You should be on LinkedIn. And if you’re not, you should make yourself a profile.
LinkedIn, the social network for professional-based relationships and career-driven goals, is where current college students and recent grads need to be to help power their job and internship search. LinkedIn is built for three main actions: to “build your professional identity online and stay in touch with colleagues and classmates; discover professional opportunities, business deals, and new ventures; and get the latest news, inspiration, and insights you need to be great at what you do.”
But why should you make a LinkedIn profile and why should you keep it current? It’s simple. LinkedIn is a digital supplement to yourself and to your resume. You list all job experience you have (stuff that you even need to cut off your resume because you’ve run out of space), your educational degrees and the institutions at which you received them, and all of the skills you have. You include a brief summary about yourself and your goals and you upload a profile picture. Other elements that you can add to your profile are volunteer experience, classes, projects, awards and more, to add more depth to yourself as a professional.
When you get internship or job interviews, there’s a high chance your interviewer is going to check out your LinkedIn profile. Having a current and up-to-date profile shows you are a serious professional. Also, having a LinkedIn makes you “Google-able.” When you include your brief bio on your profile, if someone searches your name via Google, you’ll come up in the search. However, if you don’t include a bio, your name won’t come up on Google, and that’s too bad.
But LinkedIn isn’t just a virtual, extended resume; it’s a way to connect with others. You connect with your classmates, colleagues, professors, etc. Any time you go to a networking event, connect with those who you meet on LinkedIn afterwards. The point of expanding your “network” is to increase your professional reach. At some point or another, maybe you’ll see that one of your connections knows someone at a company you want to work for. Then, you can ask your connection to introduce you to the person they know who you want to know. Also, expanding your network makes you a credible person. When someone “links” with you, they can reach out to you if they need someone to fill a position, or you could reach out to them if you notice a position is open. LinkedIn also lets you “follow” and interact with companies, so you can see when they announce job openings. You can literally apply for a job through LinkedIn and get it—it’s common for things like this to happen now.
You can also share and read content on LinkedIn. Companies and your connections will post articles and news related to the fields they’re in. So, you can stay up-to-date with what’s happening in your industry.
LinkedIn allows you to strengthen those professional relationships you have, with the goals to advance your career. You create reciprocal connections that could eventually lead to your dream career or land you a new job. But it all starts with having a strong profile.