How To Utilize LinkedIn Effectively - A Workshop on LinkedIn Profile Building

The importance of having a stellar LinkedIn profile can never be overstated. Leveraging LinkedIn with the right intent can help you build your network, showcase your skills and expertise, and even help you land your dream job or further your pursuit of higher education.

LinkedIn - An Overview

LinkedIn is primarily used for networking and job search, and the impact LinkedIn has is well known. Even though the content on LinkedIn is seen as super-formal, and the platform is noticeably different from other social media platforms, navigating through this shouldn’t be a tough act.

Optimizing Your LinkedIn Profile

Shorten LinkedIn Profile URLs

Shorten your profile URLs to make it more personalized, and look better

Shorter URLs look catchy when you share them, and they are immediately noticeable.

Here’s how you can shorten your LinkedIn profile URLs

Add A Photo and A Cover Image

Having a photo is an absolute necessity

Have a clear headshot, without a distracting background

Avoid selfies, ethnic day photos, group photos, informal pictures with sunglasses/hoodies etc.

Add a cover image related to your job, or what you’re currently studying. Cover images grab eyeballs right when your profile is opened, so upload the best image you get!

LinkedIn Profile Headline and Summary

Your profile headline must be a concise description of your past experiences and your accomplishments

Summarize what you do, what your strengths are and what your career aspirations are in your summary. Use a simple language, avoid jargon

Job Experience

Starting with your current position, write about projects, accomplishments, and the value you bring to your team and organization. Keep it clear and concise

Put in as many details as possible - Tag your companies, your duration of work, skills etc.

Highlight key points and achievements, show numbers and stats if you have them

Use points to describe your achievements, instead of paragraphs

Education

Tag your colleges

Add your accomplishments - clubs, college fest responsibilities, projects, research papers etc.

Adding your college details makes it easier for you to network with your college alumni, ask for job referrals, and provide recruiters with data that leverages the power of our alumni network. Get 11X the profile views.

Skills and Endorsements

Add skills you want to be known for

Get endorsements from your colleagues

Add skills directly related to your job role, your strengths and skills relevant to your career path

Avoid generic skills like Microsoft Word, Hard working, Swimming etc.

Recommendations

Get recommendations from your colleagues or your boss. Make sure you have a positive mindset when asking for a recommendation from your boss or your colleagues.

Students can get recommendations from their professors, or friends. Ensure your recommendations are professional!

LinkedIn for Higher Education

For many of us, getting a post-grad degree from a reputed university is an important step in our career path. Preparations begin soon after graduation in some cases, and sometimes it starts as early as the second year of engineering.

Gathering information about your future post-grad programs, research domains, visa procedures, career paths and the like are extremely important to deciding which universities to apply to, and eventually, this information lays a foundation on which you define your career and your future.

Leveraging LinkedIn - Applying for Grad School

Universities abroad look for all-round performance, so note down your achievements, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, projects on your profile

Use this as an opportunity to describe your personality, elucidate your motivations, your aspirations and what you can bring to the university you apply to.

Apart from your transcripts and your SOP, your LinkedIn profile is an avenue for your admissions officers and professors to know you better

Benefits Of LinkedIn

LinkedIn - Do’s and Don’ts

Curate your responses and communication. Do not comment randomly on posts on your feed. Your communication must be relevant, and insightful.

Commenting “Interested”, “Commenting for better reach” doesn’t work most of the time, and it doesn’t contribute to your value addition on the platform.

Curate your connection requests, and send requests to people you know. Having a relevant list of connections is more beneficial than having a huge number of irrelevant connections.

Keep your communication professional. LinkedIn is a platform for professionals after all.

Leveraging LinkedIn In College

Follow influencers and content creators who are relevant in your domain.

Message experts if you are curious about something and start catching attention early on.

Start connecting with “relevant” folks. Add a note when you send a connection request.

Search for jobs on career portals or on LinkedIn and cold message your connections (recent ones/ BMSCE alumni if possible).

Applying through referrals always have higher chances of catching the recruiters’ attention.

Choosing Your Post-Grad Stream, and Networking

Explore different streams related to your career path, reach out to professors from universities to know more about what they do

Reach out to current students pursuing their Masters programs, and get a better picture about the course, the student culture, and the university.

Connect with professors doing research on topics you’re interested in - Build a relationship which can help you when you eventually pursue your course

Get recommendations from your professors and project guides!

Supercharge Your Job Search With LinkedIn

Searching for relevant jobs is easy on LinkedIn, as the platform analyzes your profile, your interests and shows you jobs based on your expectations. Update your preferences, and get the most relevant opportunities

Reach out to suitable people in companies - Know what your future job might entail, know the company culture and more

Follow companies on LinkedIn , engage with their posts, start a conversation , score brownie points.
LinkedIn Premium can help you analyze your performance, know if recruiters are looking into your profile, get data about other applicants and more.

Stand Out From The Crowd - LinkedIn for Building Relationships

Apply to jobs on company job portals, and network with stakeholders and recruiters in the company on LinkedIn

Use InMails to reach out to recruiters with personal messages, boost your chances of getting hired. Don’t hesitate to message job posters.

Connect with employees or alumni to get referrals. Job applications through referrals have a significantly better chance of being hired

Reach out with a personalized email, a brief description of your skills, why you’d be a good fit for the role and the company. Don’t forget to send in your resume.