TEAM PROJECT PRESENTATION:ARE COLLEGE STUDENTS’ LINKEDIN?TEAM MEMBERS: JEFF GUNTER, SETH BROWN, CHRIS DIETZ, JEREMY O'CONNOR

CORE ISSUES

• Research has shown that the majority of college students don’t create a LinkedIn account or they have one but don’t utilize it until after they graduate.• There are also many students that are unaware of

how to take full advantage of everything LinkedIn has to offer.

• Many recent graduates find themselves working jobs they are over-qualified for.

IMPORTANCE TO COLLEGE STUDENTS• LinkedIn can be an incredibly useful tool in advancing

your career• 94% of recruiters research a potential candidate’s social

media presence• 78% of employers have hired candidates through LinkedIn• You can customize your LinkedIn feed to provide updates

and articles to help you stay on the cutting edge of your field

SYMPTOMS

• Only about half of college students have ever used LinkedIn.• LinkedIn has low repeat usage, 61% of users

view the site once every three weeks or less often.• Since only about 50% of college students use

LinkedIn there are competitors starting to target the millennial market.

PROBABLE PROBLEMS

• College students are intimidated by their lack of professional experience.• College students have difficulty translating their skills into

professional bullet points• College students are unaware of the value in creating a

LinkedIn account• LinkedIn training is available, but lack of guidance causes

new users to put off learning how to utilize the professional development networking site

DECISION STATEMENT

• How can LinkedIn increase its usage rate among college students?• Provide more easy to find training tools.• Target college students with specific information

pertaining to their developmental situation.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

• Research Objective 1• The first research objective was to understand how college students

access social media in their everyday environment

• Research Objective 2• The second research objective was to understand how college

students search for information pertaining to professional development

• Research Objective 3• The third research objective was to identify how LinkedIn can improve

usage among college students

SUMMARY OF RESPONDENT'S DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION• The age range of our 39 respondents was

from 19 to 38, with an average of 24.• 86% of the respondents were of the millennial

generation

• Our respondents consisted of an almost equal representation of gender• 20 Males (51%) and 19 Females (49%)

• We also had a near equal amount of juniors and seniors• 56% were juniors and 44% were seniors

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Male Female Male Female Male Female Male FemaleAges 19-23 (75%) Ages 24-28 (10%) Ages 29-33 (2%) Ages 34-38 (12%)

34%

41%

10%

0% 0%

2% 2%

10%

Respondents Gender and Age(Percentages are of total re-

spondents)

Gen

der

Mal

e

Fem

ale

Mal

e &

Fem

ale

Mal

e

Fem

ale

Mal

e &

Fem

ale

Academic Year

Junior Senior

28% 28%

56%

21%23%

44%

Academic Year of Respondents(Percentages are of junior & senior

respondents)

IMPORTANT FINDINGS FROM OUR LITERATURE SEARCH• The Education Advisory Board• 94% of recruiters research a potential candidate's

social media presence• 43% of employers passed on hiring a potential

candidate due to negative information on their social media accounts• 78% of employers have hired candidates through

LinkedIn• 41% of college students use LinkedIn’s

professional services

IMPORTANT FINDINGS FROM OUR LITERATURE SEARCH• The Pew Research Center• Facebook still remains the top social media site in

regards to usage with a 71% usage rate• LinkedIn has a 50% usage rate by internet users

with a college degree• Only 28% of all adult internet users have a

LinkedIn account• LinkedIn is the only social media site that has more

30-64 year old users than users in the age range of 18-29

IMPORTANT FINDINGS FROM OUR LITERATURE SEARCH• The Associated Press (AP)• 54% of American bachelor’s degree holders, aged

25 and under, are unemployed or underemployed.• The amount of college graduates with a bachelor’s

degree has grown by 38% since 2000.• AP reports that students should actually be more

focused on the skills they attain while in school, and less focused on the actual diploma.

IMPORTANT FINDINGS FROM OUR TEAM’S SURVEY• According to our team’s survey college

students have an interesting take on importance of professional development.• 50% of respondents believe that professional

development is either extremely important or very important to college students in general.• However, 88% of respondents indicated that

professional development is either extremely important or very important to themselves, personally.

IMPORTANT FINDINGS FROM OUR TEAM’S SURVEY

Not Very Important

Somewhat Important

Very Important

Extrememly Important

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

2%

10%

44%

44%

8%

42%

32%

18%

College Students' Perception of Profes-sional Development Importance (n=39)

Professional Development Importance (College Students Overall)Professional Development Importance (Personal)

IMPORTANT FINDINGS FROM OUR TEAM’S SURVEY• One of the things our team wanted to find

out through our survey is what devices do college students prefer to access social media on.• 15% of respondents indicated that they used a

desktop computer.• 18% of respondents indicated that they used a

tablet.• 48% of respondents indicated that they used a

laptop.• 95% of respondents indicated that they used a

smartphone.

IMPORTANT FINDINGS FROM OUR TEAM’S SURVEY

Desktop Laptop Smartphone Tablet0%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

15%

49%

95%

18%

Preferred Device Used to Access Social Media (n=38)

IMPORTANT FINDINGS FROM OUR TEAM’S SURVEY• Our team was interested in finding what professional

development topics college students are most interested in and how often they search for them.• According to our team’s survey students are most

interested in finding entry level positions and internships.• 64% of respondents indicated that they were interested in

finding entry level positions• 66% of respondents indicated that they were interested in

finding internships• 77% of respondents indicated that they searched for

information on professional development at least once a month or more.

IMPORTANT FINDINGS FROM OUR TEAM’S SURVEY

Less than once a monthAt least once a month

At least once a weekMore than once a week

InternshipsEntry Level Positions

Resume WritingStudent Co-Op

Topi

cs o

f Int

eres

t

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%23%

39%28%

10%66%

64%47%

29%

PD Topics of Interest and Freq of Search (n=39)

IMPORTANT FINDINGS FROM OUR TEAM’S SURVEY• Our team was interested in finding out how

many of our respondents had a LinkedIn account established and how difficult they thought it was to use.• 72% of respondents indicated that they already

had a LinkedIn account established.• 48% of respondents indicated that they found

LinkedIn to be very easy or easy to use.• Only 13% of respondents found LinkedIn difficult to

use

IMPORTANT FINDINGS FROM OUR TEAM’S SURVEY

Very Easy

Easy

Neutral

Difficult

Link

edIn

Diffi

cult

y

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

72%

29%

19%

39%

13%

Ease of Use (n=31) and LinkedIn Account Establishment

(n=39)

FINDINGS FOR RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 1• Ranking of social media popularity• Our survey findings are similar to what we

discovered in our literature review.• According the Pew Research Center, Facebook is

the most popular (87%), followed by Instagram (53%), Twitter (53%), Pinterest (34%), and LinkedIn (23%). • Our respondents’ social media use ranks in the

same order.

FINDINGS FOR RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 1• Most Used Device to Access Social Media• 95% of respondents indicated smartphones were

their most preferred device for accessing social media.• The Wall Street Journal analyzed the user friendly

nature between the LinkedIn website and their mobile application in a recent article.• They determined that the mobile application was

easier to use.• It appears that LinkedIn may be aware of the

frequent use of smartphones to access social media.

FINDINGS FOR RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 2• Perception of Professional Development• Of our respondents, 88% indicated that they view

professional development as being either extremely important or very important to them personally.• Surprisingly, our respondents did not believe that

college students, in general, think that professional development is important.• Of our respondents, only 50% selected extremely

important or very important for college students in general.

FINDINGS FOR RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 2• Topics of Interest and Information Sources• Our respondents indicated that internships (66%)

and entry-level positions (64%) were the most searched professional development topics.• The large majority of our respondents (82%)

indicated that they utilize the internet as their number one source for locating information on professional development.

FINDINGS FOR RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 3• Establishment of LinkedIn Account and

Repeat Usage• Overall, we were impressed that 72% of our

respondents had already established a LinkedIn account. • This finding was well above the Pew Research

Center’s estimate of 23%.• We found from our survey that 39% of respondents

indicated that they used LinkedIn less than once a month and 36% of respondents said they used it once a week.

FINDINGS FOR RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 3• Ease of Use and Interest in LinkedIn Training• Of our respondents, 48% indicated that they found

LinkedIn to be very easy, or easy to use.• An overwhelming 92% of respondents said they

were unaware of the weekly LinkedIn training at the Career Development Center.• Of those same respondents 46% said they would

consider attending a training session.

FINDINGS FOR RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 3• Interest in Receiving Professional

Development Newsletters• A large portion of respondents, 49%, said they

would be somewhat interested in receiving a newsletter containing information on professional development• Of the respondents, 15% indicated that they would

be extremely interested or very interested.• Only 8% said they were not at all interested.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Continue to Develop a Market for Millennials• LinkedIn recently released their first-ever TV

commercial during the Oscars.• This was undoubtedly a step toward marketing to

the millennial generation.• Most college students are already aware of

LinkedIn, but unaware of how to use it to its full potential.

• They need to focus on presenting the benefits of professional networking.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Develop Better Training Instruction• We think LinkedIn would benefit from developing

better training or partnerships with university career development centers.• Possibly include LinkedIn training in classes.

• LinkedIn needs to do a better job of encouraging students to start utilizing their professional network long before they graduate from college.

IMPORTANT LESSONS LEARNED FROM THIS GROUP PROJECT OR THINGS WE WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY• Marketing research is a very time consuming

and in-depth process but it produces very useful information.• Effective communication among team

members is essential for things to run smoothly when working in a group.• Surveys can provide a lot of useful

information when conducted well.• SPSS is an incredibly useful tool for analyzing

data obtained through surveys.

QUESTIONS?