How to add honors and awards in linkedin

OK, you haven’t won an Oscar (yet), but it’s still good to know how to add awards and honors to your LinkedIn profile.

Why Should You Add Awards to Your Profile?

Because they serve several purposes:

They provide quick proof of your achievements.
If done right, they give your reader visual relief from walls of text.
They give viewers a sense of your personality.

Types of Honors & Awards to Share on LinkedIn

To operationalize this, you might use what LinkedIn calls rich media. Examples include:

Uploading a photo of yourself or your team receiving an award
Sharing a video of yourself presenting at an industry conference
Adding a flattering picture of you holding your award
Uploading a shot of your staff giving you a “World’s Best Boss”

You get the idea. Now, the 4 places to add awards and honors:

1. Add Awards to Your Featured Section

In 2020, LinkedIn added a Featured section to the profile. It’s a terrific place to share a BIG award. What do I mean by “BIG” award? Well, one of my clients was featured by a leading publication in his industry. They called him the King of X. So, we added a link to that article to his Featured section. It displays on his profile showing his company’s name and his title. Plus, it says he’s the best X in the US and calls him the King of X. It doesn’t get any better than that. We made the article the only item in his Featured section. That ensured there was enough room for LinkedIn to display all that information. We also avoided diluting the impact of his great honor with less compelling media. LinkedIn has a detailed FAQ on using the Featured section. Or, if you prefer video, Viveka von Rosen has you covered here:

2. Add Awards to Your Experience & Education Sections as Rich Media

In addition to Featured, you can add rich media to your Experience and Education sections. As mentioned above, less is more:

I limit rich media under any job or degree to 1 item.
Doing so ensures that it displays well — more than 1 results in a cluttered look and zero impact.

Jennifer Chenoweth has a quick, “how-to” video on the mechanics of using rich media here:

3. The Honors & Awards Section

Your profile also has an Honors & Awards section. Use rich media as described above for your most impressive honors and awards. Then, use this section for other recent accolades. I like to keep awards fresh (no more than 3 or 4 years back). Anything older, and you might look like you’re living on past glories.

4. Add Awards & Honors as Accomplishment Bullets

You can also present awards and honors as accomplishment statements in narrative text. Here’s a sample accomplishment statement: Recognized as a Gartner Magic Quadrant Data Integration Tools Leader 2019 through 2021.

Closing

Take advantage of the opportunities LinkedIn provides to share your honors and awards. They help you differentiate yourself.

You Might Like

How to Add a Company Logo to Your LinkedIn Profile

Let’s Connect on LinkedIn

Let’s connect on LinkedIn at Donna Svei, Executive Resume Writer. The more I know about my readers, the better I can make my blog. Image: michaeljung
Updated April 2022 © 2014 – 2022, Donna Svei. All rights reserved. Donna Svei, an executive resume writer and former C-level executive, retained search consultant, and CPA, authors all of AvidCareerist’s posts. She has written for and been quoted by 100+ business and general media outlets, including Forbes, Mashable, Fast Company, Inc., Entrepreneur, CNBC, the New York Times, USA Today, Time, US News & World Report, CBS, the BBC, Lifehacker, Social Media Today, IT World, and Business News Daily. Let her expertise inform your job search strategy and decision-making. Contact Donna here to learn more about her resume and LinkedIn profile services and fee structure. When a B2B buyer is considering a purchase, they only spend around 17% of their time meeting with potential suppliers. The rest of the time they spend doing independent research. If a buyer is considering your company as a potential partner, are they going to be impressed with your LinkedIn profile or underwhelmed with the little information you have listed? It might seem like a waste of time adding honors and awards to your LinkedIn business profile, but it has much more impact than you might think. Read on to find out why you should include this section and get some great LinkedIn Honors and Awards examples. Looking for more ways to improve your LinkedIn account? We’ll show you how to use your LinkedIn Interesting Views to find better leads faster. LinkedIn’s Honors and Awards section is a dedicated place for you to showcase your career achievements on your page. Users often find it the most difficult section to fill out because it’s hard to remember any awards you’ve had in your career. Not to mention it can be difficult figuring out what counts as an award or honor since there are no real set guidelines. If you’ve got any certificates, plaques, or trophies, this is a good place to start. But this section is for more than just physical awards. There are tons of different honors you can add to this section to fill it up:

Published articles
Magazine profiles
Speeches or keynote addresses
Being a member of a panel or moderator
Special projects you were a part of
Training or mentoring you gave
Being part of a committee
Being an employee of the month
Any other relevant experiences

Why You Should Add Award Pictures & Videos

LinkedIn has had a native video feature since 2017 which allows users to upload videos directly to the platform. This means you can add videos and pictures to your Honors and Awards section. Adding pictures or videos to your awards gives relief from all the words on your profile and helps draw the eye of visitors. They also make this section much more noticeable and amplify the story. Many users will skip straight over this section, so this makes sure they stop and take notice. What’s more, a great photo or video of you accepting an award gives you immediate authority. It shows you’re a professional and a leader in your field, which is great for potential leads who might be researching you. So, whenever you receive an award, make a presentation, or get honored, make sure someone is snapping pictures and videos for you – it’s all great content for your LinkedIn profile. Here are some ideas of what you can upload along with the description of each award:

A photo of you receiving an award.
A short clip of you presenting at a conference.
A professional photo of you holding your award.
A photo of you next to your “employee of the month plaque”.

Make sure any pictures or videos you upload are professional and reflect your company. A photo of you with a “best drinker” award from college probably isn’t the image you want to be portrayed.

Types of Awards to Feature on LinkedIn

This all comes down to your brand, industry, and what you consider to be an accomplishment, but there are no rules here. It could be something prestigious like winning the best business award on a big stage or something small like getting a “best boss” mug from your staff. Keep in mind that a potential client might want proof of an award if it pertains to their business – so don’t exaggerate and try to have proof of anything you add to this section. You don’t have to stick to your industry either. Clients like to see versatility, so if you have awards in a sport you’re passionate about or have been recognized for your charity work or volunteer experience, add this too. It shows you’re a well-rounded person and respected by people, all of which helps in winning the trust of potential leads.

How To Add Awards & Honors on LinkedIn

If you haven’t added any awards to your profile yet, here’s how you do it:

In the top menu, click “Profile” and “Edit Profile”.
Click “View more” in the “Add a section to your profile” section.

You’ll see the option to add Honors and Awards.

To add a specific award:

Add the name and level you completed to the “Title” box.
If the award is associated with an organization, position, or degree, add this to the “Associated with” box.
For “Issuer”, add the name of the awarding body.
In the “Description” box, give some details about the accomplishment, when you received it, why, and what you did to earn the honor. Don’t forget keywords to boost your LinkedIn SEO.
Don’t forget to attach a picture or video if you have one.

Once you’re all done, click “save” and the new award will be added to your profile.

Best Examples of Honors and Awards on LinkedIn

If you’re not sure how to word your awards or accomplishments, there are some great examples on LinkedIn for inspiration.

A list of Accolades

Gary Vaynerchuck, Chairman of VaynerX and CEO of VaynerMedia, adds a list of accomplishments including a profile in the New York Times (2013) and being included in the Fortune 40 Under 40 list (2014). In both instances, he includes a short snippet of the article pieces and a link to the full article. This shows his accomplishments and positions him as a thought-leader.

Projects

Gretchen Rubin, the best-selling author, has cleverly used her awards section to add a chapter of her book. As an author, this is a great marketing tool for her book and encourages visitors to visit her site to buy the rest. She has also included a clip of one of her most popular YouTube videos to encourage more profile views. Although neither of these is technically an award, they are a great way to use this section to market and boost sign-ups and sales.

Featured blogs

Jill Konrath has an impressive LinkedIn profile. She’s a keynote speaker, bestselling author, and B2B sales expert. In her awards and honors section, she has a lot listed. One of which is her contributions to some high-profile blogs. Having a long list of awards and accomplishments solidifies her position as a leader in the B2B sector and establishes her as a thought leader.

Optimize your profile ready for new leads

Filling out your LinkedIn profile might seem like a waste of time, but it’s a crucial step in optimizing your online presence for sales. B2B customers will do their own research into brands before making a buying decision, and this includes going through your LinkedIn profile. The more information you can give to prove you’re a good person to do business with, the better your chances of winning the business over your competition. Once you have your profile optimized, it’s time to turn your LinkedIn into a lead generating-machine. Get a free demo of Zopto and we’ll show you how to get hundreds of LinkedIn leads every month.

Getgarminexpress