Written by Ojas Nadkar
The Internet and Social Media has changed our lives. LinkedIn is the top online site for professional, social and career networking. How you present yourself on LinkedIn and how you network can have an impact on your professional growth and career. As of late 2018, LinkedIn had more than half a billion members in more than 200 countries, including executives from all of the Fortune 500 companies. Below you will find some quick tips on how to use LinkedIn effectively to get your career going.
- Complete your LinkedIn profile
Building connections starts with people seeing all you have to offer. Members with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn. A professional profile picture and a solid summary will attract recruiters. Adding the GitHub repositories to LinkedIn also helps recruiters see the impact of your project.
- You’re more experienced than you think.
Think broadly about all your experience, including summer jobs, unpaid internships, volunteer work, and student organizations. It is always helpful to add every skill; you never know what might catch someone’s eye. Requesting your colleagues, project partners or professors to endorse you in skills which they know you excel. You might also want to ask for recommendations from professors or managers.
- Use your inbox.
Networking doesn’t mean reaching out cold to strangers. Start building your LinkedIn network by connecting to people you know and trust. Generally LinkedIn does a very good job of suggesting connections based on your email directory. Adding your friends will expose your profile to friends of friends; this will increase your professional network over time.
- Get personal
As you build your connections, customize your requests with a friendly note and, if necessary, a reminder of where you met, who you met through, or what organization you have in common. The “Add a Note” option provided by LinkedIn is a great way to reintroduce your contact. It is always advisable to write a personal note when connecting with recruiters you meet in the career fair, it provides them a good overview of your skills and they are more likely to remember you from that note.
- Join the “In” crowd
LinkedIn Groups can help you form new connections. Start with your school groups and reach out to alumni. The alumni groups love to connect to students and are always of help. UCI also has a few alumni groups that you may join to connect to alumni that may help you land your next job. Also try to find volunteer organizations and associations you belong to and joins those groups too, you never know where an opportunity might appear.
- Lend a hand
As you build connections, think about how you can support others. Comment on a classmate’s status update or forward a job listing to a friend – your generosity will be returned. Also, try to endorse skills of your classmates or project partners – your generosity will be returned. LinkedIn is a community where you be kind to and look out for people.
- Update your status often
Networking isn’t just about who you know; it’s about who knows you. Stay on your network’s radar by updating your LinkedIn status regularly. Your LinkedIn profile should always be updated. If you have just finished a paper or you presented a paper, make sure to add it in your LinkedIn profile. Recruiters are always on the lookout for candidates and an updated profile puts you in a better position of getting their attention.
- Request informational interviews
As a student, don’t ask professional contacts for a job. Instead, ask for a brief phone conversation to seek their job search advice. The easiest way to start is to ask people you already know. Alumni and industry leaders are often willing to do such interviews.
- Do your research
Before an informational interview, a formal interview, or a networking event, use LinkedIn’s Advanced Search and Company Pages to learn about the background and interests of the people you’re meeting. Knowing something about the occupation and the company will help you develop specific questions, show your enthusiasm for the job, and help you look more professional. Bring a copy of your resume to demonstrate seriousness and professionalism. You can also ask the people you interview to give you feedback on your resume; this may help you gain relevant advice to be more competitive for a certain field.
- Step away from the computer!
Support your online networking with a real human touch. Set up calls, attend live events, and send mail notes to people you interact with on LinkedIn. Attend career fairs and take them seriously. Make it a point to stay in touch with all the people you meet in the fair and ask them for informational interviews. The greater number of people that you interact with, higher is the chance of securing an interview or landing a job.
UCI career fair: https://career.uci.edu/about/events/career-fairs/
Lastly, the sky’s the limit when it comes to networking, getting out of you comfort zone, interacting with people on LinkedIn and making your profile reachable to recruiters by following all the steps mentioned above will help you not only to land a good job, but also to make important connections which may help you at some point in your career.
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