This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Bucknell chapter.
YIKES. Time to make a LinkedIn profile? Might as well be time to say goodbye to the best years of your life. “Jobs” and “Networking” are two scary, scary words for college students like us … but navigating LinkedIn doesn’t have to be frightening. Take my tips to make your LinkedIn profile reflect who you are, your accomplishments and your career goals, so you can put your best foot…er, social media profile…forward in the job market!
- Pick a good ‘pic.’ For your professional LinkedIn profile, DON’T choose a picture of yourself where you clearly cropped out the beer can you were holding, are wearing something skimpy/revealing or don’t look put together. While I’m sure your potential employers have enjoyed a good time or two in their lives, they don’t want to picture you partying in college; they want to picture you leading their company with professionalism and class. Choose your “profile picture” wisely!
- Designate your strong suits. In the “Skills & Expertise” part of your LinkedIn profile, you can choose from a huge list of skills based on what you’re good at. Are you a good writer? Communicator? Actor? Video Editor? LIST IT! Other LinkedIn members have the opportunity to “Endorse” you for your skills, which will make the skills appear more prominently on your profile. Take time to fill out this section so employers know that other people agree you’re good at what you say you’re good at.
- BE HONEST. Are you still in college? If so, put that you’re still a student, NOT a CEO of a company (even if that’s what you aspire to be one day). Be honest about where you go to school, where you’re from, what places you’ve interned and the activities/organizations you’re involved with both at college and in your community. Google and Facebook make it SUPER easy for employers to look up everything they want to know about you. That’s why it’s so important to only put information on your profile that’s real, not information that you think will make you look good!
- Choose your “connections” wisely. Is someone who you go to school with, but you’ve absolutely never met before, asking to connect with you? If so, ignore their request. Go on, it’s okay; they can take it! The reason for this is if you have connections from previous internships, jobs, etc. that you worked hard to build yourself, anyone you “connect” with could potentially use your connections, too. In the career world, ya gotta look out for yourself. Only connect with people that you know well; people who would potentially benefit you; and people who you know would be more than willing to help you out!
- Follow certain companies you’re interested in. If you search for specific companies on LinkedIn, chances are most of them have LinkedIn company profiles. Click “Follow” on the right-hand side of the page to add this company to your personal profile. If you demonstrate interest in them, chances are you’ll receive their updates/have an easier time finding connections to that company!
There ya have it. While internship and job applications may scare the living daylights out of you (Bucknell forever!!!), LinkedIn doesn’t have to produce the same effect. Breathe in. Breathe out. And get LinkedIn … the smart way!