Displaying badges on LinkedIn - aka… How much is too much???

[Vle045]

When I started doing classes on various sites, I found out about sharing “badges”.  It seems kinda cool, right?   But how do you decide when too much is too much?  For me, I have badges from Saylor, LinkedIn Learning, Sophia, Coursera….  These aren’t all for-credit. Some of it is kinda fluff that I did to try to make my LinkedIn profile seem more active when I was job hunting.  And to create that lifelong learner image.  But now I am wondering if there is a point at which it becomes “too much”.  Curious if anyone else with a lot of badges has a creative approach…..

[Flelm]

At the career level I'm at, I don't like badges for individual courses/learning experiences, unless they're tied to an industry-standard certification. I have my CPIM on my LinkedIn. I'll probably be going for ASQ Certified Quality Auditor as some point, and that will go on there. If I ever do a Six Sigma Green Belt or PMP, that will too, but I won't be putting any of my Sophia or SDC badges.

EDIT: It comes down to your career level, and the image you want to portray to employers. I hired two people recently (and interviewed many more). I didn't look at their social media. HR did the initial vetting, and all I got was a resume.

[Kal Di]

I really like that LinkedIn feature too. In regards to your question, relevancy is important. So, if you have a bunch of badges related to your field, I think it helps.

I think appearing as a lifelong learner is helpful. Although, having a bunch of badges in areas that are not related may tell recruiters that you lack focus.

[allvia]

I feel if you wouldn't list it on your actual resume or CV, then you shouldn't list it on Linkedin

[MNomadic]

I think relevancy, industry recognition, and current career progression are the key factors in sharing badges. Right now I have about 46 badges on credly from various ACE courses and industry certifications but I only share the certs that are industry recognized and related to my career field. Current career progression is also important as well. If you're just hitting the workforce or changing career fields, it can help to show some relevant Coursera badges to help you stand out, but if you've been in your field for many years, people won't be as impressed by a bunch of beginner level MOOC badges.

That's just my opinion though and I have seen experienced professionals strategically including LinkedIn Learning badges on subjects like diversity/inclusiveness recently which I think is a good way to signal certain subjects that are popular as of late.

[Vle045]

I really like that LinkedIn feature too. In regards to your question, relevancy is important. So, if you have a bunch of badges related to your field, I think it helps.

I think appearing as a lifelong learner is helpful. Although, having a bunch of badges in areas that are not related may tell recruiters that you lack focus.

Good point about focus!  I do sometimes lack focus.  That’s probably why I am good at jobs that involve doing 12 things simultaneously.  I have literally had to answer the phone, the door, send a fax to the person I am talking on the phone to, and take a kid’s temperature simultaneously when I worked at an intermediate school.  When parents came in, they usually commented on how I was able to do so many things at a time.  Luckily my phone cord was long and could reach the the door buzzer and the copier and the medicine cabinet.  It was an exhausting and underpaid job.

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I feel if you wouldn't list it on your actual resume or CV, then you shouldn't list it on Linkedin

I am starting to lean that way too.  I think I have almost 20 badges.  Many of them are probably not very helpful.

[Ideas]

Depends, but if you had a few you were proud of, don't let them get lost among all the others. People won't stop and look at them if there's many.

[Vle045]

Thanks everyone.  I decided to scrap them all except for the Diversity Equity & Inclusion certificate from USF.  All the rest is fluff and can be accessed from my credly profile if someone really cares to see it. 

[bjcheung77]

Yes, I would slim everything down to the most important credentials that you have. Just like a resume/CV, keep it concise, short and simple.

[Maniac Craniac]

I use the "courses" section to list professional development that I don't feel was substantial enough to add to my "education" section. I still have the same problem, though. I went certificate crazy last year and have a bunch of credentials that overcrowd my education section. I think LinkedIn needs a Professional Development section where we can add such noncredit, but substantial, certs that don't fit well in other sections.

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Also, I don't look at LinkedIn as I would a resume. On a resume, I'd pick the few things that are most relevant and help me to come off as most well rounded and ready for the job. On LinkedIn, I try to give the most complete picture possible.