How to Actually Use LinkedIn as a College Student in 2021
Is LinkedIn really necessary? Most employers and recruiters agree: yes! LinkedIn is the new CV, and it provides not only a personalized insight for potential employers, it also helps you make connections and have jobs come to you.
The first step is obviously to sign up and create your account. The first mistake some people make is not filling their profile out to 100% - LinkedIn's algorithm rewards you for completing your profile by making you more visible. I recommend making sure your profile is public as well. Make sure to complete the following checklist:
I will cover the three parts of using LinkedIn, focusing on how you as a college student, who may have very limited work experience, can maximize your potential.
- Getting Started
- Making Connections
- Attracting Job Opportunities
Getting Started
- Professional profile picture with your face taking up 75-80% of the circle
- Banner picture
- Headline
- About me
- Employment/education history and experience - fill out like your resume
- Skills, including languages
For a banner photo, you can upload any high resolution photo (you can search online for "background photo" + your industry) straight into LinkedIn. You might consider customizing a banner on Canva. Canva - even on free accounts - allows you to create a document specifically the size of the LinkedIn banner. You can upload your own picture or choose from their free photo library. Then, you can add text (on the right side) with your name, "Aspiring" + dream job, and your top three skills. See the example in my profile - link is at the end! Make sure to add you location, and if you're open to working in other locations, say so in your "about me" section.
Keep your headline short, identifying something that makes you stand out and/or your current career goals. For your "about me" section, keep in mind that recruiters can search and find you based on key words in this section, so tell a story - don't be afraid to be lengthy. Highlight the things you're most proud of, talk about your current and future career goals, and end with a call to action - "connect with me and shoot me a message!"
You might find yourself struggling to fill out your experiences. Don't forget the importance of volunteer experience, and use the roles you have had (yes, even McDonald's). Describe your job duties/responsibilities, and where possible, use numbers or demonstrate meeting goals. One underutilized function is to add media to your experiences. You can add photos and documents, such as graphics you've created, flyers from events you planned, and more! This creates a more attractive and engaging profile.
If you're looking to get more experience, I recommend connecting with opportunities through your college. There is likely an organization that can connect you and even shuttle you to volunteer opportunities, and on-campus employment is likely to look good on a resume and be flexible with your school schedule. After taking a class, see if you can tutor for it. Build your way up from one job to the next. Keep in mind that being involved and passionate can turn into future job opportunities, such as with a professor who keeps you in mind for a student research assistant opportunity.
The skills section is also searchable by recruiters, so max it out. If you have work experiences, include them (customer service, for example) but also emphasize the skills you're developing in class and in extracurriculars, and the "soft" skills you may have. Examples include research, writing, cultural competency, world languages, teamwork, creative problem solving, time management, etc. Don't forget to include your skills in things like Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides and in Microsoft products as well.
Your school may offer courses you can take as electives to build Microsoft skills, or try YouTube tutorials. You can get certified in Microsoft products through your skill, but the testing costs money. You can also take LinkedIn assessments on some skills like Microsoft products, and you and your classmates, coworkers, and friends can endorse each other for these skills to add additional credibility. Another great LinkedIn function is recommendations: ask professors, co-workers, and managers to write you a recommendation on LinkedIn, particularly when you graduate or leave a position.
Making Connections
If you've just created your profile, you'll want to start making connections and posting. First, add your friends, past and current employers, and people in your classes and clubs. You can search for people by location, industry, and school, but if adding someone you don't know well, make sure to personalize the message. For example, "Hello! I'm a fellow X University student. I saw that you were also interested in the Y sector and just wanted to add you to my network. Sincerely, Name." There are also tons of templates for these messages if you are nervous and need additional inspiration.
When you post something and a connection reacts or comments on it, that post is then shared on the feed of everyone in their network, so posting and getting reactions can help you make new connections. This also works the other way, so react and comment on your connections' posts! You can post about classes you're taking, books or articles you've read recently, and of course, academic and employment achievements. For example, post if you make the Dean's list, or that about a class you find very interesting and how it is related to your industry. You can also "feature" a post so it stays at the top of your LinkedIn page. One idea is to create a post when you leave a place of employment (if it was a good parting, of course) that talks in detail about your job responsibilities and accomplishments at that job, then featuring the post about your most recent job (or volunteer experience) so employers can get more details about what you've been up to.
Finally, make sure to like and follow any and all companies in the industry you want to work in. When recruiters/employers see your name in a search, they can also see if you are following their company! Continue to make connections and posts throughout college so by the time you're looking for full time work, you have a strong network and profile.
Attracting Job Opportunities
There are a few things to consider when actively seeking work. First, make sure you're profile is set to "seeking employment," and add the profile frame that says "#OpenToWork." Then, search for people who are currently in the job you want or job postings for the jobs you want, and look at the top skills and job titles. Use these keywords in your profile, including in skills and the about me section, to optimize your profile for recruiters.
You can also find alumni of your school in the field you want. First, by searching for people, you can select your school as a filter, then the industry or even a specific company, and now you have a list of people who go or went to your school and work in the industry you want to work for! Connect with them, again sending a personalized note describing why you want to connect and how they are connected to you through the school/industry. If you then want to take that connection further, offer to take them out for a coffee or message them with a specific question - not vague or overly general like "do you have any advice?" You could ask what they did after college, if they've taken any courses or gotten any certifications that were very helpful, etc. Again, you can look online for more specific message templates.
When actively applying to jobs, you can search for jobs using filters such as "Entry Level," Industry, Location, Company, Full-time/Part-time/Internship/etc., Remote, and more. One filter is "in your network," meaning search results will include jobs at companies you have at least one connection working at. Another is "under 10 applicants," which can help you be one of the first people to apply to a job and avoid postings that have 200+ applicants. LinkedIn is a great job posting board, comparable to Indeed. You can also set alerts for a specific job search, so they will notify you if there's a new posting that meets your search filters!
Conclusion
Don't forget that after creating your LinkedIn profile, you can take advantage of the services your student fees pay for at your college and get a professional career center specialist to look over it and help you continue to improve it. Your school might offer free LinkedIn Learning - where you can take free courses - or seminars/webinars on how to use it effectively. Don't forget to network with your teachers! Continue to research online; there is so much free information out there. Finally, check out my LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsealriley/ and feel free to connect (just let me know you know me from my blog)!
Check out my other content >> Online Classes, Getting Ready to Register,The College Search, New Year's Resolutions?, Funding Your Education, College Budget, How to Write a College Application Essay in 2021
