In the group meeting, we talked about tips and tricks with LinkedIn, which is incredibly important. It is important as a general student, because once I begin in my field and look for internships, it is important to have a proper LinkedIn profile. I learned that 70% of students have a profile in order to build connections and share ideas, and also share current trends, which was interesting to me. I thought it was informational to learn that this forum is where you show more about yourself via a personal brand (values, passions, what make up you) in a way that is expanded upon outside of your resume.
I didn’t realize how important a personal brand was and how important this site is for hiring/internships. I originally thought that it was just an extra thing that people did (like a business instagram, not too important). I like that we are supposed to add more about us (like to run, like to do stuff with health, etc) and not just giving the blah blah blah about what you’re business experience is. I thought it was useful that she went over profile building with us, which is:
- picture (profile picture is 7x more likely to be viewed)
- summary (bio: promoting your personal brand, what you’re looking for/involved in “energetic, critical thinker that’s passionate about ____”)
- possibly resume??
- education (scholarships, study abroad, etc)
- experience (paid and unpaid – emphasize the most relevant)
- honors and awards (scholarships, dean’s list, academic honors)
- skills (only related to skills you actually have) –> people can endorse those skills for you on LinkedIN
- headline (short, memorable, professional slogan)
- update your status
- collect recommendations
- share your work (writing samples, portfolios, etc)
- use key words in “skills and expertise” section
- manage your endorsements (endorsing others might make them endorse you)
–> making sure you send a note!!! especially if you really want to connect with them (70% more likely for them to connect with you)
–> don’t mass add!! take your time with gaining real connections