Do your resume and LinkedIn agree? A role-by-role checklist

Recruiters often read your resume and your LinkedIn profile side by side. If the two tell different stories (a different start date, a different job title, a role that's on one and missing from the other), it raises a question you aren't there to answer. The fix isn't to make them identical. It's to make sure the facts agree.

What has to agree

Go through each role and compare:

• Employer name: the same in both places. If the company changed its name or was acquired, say so once, for example “Northwind (now part of Contoso)”.
• Job title: the same title, or the official title in one place and a plain explanation in the other.
• Start and end dates: the same month and year, in the same format.
• Current role: if you've left, neither should still say “Present”.
• Roles: every role on your resume should be on LinkedIn. Anything left off your resume should be left off on purpose.
• Education and certifications: the same names and years.

What can differ

Your resume is tailored to each role, while LinkedIn is your full public record. It's fine for LinkedIn to have more detail, earlier roles or a broader headline, and fine for each resume to lead with different achievements. What shouldn't differ are the facts: names, titles and dates.

The mismatches that are easiest to miss

• A promotion shown as one role on your resume and two on LinkedIn (or the other way round), with dates that no longer line up
• Overlapping dates when you changed jobs, or a gap on one that isn't on the other
• A title shortened on your resume (“Senior Manager”) that's longer on LinkedIn (“Senior Manager, Customer Operations, APAC”)
• Numbers that disagree, such as a team of 12 on one and 15 on the other
• An old resume still saved as your default upload on job sites

How to fix it in one pass

• Pick one source of truth for dates. LinkedIn is usually easiest, because it's public and there's only one version of it.
• Fix LinkedIn first, then bring every resume version you use into line with it.
• Keep a simple master record of every role: employer, title, dates and two or three pieces of evidence. Tailor from that, never from an old resume.
• Re-check both every time you tailor an application.

Where DeckStack can help

Comparing documents line by line is slow, and it's hard to spot your own mistakes. A free DeckStack Check reads your resume alongside your cover letter and LinkedIn profile and shows your three highest-impact findings, including dates, titles and details that disagree. With a DeckStack Pass, DeckStack Resume goes further: it reads every version you've saved and helps you settle the differences into one accurate record.