos that hurt your profile: party shots, selfies in the bathroom mirror, group photos cropped to one face, dimly lit photos, holiday photos with sunglasses, anything with a Snapchat filter.

Connections, who to add and why

For a 17 year old, useful first connections are:

• Your school cohort, especially anyone in year above doing what you want to do.
• Teachers, including your subject teachers and the school careers adviser.
• Family friends who work in fields you are interested in. Ask first; do not blind-add.
• Speakers at any career event you have attended, with a short message ('Hi X, I heard you speak at the BTA career event on Saturday. Would love to stay in touch as I explore [field].').

Try not to connect with strangers on a 'collect them all' basis. A profile with 80 connections of people you actually know reads as more genuine than one with 800 random adds. Recruiters can see your connection count.

What recruiters actually search for

Recruiters use LinkedIn's keyword search to find candidates. They search for things like 'actuary cadet Sydney', 'engineering intern Brisbane', 'graduate paralegal Melbourne'. Your profile shows up if those words appear in your headline, About or experience sections. So:

• If you want a graduate cadetship in actuarial work, the word 'actuarial' should appear in your headline.
• If you want a software engineering internship, write 'software engineering intern' in plain English; do not say 'coder' or 'developer-in-training'.
• If you want a particular industry (banking, consulting, government, mining, energy), name it. 'Aspiring banking cadet' is a better headline than 'student excited about life'.

Avoiding the common mistakes

• Buzzword-heavy About sections. 'Passionate, driven, dynamic, results-oriented' tells nobody anything. If a sentence would work for any 17 year old in Australia, cut it.
• Listing every casual job you have ever had. Two or three relevant roles is plenty. Mowing lawns at 12 is sweet but not selling you.
• Posting about politics, religion or sport rivalries. Stick to school, study and career content while you are job hunting.
• Following only big-name companies. Follow the small Australian firms in your target industry too. Recruiters notice.
• Connecting and immediately pitching. Send a connection request first. Wait a week. Then ask for the 15-minute conversation.
• Faking a job title. The 'Founder and CEO of FirstnameLastname Consulting' line for a 17 year old who has not done any consulting reads as embarrassing. Internships, volunteering and school leadership are sufficient.

Safety and privacy

LinkedIn is a public profile by default. That is what you want for job applications, but it has tradeoffs:

• Do not include your home address. Suburb and postcode is enough.
• Phone number on profile is optional. Many recruiters reach out via LinkedIn InMail or email instead. If you do list it, that is fine.
• Block or report spam. People do try to scam teenagers; flag and move on.
• Keep your other social media tidy too. Some recruiters will Google your name; what comes up should not contradict your LinkedIn.

What to do once a week

Set aside 20 minutes weekly during a job hunt:

1. Read 2 articles posted by people in your target industry. Hit Like on the best one.
2. Comment thoughtfully on 1 post. (Not 'great post!'. Three sentences of value.)
3. Send 1 connection request to someone you genuinely should know.
4. Update one section of your profile.

This is enough to keep you visible without becoming a LinkedIn person.

Related

• Resume for school leavers
• Cover letter template
• STAR method for interview prep
• eSafety young people guidance

The information here is general only and is not employment, legal or online-safety advice. For advice on your individual situation, talk to your school careers adviser. For online-safety concerns, see eSafety.gov.au.