Getting Started on LinkedIn for College Students

There is never a better time to get started using LinkedIn than while you are still in college. Unlike Facebook, which you’ve probably used primarily for your social life, LinkedIn should be reserved for your professional life.  And even though you are a couple of years away from your first professional job, now is the time to start building your LinkedIn profile and network.  LinkedIn is a very powerful business tool and a “must have” for all professionals.  For more insight on the use of LinkedIn among recruiters, check out this article, “20 Reasons Why LinkedIn Will Be the #1 Recruiting Portal of the Future.” 

LinkedIn Maps to Visualize Your Network

LinkedIn Maps is a tool for visualizing your professional network.  It takes only a few minutes and reveals clusters, gaps and connectors in your network.  Here is mine:

Reading List: “How to REALLY use LinkedIn” – 2nd edition Available for Free Download

Jan Vermeiren and Bert Verdonck have written the second edition of “How to REALLY use LinkedIn” and are making it available for free.  Vermeiren’s first edition is one of my top recommendations on the subject of LinkedIn.

The 2nd Edition has been completely revised and there are 53 extra pages which include:

• Passive, active and proactive strategies for people who are looking for new customers, new employees or a new job.
• How to be better prepared for offline events using LinkedIn.
• A brand new chapter about how organizations can use LinkedIn (versus individuals) including the new LinkedIn Strategy Matrix© for Organizations.

Finally there is the new free “Video & Tools Library” with video tips, assessments, tools and webinar recordings.  The book can be downloaded for free from http://www.how-to-really-use-linkedin.com (the library can also be found on that website).

What does your LinkedIn Profile say about you?

Is your LinkedIn profile a resume repository– an online resume where you maintain and exhaustive and comprehensive record of all of your professional experiences and educational credentials?  It is easy for the sake of being complete to treat is as such, however, you’ll be missing the real power of the LinkedIn as a social media marketing platform for you and your business.

Jeff Haden in an Inc.com article offers six simple steps to fine tune your LinkedIn profile:

Step 1. Revisit your goals. Who you are isn’t as important as what you hope to accomplish, so think about your goals and convert your goals into keywords, because keywords are how people find you on LinkedIn.
Step 2. Layer in your keywords. The headline is a key factor in search results, so pick your most important keyword and make sure it appears in your headline.
Step 3. Strip out the clutter. Sift through your profile and weed out or streamline everything that doesn’t support your business or professional goals.
Step 4. Reintroduce your personality. Share why you love what you do in your profile. Share what you hope to accomplish. Keywords are important but are primarily just a way to help potential clients find you. No one hires keywords; they hire people.
Step 5. Take a hard look at your profile photo. A photo is a little like a logo: On its own an awesome photo won’t win business, but a bad photo can definitely lose business.
Step 6. Get recommendations. Recommendations add color and depth to a LinkedIn profile, fleshing it out while avoiding any, “Oh jeez will this guy ever shut up about himself?” reactions.

What does your LinkedIn profile say about you?

Career-ology Publishes Free Tools

Today, Career-ology published two free resource available.

The first tool, Overview-LinkedIn, provides an overview of the key features and functions of LinkedIn, tips on getting started and a list of additional resources for training.  LinkedIn is most popular professional social media site with more than 100 million members.  Are you on LinkedIn?  If not, you should be.

The second tool, Interview & Meeting Prep, can be used to prepare for an interview, a business meeting or networking situation with colleagues, customers or clients using popular social media tools and websites.  The information you collect will help you to establish a meaningful connection with the people you meet.  By learning more about the person with whom you are meeting, you can increase the likelihood of finding points of common interest.

To download these free tools (.pdf) from Career-ology, click on the Resources page.

70% of Recruiters Have Rejected Candidates Because of Online Content!

This 8-page article from the NY Times is a comprehensive look at all of the issues related to online privacy. There some critical information for job seekers.  For those who want the short version, read the excerpt below:

“According to a recent survey by Microsoft, 75 percent of U.S. recruiters and human-resource professionals report that their companies require them to do online research about candidates, and many use a range of sites when scrutinizing applicants — including search engines, social-networking sites, photo- and video-sharing sites, personal websites and blogs, Twitter and online-gaming sites. Seventy percent of U.S. recruiters report that they have rejected candidates because of information found online, like photos and discussion-board conversations and membership in controversial groups.”