The Surprising Personality Clues Hidden in Your LinkedIn Profile

Maybe you’ve polished your LinkedIn profile, curated your posts and stayed active in your network. Or maybe you stuck to the basics and kept it simple – name, head shot, job title. Whichever way you use LinkedIn, at first glance, your profile doesn’t seem to reveal much about who you are, aside from your credentials. 

However, recent research suggests that LinkedIn is rife with information about your personality, and anyone interacting with your profile may pick up on those subtleties. Here’s what may be hiding in plain sight and why it matters.

Your LinkedIn Profile: A Window Into Your Big Five Personality

If you think your LinkedIn is too bland for employers to mine for personality traits, think again. Sébastien Fernandez, professor of organizational behavior at EHL Hospitality Business School in Switzerland, uncovered some fascinating research data that suggests that your personality shines through your LinkedIn profile, even if it’s sparse. 

The research looked at over 600 LinkedIn profiles from graduates of EHL, covering over 120 nationalities. Researchers were able to pick up over 30 indicators of personality, and those indicators allowed them to accurately predict someone’s levels of Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Extraversion and Neuroticism – the five traits of the Big Five personality system.

Here’s how it breaks down:

• Openness: If your profile indicates that you speak several languages, lists creative skills (photography, illustration, writing, etc.), or you repost anything concerning social or environmental causes, it could indicate a high level of Openness, researchers found.  Another tip-off may be that you have an ‘artsy’ background photo on your profile or a diverse variety of influencers you follow. 
• Conscientiousness: If you’ve completed descriptions of prior job experience, have received many recommendations from other LinkedIn users, have a fully fleshed-out summary section and tick organizational skills under your skillset, you’re probably high in Conscientiousness. It’s also a clue if you regularly write updates about extra tasks you’ve taken on at work.
• Extraversion: Listing leadership skills or roles, having a high number of skills listed and having a lot of connections on LinkedIn could all point to high Extraversion. This may also be true if your background photo features social or physical interaction (a picture of you shaking hands with someone, a photo of you in a group, etc.), or you share your sports contributions on the site.
• Agreeableness: For men, Agreeableness shows through if they smile in their profile photo. In women, the research found that listing teamwork skills and sharing volunteer contributions signaled higher levels of Agreeableness.

Neuroticism is difficult to observe, especially in curated environments like LinkedIn, so the researchers didn’t identify specific indicators.

Why Does it Matter What Impression Your LinkedIn Profile Gives? 

Often, your LinkedIn profile is someone’s first introduction to you professionally. Whether it's a recruiter, a potential client or a colleague in your industry, people will naturally get a feel for who you are based on your LinkedIn. You might be relying on your profile as a first step toward landing your dream job, building a personal brand or networking with important contacts – and this research heavily suggests that your page may be giving off an impression you don’t know you’re conveying. 

Why does this matter? It matters because your LinkedIn profile can subtly communicate key aspects of your personality, like whether you're open to new ideas, detail-oriented, outgoing or collaborative. That means your profile isn't just saying what you've done – it’s hinting at how you work, think and connect with others. 

Lots of studies show that your Big Five personality traits can predict how you will behave at work. For instance, a 2003 analysis of Big Five personality traits in the workplace suggested that people who score higher on Openness may be better at jobs requiring creativity and tend to score higher on overall performance for those types of careers. Conversely, if you score low on Openness, you may not be deemed “a creative type.”

Being high in Conscientiousness typically means you’re likely to be more organized, detail-oriented and reliable than someone low in Conscientiousness (who may lean more toward spontaneity and flexibility). In most current research, Conscientiousness seems to bear the heaviest weight for better job performance, though not in every career.

Should you Fake Your Profile to Convey Different Personality Traits? 

It’s probably not the best idea to lie about your personality traits or put on a fake front, such as pretending to be an Extravert when you’re not. Your employer will surely get a feel for how Extraverted you are once you’re on the job, and there’s a fair chance you won’t be able to carry  on the façade for very long. Plus, it's always best to be authentic and true to yourself in any situation.

But you do want to present yourself as personable, experienced (in whatever stage of your career) and competent to make the most of LinkedIn. Doing the following can help make a good first impression:

• Smile in your profile photo and dress professionally (it is a first impression, after all, and a friendly look can go a long way, even if you don’t score high on Agreeableness).
• List your hobbies, diverse experiences (job training, volunteering, classes, etc.) and relevant job experience.
• Ask people you trust at work for recommendations.
• Feel free to post or talk about causes that mean something to you. 

A profile that authentically reflects your professional journey and personality can foster trust before meeting someone in person. And when it’s more well-rounded, people may get a better impression of who you are rather than just the credentials on your profile.

Should Employers Use Personality Type In Their Hiring Decisions?

When an employer understands your personality traits ahead of time, it can be insightful (and even helpful). However, using them as a factor in a hiring decision is controversial and not something we recommend. Is it fair to pass someone over because they’re not an Extravert? No, because there are many effective ways of working on a team, and the team may miss out on the contributions Introverts bring to the table, such as active listening, a different point of view, quiet, thoughtful leadership and an independent work style. 

Workplaces with varied personality types tend to perform better than those without. For example, research found that teams with high cognitive diversity solved problems up to 58% faster than same-style work teams. So, there are clear benefits to understanding and valuing different work styles in the workplace, and the true value of personality typing in the workplace is to help build teams with complementary skills.

Summing it up 

While your LinkedIn profile may look like an online resume, it can mean more than that. If employers know the cues to look for, they may assess your personality from behind the screen. Research points to a correlation between seemingly normal details – such as whether you smile in your picture or post about volunteering – and your Big Five traits. It would be better if employers didn’t consider personality typology as a hiring factor. But it doesn’t hurt to make sure your profile is making the best, most authentic impression possible.