Skip to main content
    Step 1 of 6
    Social Media
    Beginner
    8 min read 6 stepsMay 8, 2026Verified May 2026

    How to Use LinkedIn as an Older Job Seeker

    Plain-English guide to setting up and using LinkedIn over 60 so recruiters find you, your experience shines, and your age is not held against you.

    At a Glance

    Category
    Social Media
    Difficulty
    Beginner
    Read Time
    8 min read
    Steps
    6
    Topics covered
    linkedin
    job search
    encore career
    professional networking
    seniors

    In this guide (6 steps):

    1. 1.Set Up or Update Your Profile With a Modern Headshot
    2. 2.Write a Headline That Names What You Do, Not What You Were
    3. 3.Write an About Section That Tells Your Story in Plain English
    4. 4.Add Recent Experience and Skills That Match Today's Jobs
    5. 5.Request Three Recommendations From People Who Worked With You
    6. 6.Connect, Comment, and Apply to Jobs
    1

    Set Up or Update Your Profile With a Modern Headshot

    ~52s
    Go to linkedin.com and either log in or create a free account. Click the photo icon at the top right and select "View Profile." Replace any old photo (or the gray silhouette) with a clear current headshot. Use a recent photo, not one from 15 years ago. Older photos make the meeting feel like a mismatch. The photo should show you from the shoulders up, dressed as you would for a business meeting, in natural light, with a plain background. Ask a family member to take three photos with a phone in the kitchen near a window, then pick the best one. Click the camera icon on your profile to upload. Add a background banner image showing your industry (a school for educators, a hospital lobby for nurses) using a free image from unsplash.com.

    Quick Tip

    Smile in the photo. Profiles with smiling photos receive 14 times more views than profiles with no photo or unsmiling photos according to LinkedIn's own research.

    2

    Write a Headline That Names What You Do, Not What You Were

    ~52s
    Below your name on LinkedIn is your headline, a single line of up to 220 characters that appears next to your name everywhere on the site. By default LinkedIn fills this with your last job title. Change it to describe what you offer now, not what you used to do. A retired hospital administrator could write "Healthcare Operations Consultant | 30+ Years of Hospital Leadership | Open to Part-Time Remote Roles." A retired teacher could write "Experienced K-12 Educator | Curriculum Design and Teacher Coaching | Seeking Encore Career in EdTech." Use vertical bars to separate phrases. Click your photo on your profile, then the pencil icon next to your name, and edit the Headline field. This line is the first thing recruiters see in search results.

    Quick Tip

    Add "Open to Work" using the green frame option on your profile photo if you are actively searching. This signals to recruiters that you welcome contact and improves your match rate.

    3

    Write an About Section That Tells Your Story in Plain English

    ~45s
    The About section is up to 2,600 characters of free text below your headline. Write three short paragraphs. First paragraph: who you are professionally and what you have done at a high level. Second paragraph: three or four specific accomplishments with numbers or names of projects. Third paragraph: what you are looking for now and how to reach you. End with your email address (use the new professional one from your resume). Write in the first person ("I," "my") and in plain language. Avoid corporate jargon. Read it out loud. If it sounds stiff, rewrite it to sound like you talking to a friend. To edit, click the pencil icon at the top right of the About section.

    Warning

    Do not paste your entire resume into the About section. Recruiters skim. Keep it short, warm, and pointed.

    4

    Add Recent Experience and Skills That Match Today's Jobs

    ~44s
    Under Experience, click the plus sign to add each job from the past 15 to 20 years. For each, include the job title, company, dates (month and year), location, and a short description with bullet points showing what you achieved. For roles older than 20 years, create one final entry titled "Earlier Career, 1980 to 2005" with a single paragraph summarizing. Under Skills, click Add and type 10 to 25 skills that match the kind of work you want now. Mix traditional skills (customer service, project management) with newer tools (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, Canva, ChatGPT). LinkedIn matches recruiter searches to skills, so adding the right keywords moves you up in results.

    Quick Tip

    Ask three or four former coworkers to endorse your top skills by clicking the thumbs-up icon. Endorsements move skills higher in your profile.

    5

    Request Three Recommendations From People Who Worked With You

    ~47s
    Recommendations are full paragraphs written by former coworkers, bosses, or clients describing what it was like to work with you. They are the single most powerful trust signal on LinkedIn. Click the "More" button on your profile, then "Request a recommendation." Pick three to five people from your past 10 years of work. Send each one a short personal note asking for a recommendation: "Hi Tom, I am opening a small consulting practice and would love a recommendation on LinkedIn covering our work together at XYZ. Would you have time in the next two weeks?" Most people say yes. Once they post the recommendation, it appears on your profile permanently and shows recruiters that real people back up your claims.

    Quick Tip

    Offer to write a recommendation back for them. Recommendations work better when they go both ways, and your former colleague will appreciate the gesture.

    6

    Connect, Comment, and Apply to Jobs

    ~53s
    Search for 100 to 200 people from your past careers using the search bar at the top. For each, click Connect and add a short personal note ("Hi Jane, we worked together at ABC from 2010 to 2015. I am back on LinkedIn and would love to stay connected."). Once your network is built, spend 15 minutes a week scrolling your feed and posting one or two short comments on other people's updates. Click the Jobs icon at the top of LinkedIn to see roles. Use the filters: set Experience Level to your level, Job Type to part-time or contract if you want flexibility, and Remote if you prefer remote. Apply through LinkedIn's one-click apply feature when available. It sends your profile straight to the recruiter. Save promising jobs to revisit later.

    Warning

    Do not connect with strangers offering quick money, crypto investments, or romance. LinkedIn has a high rate of scams targeting older users. Connect only with people you have worked with or share a clear professional reason.

    You Did It!

    You've finished reading: How to Use LinkedIn as an Older Job Seeker

    How well did this guide stick with you?

    Need more help? Book a TekSure tech

    LinkedIn is the largest professional network in the world, with more than one billion members in 2026. And it is also the single most important job-search tool for workers over 60. Roughly 87 percent of recruiters and corporate HR departments search LinkedIn first when looking for candidates, often before they ever post a job publicly. For an older job seeker, LinkedIn solves a problem that paper resumes cannot: it lets you tell your full story, show recommendations from former bosses and coworkers, and make warm connections at companies you want to work for. A well-built LinkedIn profile can bring opportunities to you instead of you chasing them.

    Many people over 60 either skip LinkedIn entirely or set up a profile in 2015 and never touched it again. Both are mistakes. An empty or out-of-date LinkedIn profile is worse than no profile because it signals that the candidate has not kept up with the times. The good news is that fixing a LinkedIn profile is a one-evening project, and the platform is free for job seekers. You only pay if you choose the optional premium account ($30 to $40 a month), which is useful for active searches but not required for most people.

    The biggest concern older job seekers have about LinkedIn is age bias. The rules of the platform require listing some employment history. But you do not have to list every job back to 1976. The widely accepted convention is to list the last 15 to 20 years of jobs in detail, then a single "Earlier Experience" line summarizing earlier roles. You also do not have to list graduation years. LinkedIn lets you enter dates as "start year to present" or omit dates on the education section entirely. A clean recent profile photo, modern language in your About section, and a few mentions of current tools (Zoom, Teams, Slack, AI tools, modern software) signal to recruiters that you have stayed current.

    LinkedIn rewards activity. Profiles that get viewed and engaged with show up higher in recruiter searches. Spending 15 minutes a week posting a comment, sharing an article, or congratulating a former colleague keeps your profile near the top of search results. You do not have to write long original posts or share personal opinions. A simple comment on someone else's update ("Great point about customer retention") is enough activity to keep your profile fresh. The steps below walk through setting up or refreshing your profile, finding the right people, and starting conversations that lead to interviews.

    Rate this guide

    How helpful was this guide?

    linkedin
    job search
    encore career
    professional networking
    seniors

    Official Resources

    Facebook Help CenterAARP Social Media GuideFTC — Social Media Safety

    Sources used to create and verify this guide. View all sources →

    ← Previous

    How to Handle Medicare While Still Working

    Next →

    How to Ask for an Age-Discrimination-Free Interview

    Still stuck? Let a pro handle it.

    A real person can walk you through this over the phone, anywhere in the US. If we can't fix it, you don't pay.

    Book a Verified Tech How It Works

    Learn more from official sources

    Related Guides

    How to Create a Facebook Account

    Facebook is the easiest way to keep up with family and friends online. Here's how to create a free account in a few minutes.

    2 min read

    How to Add Friends on Facebook

    Connecting with family and old friends on Facebook is easy — here's how to send a friend request and accept ones you receive.

    2 min read

    How to Post a Photo on Facebook

    Share a photo with your friends and family on Facebook — from a holiday snap to a photo of the grandchildren.

    1 min read