Should you say you are vegan on LinkedIn?

If you are a “quiet” vegan with a conservative corporate job, and if your LinkedIn profile currently doesn’t mention your vegan interest at all, PLEASE read these tips and update your profile.

On the other hand, if your LinkedIn profile currently over-promotes veganism (see examples below), consider toning it down – you may be unintentionally doing disservice to the cause.

Vegans are still (sometimes unfairly) often seen as annoying and preachy. That’s one reason why many conservative, high-positioned corporate vegans avoid mentioning their veganism on places like LinkedIn. That is a huge missed opportunity. Mentioning one’s vegan interest – even subtly – does these important things:

•It allows people – like other vegans in your company who may be searching for other vegan contacts – to find you.

•It helps normalize veganism among the influential corporate crowd.

So… how to do it right?

LinkedIn is still essentially a resume platform – even though some personal detail is expected. Here is how you keep your profile very businesslike while cleverly working in your vegan interest:

•Tie your veganism into a legitimate accomplishment, e.g. “Co-president of Harvard Vegan Society”, “Launched a vegan travel app”. You can fit this matter-of-fact statement in the profile intro, Employment, Education or Projects sections.

•Make a soft mention in your introduction write-up – after you’ve dazzled the reader with your skills and credentials. For example, close your intro with “My personal interests include healthy vegan/plant-based cooking and fitness.”

•List Vegan in the Skills section. (this is commonly done)

•Join a LinkedIn group such as Vegan Leaders in Corporate Management – it will show up as “common interest” suggestion to people who share that interest.

It is important to use the word vegan. “Plant-based/vegan” will work. But vague hints like “I am passionate about health, nutrition and environment” will get completely missed in any key word searches.

Now, the following ways of calling out one’s vegan identity on LinkedIn might be too heavy-handed and reinforcing the negative stereotype mentioned above. If you use any of these, at least make sure to balance them out by other impressive, non-vegan-related credentials.

•The (V) symbol after your name. This one is fairly harmless but might confuse people or come across as a little cult-ish.

•A vegan profile headline. Headlines are meant to identify one’s profession or position, e.g. “Experienced Marketing and Social Media Manager at Amazon.” If you must, say “Experienced Marketing and Social Media Manager at Amazon and Vegan” rather than something like “I am VEGAN to save the planet!!!!!”

•A vegan tirade in the profile intro – especially before establishing one’s credentials.

•One-dimensional vegan resume – too much focus on vegan jobs and projects.

Want more content tailored for corporate and Fortune 500 vegans? Please check out our other articles, including advice and guides, interviews with featured vegans in corporate leadership, Vegan Leaders news releases and more.

Vegan Leaders in Corporate Management is a non-profit corporation based in California.