LinkedIn is now the single highest-leverage online channel for landing a tech job in Nigeria. It is also the channel most students use badly. The good news is the fixes are simple and the competitive bar is low.
Here is what recruiters and hiring engineers actually look at, and how to set yourself up to win on the dimensions that matter.
What recruiters scan in five seconds
Open someone's LinkedIn. The first thing you see: photo, headline, location, current role. That is the entire first impression. If those four things do not align with what they are hiring for, the tab gets closed.
So:
- Photo. Plain background, smiling, professional. Selfie quality is fine. Cropped portrait headshot, not a full body shot. No filters.
- Headline. What you do, not what you are studying. "Frontend Engineer | React, TypeScript, Next.js | Open to junior roles" beats "Computer Science Undergraduate | Aspiring Developer."
- Location. Set to your real city. Lying about being in Lagos when you are in Owerri does not help — the geography filters out roles that are not local anyway.
- Current position. If you are a student with an active project, list the project as your current role. "Building [project name]" is a legitimate entry.
The about section
Three short paragraphs. In order:
- What you do. The specific tech stack or specialty. Two to three sentences.
- What you have built or done. Concrete examples. Names of projects, links if they are public.
- What you are looking for. Junior roles in [area], internships, freelance — be explicit. Recruiters cannot read your mind.
Write it as a human, not a press release. Avoid "passionate," "innovative," "results-driven," and "synergy." Recruiters discount these phrases on sight.
The experience section
List every relevant experience — paid, unpaid, academic, freelance, side project. For each:
- Role title, company, dates
- Two to four bullet points. Each starts with a verb. Each contains a number where possible.
- Mention the technologies used
A common failure: long paragraphs of prose under each role. Bullets read; prose does not. Switch to bullets.
The projects section
Use the featured section to pin your two or three best public projects. Each entry should have:
- A meaningful title
- A short description (one or two sentences)
- An image or thumbnail
- A link to a live URL or repo
A featured section that points at real, public, deployed work is worth more than three pages of CV in most recruiter conversations.
Skills and endorsements
List 10 to 20 specific skills. Order them by importance to the role you want. Get five to ten people to endorse the top three. Do not list every technology you have read about — only what you can actually use.
Avoid the trap of "Microsoft Word" and "Communication" as your top three. These add nothing for tech hiring.
Posting — the multiplier
A LinkedIn profile that exists is good. A LinkedIn profile that posts is much better. You do not need to write essays. Three habits compound:
- Once a month, write up something you built or learned. 150 to 300 words. Include a screenshot or code snippet. Talk about what was hard and how you solved it.
- Comment thoughtfully on other people's posts. Senior engineers in your area. Not "Great post!" — actual thoughts.
- Share work you are proud of, with context. "I just shipped X. Here is the trick that made it work" with a link to the project.
You do not need to be a content creator. You do need to be visible. Posting roughly once a month puts you ahead of 90% of junior developers.
Connections — quality over quantity
Connect with engineers in your area. Hiring managers at companies you want to work at. Alumni of your school. Skip the strangers asking to connect with no message.
When you connect, include a short note: who you are, why you are connecting, no pitch. Connection requests that include "let me know if you have any opportunities" in the first message get rejected.
What kills credibility
- Multiple "current" job titles, none ending. Reads as inflated.
- Self-given titles like "Visionary Tech Leader" while in undergrad.
- Buzzword-only headlines. "Polyglot. Innovator. Builder." tells recruiters nothing.
- "Open to work" badge plastered on a profile with no projects, no real CV. The badge is fine; the profile underneath must support it.
- Cross-posting Twitter rants. Different platform, different audience.
Outreach that actually works
If you reach out to an engineer at a company you want to work at, your message should be three sentences:
- Who you are, one sentence
- A specific thing about them — their team, a recent post, the product — that prompted you to reach out
- What you want: a 15-minute conversation about their team, or just a sense of their hiring process
Do not attach your CV unsolicited. Wait until they ask.
Related: a 30-day plan to convert profile traffic into interviews
