Going into college means having a lot of expectations for your career preparation. Being able to have the right resources means being able to have jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities that enable you to pave your path. The key to all of those opportunities is networking which you get a glimpse of during the first few weeks of college while getting to know all of your peers. That is exactly how it work in the professional world and having the tools to build your own network becomes a lot more accessible with the perfect platform. This way all of your high school and undergraduate experience can benefit you throughout college and further on.
What is LinkedIn? LinkedIn is a professional networking site, and now app, where you input and share you job, internship, or volunteer experience with peers, professionals, organizations, and companies that can refer and or hire you for a job position. Not only that but they will be able to see any awards and achievements, as well as skills that enhance your profile. It’s like having an interactive online resume!
I began using LinkedIn after making my resume but I found that being able to organize all of my experience, skills, and awards really helped with structuring a brand new one. Being able to present yourself through your activities and work experience makes it a lot easier for your network to get to know your interests, strengths, and endeavors. All which makes perfecting your profile a lot of fun.
Once you have your profile set up you can make sure to share it everywhere. Career Fairs and social events that call for networking are the perfect chance to share your LinkedIn. You can even put in on your physical resume to embellish it with a modern twist. In fact, it is so useful that when you apply to internships or jobs online you can even sync your account to the application to input all of your information, in one click! If not, there most likely will be a section to input the link. Another cool feature is the direct apply with one click. This feature enables you to provide LinkedIn profile with the recruitment direct looking for candidates directly from the website.
After discovering all of those linkedIn benefits I made sure to begin my internship search for the summer. With the daily job updates I was able to find new opportunities almost everyday. I spent about a month applying to different internships that I would be able to work at and a few weeks later I was able to land my dream one. As a freshman I felt pressured to find a job that will help me survive through college but most importantly the opportunity to enhance my learning experience through an actual company. I put my best foot forward, scrolled, and clicked until I found the one. This platform definitely made my search experience a lot better than I imagined it would be. My next step would be finding mentors who specialized in areas that caught my fancy and yes, they do exist and they are extremely helpful!
In fact I finally realized why it was so “hyped up” by the career services at our school, because it is extremely helpful during the career process, especially during the instances I felt lost during my college career path. What do I want to do on my free time? Where can I be the most productive? Where would it be the most beneficial for me? Those are the questions that LinkedIn helped my answer. I became more comfortable with exploring different industries and discovering opportunities I thought would be too difficult to attain.
If you haven’t found a source for networking other than Instagram, I highly suggest you go ahead and create a LinkedIn account. This leading networking site is the perfect source for mentors, jobs, and news within various industries! So go ahead and give it a try, happy linking!