For my model social media profile, I chose my current boss’s LinkedIn profile. She is an experienced lawyer and tax professional in the philanthropy sector, and her profile does a great job of displaying the breadth of her skills and expertise. I also want to be a lawyer, but with a different area of practice than hers, but I still think that her profile is a great model.

First off, although many LinkedIn users, she actually makes posts. Her two latest posts, which are displayed at the top of her profile are about planned giving funds and trusts. In her article-like posts, she discusses how gifts are structured and the tax implications of the gift. Next, she lists her breadth of relevant professional experience. However, one area that really stood out is her skills that she lists. First, she lists the general skills that she has, that are relevant to her current job, including tax law, planned giving, estate planning, and major gift development. Under that, it notes that she “also knows about” grant writing and fundraising. Her skills look especially credible because her connections have endorsed her. For example, she has 76 endorsements for tax law! Below that, her educational experience and certifications, including a JD, an LLM degree and an analytics certification. Her profile also includes “recommendations,” in which she has written about her colleagues and a list of memberships she is in, such as the Georgia Bar, the Junior League of Atlanta, and the Dekalb League of Women Voters.

In order to step my game up on Instagram and model my profile after hers, I first need to increase my connections to at least 500. Currently, I have 425 connections, so I am close. However, I do not want to just go add as many people as I can. I should think about all of the 50 people in my office and people I have worked with and interned with previously. These people I have work experience with would be likely to endorse me for the skills I have included on my profile, which would give me serious credibility points. Also, I should consider all of the tasks I have been responsible for in my professional experience, in order to add more relevant skills to my profile. I may not have the credibility to write and post my own articles like her, but i should actively engage by commenting and circulating articles that are of interest to me and relevant to my professional goals. I also believe that I should write a recommendation for a few of my colleagues that I have enjoyed working with, which would help them and show that, like my boss, I am a team player and have great collaborative skills. To round out my profile, I should consider joining more professional organizations like she has, in order to network, advocate for causes that i care about, and to learn from other legal professionals.