Introduction to LinkedIn
A LinkedIn profile provides a platform to showcase your qualifications, skills and experience to potential employers. Many recruiters will look at your online presence before interviewing and a well-written LinkedIn profile is an excellent way to make a good first impression.
#1 Before starting to write your profile, be clear about your objectives. Do you have a specific career goal in mind? Does your profile reflect this?
#2 Remember that everything you write will be in the public domain – you must be truthful, accurate and professional. There are many news articles about dismissals due to the inappropriate use of social media.
#3 LinkedIn has a useful feature that allows you to upload your CV as a word document, recognising the relevant parts and laying them out in the correct order. You may decide to make adjustments for your profile, do not feel that you must include everything. Think about the key messages you want to convey and view other profiles to help refine your own.
#4 Choose an appropriate photo – remember LinkedIn is a professional social network. What image do you want to portray? A head and shoulders photo with a fairly neutral background taken on a phone camera will be suitable.
#5 Remember to keep your target audience in mind; what skills are they looking for? Highlight the valuable skills that you have to offer an employer and use active verbs to sound dynamic e.g. analysed, led, managed, organised.
#6 LinkedIn gives you the option to include details such as Twitter profiles, websites, blogs and instant messaging addresses in your profile. You can link to a website, blog or Twitter feed if they are appropriate for the work you are seeking.
#7 Similar to your CV, keep your profile up to date by adding information about new roles, skills and experiences.
Take a look at the LinkedIn cheat sheet for more ideas
Once your profile is online, you can start building your connections.
#1 Start by adding existing contacts – family, course peers, colleagues and employers from part-time jobs and internships/placements, and contacts from volunteering, extra-curricular activities etc.
#2 Once you are connected to somebody, you can also view their connections: a 1st degree connection is somebody you are connected to, a 2nd degree connection is somebody they are connected to, etc.
#3 You could ask to have an informal discussion with a connection online or in person to find out more a job role, a company or sector, work shadowing or work experience opportunities. You can also ask about when companies will be hiring new staff and what their recruitment processes involve.
#4 It is important to build relationships gradually – don’t ask a new contact directly for a job – ask for information and advice initially. You may find this leads to other opportunities.
#5 Once established in your chosen career, you can use LinkedIn to source new clients/business, or perhaps seek a career move or opportunity for promotion.
#6 Join some LinkedIn groups – there are over two million groups on LinkedIn. The ones that are most relevant will include sector groups related to your career interests, alumni groups, and geographical networking groups. Being a member of a group is an efficient way of expanding your network when you have limited contacts.
#1 You can use LinkedIn to explore career opportunities. For example, you can research what graduates with your degree discipline are currently doing: e.g. search ‘Physics’ and ‘University of Surrey’.
#2 Explore information about companies and their current employees. Research to stay up to date with current sector news and to build valuable contacts. This knowledge can really make an application or interview answer stand out.
#3 Find the career profiles of successful professionals in your field. How did they progress to achieve their current role? What previous work experience/ activities did they engage in? Do they have postgraduate qualifications?
#4 Companies have their own profiles on LinkedIn. It is possible to ‘follow’ companies to receive regular updates. However, be careful of your profile settings and be selective, otherwise your inbox will be inundated with LinkedIn messages.
#5 Clicking on the jobs icon on the top menu will take you to a list of jobs that a LinkedIn algorithm has selected using keywords from your profile and your previous searches.
#6 You can create your own search using the search bar which allows you to specify location and keywords. Once you have performed this search, you can filter by experience level which will give you the option of choosing ‘internship’ or ‘entry level’.
#7 Don’t forget that you can see jobs a particular company has by viewing their LinkedIn homepage
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Don’t forget we are always happy to help you with every aspect of your career planning and development, wherever you are in your journey. If you are unclear about where to start or what to focus on first, just make an appointment with a Careers Consultant via Surrey Pathfinder and we can help you develop a plan for moving forward.
Visit our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion careers resources to find out more about diversity initiatives, employer perspectives and support at Surrey.
If you would like more information, visit MySurrey Help to find answers to the most common questions and details on how to ask us a question if you require more support.
