If you don’t know what LinkedIn is by now I want to praise you for clicking on this article to FINALLY find out everything you need to know about LinkedIn. LinkedIn is basically the professional version of Facebook. It allows you to connect with friends, colleagues, and past co-workers professionally and build up you’re networking skills all online. I’ve personally had a LinkedIn profile since about sophomore year of college. (The early bird gets the worm right?) But if you haven’t created one yet you should probably do it now.
LinkedIn is a great way to organize yourself and making applying to jobs a lot easier. When you create an account on LinkedIn it is available for anyone to see. However this shouldn’t scare you, because with LinkedIn you’re going to want everyone to see what you have been up to for the past four-six years. Plus it’s great for absolutely showing off. On LinkedIn you’re going to want to brag about anything and everything you’ve done!
Have I mentioned how EASY LinkedIn is to use. Seriously it takes about 5 minutes to set up and profile and start connecting with people. Not to mention the personalized job searches and alerts you can set up are perfect for our “always on the go lives”. With the world getting more and more digital every day, getting a LinkedIn profile or updating one that you may already have is the absolute way to go.
To end the article here are some quick tips to make your profile stand out!
1. Add your volunteer work: Especially since we’re young workers, companies love seeing that you have donated your own personal time to helping out a good cause
2. Make use of the company page: Many companies have pages on LinkedIn where they often post news, important info and jobs. So go ahead follow the companies you would love to work for. You might even find you have a connection to someone in them.
3. Post any work you have online: This works great for journalist, graphic designers, etc. If you have work you can showcase go ahead put it out there for the world to see!
4. Only connect with people you want to connect with: But seriously this isn’t Facebook. I really advise only connecting with people you would actually talk to in real life or people that can help you in the job world. So don’t add that frenemy just because you feel like you have to.
5. Consistently use it!: Last but not least always use LinkedIn. New things are coming up every single day. I make it a point to check my LinkedIn about 2-3 times a week. Then I can accept invitations, look for new jobs and follow up on my favorite companies.
So now you’re ready to join the world LinkedIn. Hop to it because you never know what you may find!