You can add languages to your LinkedIn profile in two ways: listing languages you speak as a skill, or creating an entirely separate version of your profile in another language. Both features help you stand out to recruiters and connections who work in multilingual environments, and each takes just a few minutes to set up.
Adding Languages You Speak to Your Profile
This is what most people are looking for. LinkedIn lets you list every language you know along with a proficiency level, so recruiters filtering candidates by language ability can find you.
To add a language on desktop or mobile:
- Go to your profile and scroll down to the “Languages” section. If you don’t see it, tap the “Add section” button near the top of your profile.
- Select “Recommended,” then choose “Languages.”
- Type the language name and pick a proficiency level from the dropdown.
- Save your changes.
You can repeat this for as many languages as you speak. Each one appears on your profile with the proficiency label you chose.
Choosing the Right Proficiency Level
LinkedIn offers five proficiency levels, and picking the right one matters. If you overstate your ability, it can backfire in an interview conducted in that language. Here’s what each level signals to a recruiter:
- Elementary proficiency: You know basic words and phrases. You could introduce yourself or read simple signs, but you can’t hold a real conversation.
- Limited working proficiency: You can handle straightforward workplace exchanges like emails or brief calls, but you’d struggle with anything nuanced or fast-paced.
- Professional working proficiency: You can use the language comfortably in most work situations, including meetings and written reports, though it’s clearly not your strongest language.
- Full professional proficiency: You’re comfortable using the language at the same level as your native tongue in a professional setting. You can negotiate, present, and pick up on cultural nuances.
- Native or bilingual proficiency: This is the language you grew up speaking, or you’re indistinguishable from a native speaker.
A practical test: if you could conduct a job interview entirely in that language and feel confident, you’re at professional working proficiency or above. If you’d need to pause and look up terms regularly, limited working proficiency is more honest.
Creating a Full Profile in Another Language
This is a separate feature from listing languages you speak. LinkedIn lets you create a secondary version of your entire profile, including your headline, summary, work experience, and education, translated into another language. When someone browses LinkedIn in French, for example, they’ll automatically see your French-language profile if you’ve created one.
This feature is only available on desktop. Here’s the process:
- Click the “Me” icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage and select “View Profile.”
- Click the edit icon next to “Profile language” on the right side of the page.
- Click “Add language” in the pop-up window.
- Choose the language from the dropdown list. Update your first and last name if they’re written differently in that language.
- Translate your headline into the new language.
- Click “Create Profile,” then “Done.”
After creating the profile shell, you’ll need to go back through every section and translate it yourself. LinkedIn does not auto-translate any of your content. Your summary, job titles, descriptions, skills, and education details all need manual translation.
How Viewers See Your Multilingual Profile
LinkedIn automatically displays the version of your profile that matches the language a viewer is using the site in. If someone browses LinkedIn in Spanish and you’ve created a Spanish profile, they see that version. If they’re using a language you haven’t created a profile for, they see your primary language profile instead. Viewers can also manually switch between your available languages using a dropdown on your profile page.
You can set any of your language profiles as the primary one. In the profile language settings, toggle “Make primary language” next to whichever version you want as your default. This is the version that appears when no language match exists.
When Each Option Is Worth the Effort
Adding languages to your skills section takes under a minute per language and is worth doing for anyone who speaks more than one language. Recruiters frequently filter searches by language, so even listing elementary proficiency in a less common language can surface your profile in results it wouldn’t otherwise appear in.
Creating a full secondary profile takes considerably more effort, since you’re essentially rewriting your entire profile in another language. It pays off most if you’re actively job searching in a market where that language dominates, if you work with international clients, or if you want to network with professionals who primarily use LinkedIn in another language. If you’re a project manager targeting roles in Germany, for instance, a German-language profile signals to recruiters there that you’re serious about working in that market.
You can combine both approaches. List all the languages you speak in your skills section for searchability, and create a full secondary profile only for the one or two languages where you’re actively trying to reach a specific audience.