What Every College Student Should Post on LinkedIn

Of course I had heard of LinkedIn prior to beginning this class but I was very skeptical of its usefulness. An article on Mashable takes a look at LinkedIn and its potential for college students who will soon be entering the workforce. I was definitely one of college students looking to possibly create a LinkedIn profile after graduation. Possibly may be a strong word. I was probably not going to even consider creating a LinkedIn profile. I would like to call myself a traditionalist as a job seeker because I believe in a good old-fashioned resume with a strong cover letter that magically separates itself from the piles upon piles that a hiring manager would receive. In all reality, I might be less of a traditionalist and more of a cynic who is slow to adopt a potentially good networking opportunity. 

So with the push of this course, I did create a LinkedIn profile and I will have to admit that I actually like it so far. The opportunity to network was a big selling point for me especially since I consider myself a bit on the less than social side when it comes to face to face communication. Admittedly, another major selling point was the fact that joining LinkedIn was a part of an assignment in this course. 

With that aside, the article on Mashable gives some really good pointers to those who are college students who will be seeking a job and how to set up a potentially good LinkedIn account. The article offers advice for the job seeker such as posting a profile picture. An article on MyMediaLabs provides some examples of good and bad LinkedIn profile pictures. 

Please, do not add a photo like these folks.

 The article also mentions including coursework and extracurriculars, showing off schoolwork, asking professors and advisers for recommendations, connecting with industry leaders, commenting on industry-specific articles, asking questions in LinkedIn groups, taking a look into different career paths and also be sure to check for spelling and grammar errors with your account. 

The advice that I found most interesting involved the use of LinkedIn groups. I have joined a few groups on LinkedIn and have found them to be interesting reads when I have spare time. The opportunity to read articles posted by those who are in the profession allows me to stay abreast of current events. Also, it allows me to see various companies and organizations involved in the industry that could be future job opportunities. It is sort of a database of company names that could be used when I begin to get my resume out there. 

Another bit of advice I found very helpful was using LinkedIn to look into different career paths. This is advantageous for me on a personal level because I have had a rather varied career history and I am looking to change careers one final time upon completion of my educational goals.

The last bit of advice I found help was the potential of posting some of your schoolwork on LinkedIn. That is something that I never really considered and it could be a virtual portfolio that would be one click away for a potential hiring manager to take a look at. Plus, it seems like it would show a commitment to the chosen field and career path that would be a way to set you apart from other job-seekers. 

All in all, I am looking forward to continue to build my social media presence on LinkedIn. I went from initially being a skeptic to now potentially thinking LinkedIn might offer some value in the future. 

How about you? Is LinkedIn going to be something that you will use as you close out your time in college?