Using LinkedIn for Your Job Search: Networking the Correct Way

The job search is not fun. It is not fun for millennials, baby boomers or generations from any part of the alphabet. The job search requires consistency, patience and a continuous eye on the “big picture” in order to remain positive and focused. The job search also requires having a keen ‘sense of self’ in order to determine where you want to be.

How can you start a search if you don’t know what you are searching for. We probably spent a good deal of time asking ourselves what we ‘wanted to be when we grew up’. This sentence might have changed over the years and those asking might have also changed depending on our particular stations in life. College students must ask themselves this important question (over and over – they need to be annoying to themselves) so that they can begin their job search based on a foundation that excites them and renews their spirit.

What we also want in our freshman year of college can change dramatically over the course of a few months so it is good to re-visit your “who am I really?” list and see how the things that have changed about you alter what decisions you make.

Since students need to understand who they are (where they are starting from) before they can begin to imagine where they want to end up, the Myers Briggs assessment for students is a nice place to start. It is never too soon to take a good look at what makes you tick (and what makes you tick in your life will probably make you rock on the job).

Using the results of the assessment, students can begin to understand how their personality traits, their individual preferences, their strengths and weaknesses effect their workplace experience and what options they can explore to make the most informed choices. Assessments (whether it’s MBTI or a similar tool like DISC) enable the student to take an objective view of some of the factors that go into workplace satisfaction and how important it is to explore those many moving parts before they find themselves stuck in a career they hate.

So you’ve made a decision and are fully immersed in your major of choice – now it’s time to get your LinkedIn profile up to speed so you can let the rest of the world know who you are and what your career plans are. Following is a step by step LinkedIn “cheat sheet” that will help you announce to the world that you’re on your way.

Your background: If you take good pictures and can use one that is relevant to who you are, be creative and create a backdrop that talks to who you are. Do not use this an opportunity to be too bold or unique: this is LinkedIn and not Facebook. If you are an accounting student, you can have a ‘numbers’ background – a fashion student might want a design or something ‘trendy’ as a backdrop.

Your picture: You need a smiling, non-selfie head shot. Do not take the picture from the most recent wedding you attended and crop out the bridal party. Do not be on a mountain, at a concert, in your new car or with a significant other. Take a look at some of the head shots on LinkedIn and remember that recruiters are seeing this. Smile and project confidence. Be mindful of backgrounds.

Your headline/tag line: Do not say “recent graduate seeking opportunities”. Everyone is. Who are you and what makes you stand out? What do you want someone to know about you in one sentence? Capture your audience and make them want to continue reading – recruiters spend a few seconds on a mediocre profile and several minutes reading through a robust one that has captured their attention.

Your Summary: Keeping in mind that personal pronouns are never used (just like your resume), your summary should say (in no more than a short paragraph) what your major strengths and areas of responsibility are. This short description should be interesting, thought-provoking and one of the most important “attention grabbers” that you want a recruiter to look for.

Your Experience: Using the rules of proper resume writing, your profile should consist of a comprehensive, chronologically and grammatically correct outline of your job experience. Be mindful of tenses, redundancies and information that detracts from your mission. Leave out jobs that do not talk to your current career goals unless they can be used to discuss a particular skill set or is needed to account for time. *Students should feel free to include part-time, freelance and internship positions as they enable recruiters to get a sense of work ethic, determination and flexibility.

Honors/Awards: Yes. Include them all. We care about your hard work almost as much as you do. Not everyone gets them- show us what you got!

Education: Unless you went to a specialized high school involving an entrance exam or you managed to graduate at the top of your class – your high school does not need to be included on your profile. Location, actual name of your degree and any honors of an academic nature should be included in this section. A GPA over 3.5 should be included.

Recommendations: This is an awesome section where people from your educational or professional life can sing your praises for the world to see. It’s fine to ‘request’ a recommendation but be mindful who you are asking; someone who doesn’t really know you enough to put concrete words together “Alice worked on projects with me and handled stress, deadlines and last minute changes like a real pro” as opposed to “Alice was really nice”. Recommendations that are poorly written or grammatically incorrect say just as much about you as it does about the writer. *Read carefully but accepting and don’t be afraid to ask for a revision if the recommendation is meaningful for you.

Connections: You want to grow your network as effectively as possible. In addition to including colleagues, peers, classmates, professors and industry professionals – you should be networking with other college students and professionals from similar industries so that you can broaden your job search and add dimension to your networking opportunities. Do not accept every person who asks to connect to you but rather build your personal network of people who you respect, have done business with (or hope to) as well as any professional committed to assisting you with your job search and “big picture” plans. Do not be discouraged if Human Resource professionals and/or recruiters do not readily accept your connection invite as they are overwhelmed with applicant requests and find a distance is needed in order to remain objective and impartial.

Groups: Not a joiner? Now is the time to change that. Join a minimum of 25 groups and get involved in discussions and sharing of posts. Hitting “like” on everything interesting is not effective networking. Posting a comment “thanks for sharing this fascinating article” will position you as a thinking person with an opinion. Posting a relevant article to share with your group or connections will position you as an Influencer and recruiters take notice of that. Use your voice as effectively as possible. Remember your audience and the wide reach it has.

Following: Follow every company/organization you are interested in. See what happens in a few weeks – who has been hired, what internal changes have been made…how can information about a company you have an interest in help you put together a strong cover letter/letter of interest. Organizations take notice of who follows them – show your interest in every way you can.

Once your profile is robust and each section is filled out completely, you can begin to use the information available to you to start the actual job search/networking. By being an active and relevant voice – your opinions, shares and commentary will show up on the ‘home page’ of all your connections. If an article you share is of particular interest it might get shared with others and before long you will be contacted (or viewed) by people in the small circle you are trying to break into. There are endless webinars available on LinkedIn to walk you through any function you are having difficulty with.

The most important thing to remember is that LinkedIn is not Facebook. Everything you do and say is being viewed by the world’s most professional influencers – this tool can land you the job of your dreams…or get you in hot water for many years to come. Get LinkedIn. Get Networking. Get that Great Job!