More than 30 project professionals joined PMI-LA's Career Development team for an interactive session with David Doan focused on a topic that impacts every stage of a career: LinkedIn.

Whether attendees were actively job searching, building their professional network, or looking to strengthen their personal brand, the session provided practical guidance for creating a profile that better reflects their experience, expertise, and career goals.

Your LinkedIn Profile Is More Than a Digital Resume

One of the strongest messages from the session was that LinkedIn is no longer just an online resume.

Recruiters, hiring managers, future collaborators, and industry peers often encounter your profile before they ever speak with you. The information on your profile is already telling a story—whether you've intentionally shaped it or not.

David encouraged attendees to think of LinkedIn as a professional brand platform rather than simply a place to list past positions and responsibilities.

Build a Profile That Reflects Your Impact

The session covered practical ways to improve profile foundations, including profile photos, background images, headlines, and About sections.

One statistic that caught attendees' attention: profiles with professional photos receive significantly more profile views than those without.

Beyond profile appearance, David emphasized the importance of communicating accomplishments rather than responsibilities. Instead of listing tasks, project professionals should focus on measurable outcomes and business impact.

A simple shift in language can help readers quickly understand the value you bring to a team, project, or organization.

Networking With Intention

Networking was another major focus of the discussion.

Rather than collecting connections, David encouraged attendees to build relationships intentionally. Personalized connection requests, thoughtful engagement with content, and meaningful conversations often create more value than simply increasing connection counts.

The discussion also explored how recruiters discover candidates and how professionals can increase visibility without feeling overly promotional.

For many attendees, this was a reminder that networking is less about self-promotion and more about creating genuine professional relationships.

Create Content Around What You Care About

For those interested in becoming more active on LinkedIn, David introduced a simple framework for content creation.

The Content Pillars approach encourages professionals to focus on a small number of topics that align with their expertise, values, industry interests, and personal experiences.

Rather than trying to post about everything, attendees were encouraged to build consistency around the areas where they can provide the most value and insight.

The goal is not to become an influencer. It's to become recognizable for the knowledge, perspectives, and experiences you bring to the profession.

From Learning to Action

The session concluded with a practical challenge: take action within the next 30 days.

Attendees left with a roadmap focused on strengthening their profiles, expanding their networks, creating content, and increasing visibility one step at a time.

One statistic stood out as the evening came to a close: approximately 70% of LinkedIn users have never updated their headline. A single update can immediately improve how professionals present themselves to recruiters, peers, and future employers.

Thank you to David Doan for sharing practical insights and actionable strategies with the PMI-LA community.

This session was Part 2 of PMI-LA's Career Development Series. We look forward to continuing the conversation in the next installment as project professionals continue building their skills, networks, and careers.