In the modern age, pretty much everything is done online. The world revolves around the internet; connecting with friends, shopping and even applying for jobs are now more online than offline activities. So, it’s important for you to understand how to market yourself correctly – and LinkedIn offers you the perfect template to easily, but coherently, create the best version of yourself online. It’s literally what it’s there for.
What is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is the Facebook of the job world. It’s easy to use, the top online site for networking and it connects you with employers and businesses from the palm of your hand! The site currently has millions of members, with employers from over 200 countries.
Why use LinkedIn?
As a student, the earlier you create a LinkedIn profile the better. It’s a popular platform that allows you to create a business network and you can do this by building your profile and creating relationships with employers. By using the site, it could potentially lead to opportunities, internships or even a graduate job.
Employers use the internet to decide whether to hire their employees, therefore having a LinkedIn profile (and a good up to date one) in the modern day is a MUST! Some sectors (notably start-ups in STEM) use LinkedIn as a primary recruitment tool, so if you don’t have one you might even be putting yourself at a disadvantage.
As well as this, by creating a LinkedIn profile it is easier for you to recognise what you have achieved regarding work and what your best skills are. In contrast, it also shows you what you haven’t done and what you can do to improve your CV/ profile to look more appealing to an employer.
How to make a successful Profile:
- Just like Facebook, sign up and log in (it takes 5 minutes max).
- Choose a professional photo. By professional I mean an image of you alone facing the camera. Pick an image that will make a good first impression, not a blurry unrecognisable cropped image of you from 2009. (I was once told that your LinkedIn image is the decider for employers on whether they will connect with you or not – and even if this isn’t true for all recruiters, you might want to take off that fake moustache just in case).
- Make the most of your ‘headline’ – it’s one of the first things the employer will read. Make it informative and make a good first impression to ensure that they will keep reading. A useful tip from our Senior Careers Advisor is to make sure you mention the strengths that are particular to you in this section – really drive home what you’re specifically good at!
- Make sure you include as much relevant information about yourself as possible. Remember you need to market yourself to an employer, and think of your LinkedIn profile as an informal CV. You need to include what degree you’re studying, what companies/ types of jobs that you’re interested in, where you’re studying, where you’re based, your job history, your skills and accomplishments. However, you also need to make sure to inject your personality into your profile. Your writing style will help with this, as will any media you can include.
- Try to connect with as many people as possible – the more connections the more opportunities you are likely to receive. But – make sure those connections are genuine. By all means connect with peers from your course or managers from part time jobs, but remember that a lot of people won’t connect with you unless you send them a message explaining why you’d like to connect in the first place.
- Tailor your LinkedIn profile to suit the job that you want, it will make your account more ‘findable’.
- When creating your profile EXPLAIN! Explain what you have done in previous jobs, explain what you want to do and how you will get there, explain your top skills and give examples! If you don’t give examples, the employer won’t know – they aren’t mind readers, don’t be afraid to sell yourself!
- Keep it short and sweet! You need to sell yourself but don’t bore the employer.
- Update your profile as much as possible and always show case your work on LinkedIn.
- Make sure your profile is complete, if it is incomplete it implies laziness and it is more likely that the employer will click off your profile.
LinkedIn is on the up rise and is the best way to showcase who you are and what you do. What are you waiting for? Go and sign up now!