USM Career & Employment Hub...• Your personal brand • Be creative –grab attention; can use a...

Career & Employment Hub

Building a LinkedIn Profile &

Leveraging it to Network

USM Career &

Employment Hub


Learning Objectives

• Describe the importance of using LinkedIn (LI) as a

social media tool and how it can be leveraged

• State elements of how to build a profile

• Identify important privacy settings

• Define methods of how to build your network

• Build or enhance your LI page


What is LinkedIn (LI)?

LI Vision:

Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.

LI Mission:

The mission of LinkedIn is simple: connect the world’s professionals to

make them more productive and successful.


LinkedIn

• Founded in 2003; acquired by Microsoft in 2016

• A social network for professionals

• High-tech equivalent of attending a traditional networking

event

• Add “connections” similar to Facebook “friends”

• 562 million users in 200 countries; 260M active; 146M from US;

40% active daily; 40M active students and recent college

graduates (9.18.18 – Omnicore)

• Over 90% of recruiters use LinkedIn regularly (SHRM)

• Target audience is college students and professionals


Uses of LinkedIn

• Seek career opportunities with a “virtual” resume

• Create and receive notifications for job postings

• Share professional experience and achievements

• Connect with other professionals…and/or former

colleagues, classmates and acquaintances

• Converse via private message

• Follow companies, groups, and influencers

• Save industry and other interesting articles

• Keep professional “life” separate from private one


LI by the Numbers

85% of jobs are secured via networking

Employers:

• <80% of companies used LI to find talent

• 96% searching; 94% contacting; 93% keeping tabs on

candidates; 92% vetting

Job Seekers: • 40% contacts referred me for a job

• 34% contacts shared a job opportunity

• 32% contacts provided an employee’s perspective on a

company

http://theundercoverrecruiter.com, 2014

http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/


Creating a LinkedIn Profile

• Be authentic and include a strengths summary

• Use key words in your profile that are relevant in

your desired field; conversely, do not be too

specific if seeking more broadly

• Check spelling and grammar – have a trusted

partner review

• Explore other profiles!


Creating a LinkedIn Profile

• Go to www.linkedin.com

Use “Agree & Join”, not

“Continue with Facebook”

Remember to clean up your

Facebook…employers look at all

of you social media!

http://www.linkedin.com/


Profile Sections

• Introduction – Name, Headline, Demographics,

Summary

• Experience

• Education

• Volunteer Experience

• Skills & Endorsements

• Recommendations

• Accomplishments

• Interests


LinkedIn – Sample Profile

View profile(s) on LinkedIn to see examples


Intro: Photo, Demographics,

Contact Information

• Use a good, professional photo (headshot)

• Use your full name, no nicknames or abbreviations

• Current position can be student in xx major or

current job if related to field of interest

• Include your preferred contact information:

• Email – use a professional one

• Telephone – only if comfortable – it will be public!

• Address – discourage including

• LinkedIn url (how to personalize shown later)


Intro: Headline

• Your personal brand

• Be creative – grab attention; can use a quote or

catchy words

• Recommend not using your job title

PMP-certified leader – known for successfully

leading multi-million global projects.

Dedicated, caring Registered Nurse with passion

for helping cancer patients and their families.

Current marketing student looking for

opportunity to leverage…


Intro: Summary

• Who are you?

• Keep it short and sweet to grab attention

• Write in 1st person

• Describe your professional and personal brand

• Share what you are looking for and be mindful of

not having too narrow a scope

• Add multi-media to your profile, if appropriate –

photos, video, slides, etc.


Experience

• Explain company, if needed (brief description)

• Consider this similar to a master resume; use resume

techniques

• List title, role(s) and duties of jobs and internships

• Use bullet format and begin with action verbs

• Use clear, succinct phrases

• Share key contributions, as appropriate

• Include dates, numbers


Education

• Include all educational institutions – the LI alumni

network is powerful

• Expand on your education

• Degree(s) earned, or earning

• Field of study

• Include Grade, if 3.0 or higher

• Activities and societies

• Description – add flavor, such as relevant coursework and

study abroad experience


Volunteer Experience & Causes

• List all organizations; include description of

organization

• Identify role(s) you held and activities

• Share highlights of experience


Skills & Expertise• List 5-15 core skills

• Provides a snapshot of your professional brand

• Endorse others and hope they return the favor!

• Can change over time


Recommendations

• Enhance your profile

• Ask for recommendations, as appropriate

• Ask people who have offered you praise in other formats

• Be aware of who offers a recommendation!

• Recommend your colleagues, and they may

recommend you


Accomplishments

• List your accomplishments:

• Publications

• Certifications

• Patents

• Courses

• Projects

• Honors and Awards

• Test Scores

• Languages

• Organizations


Interests

• Follow others:

• Influencers – follow leaders and innovators in your industry

and that are of interest to you

• Companies – follow companies that interest you and/or

represent your career goals

• Groups – join groups to build your network; seek advice

and showcase your expertise; participating increases your

visibility

Remember…who you choose to follow is part of your brand

and what you represent


Settings & Privacy


Privacy


How others see your LI activity


How others see your LI activity


Job seeking preferences


Job notifications


Building Your Network

• The more 1st degree connections you have increases # of

second degree connections

• Consider quality vs. quantity

• Start with who you already know and trust

• Contact alumni – search by major, employer name, career

keywords, interests, etc.

• Connect with people in industries that interest you and with

companies that you want to learn more about


Building Your Network

• Use a custom message, not the built-in: “I’d like to add you to

my professional network on LinkedIn”

• State your intentions up front:

Hello Cameron,

I obtained your name through the University of Southern Maine Marketing

Alumni Group. I will be graduating from the School of Business in May, when I

will be looking for employment.

I appreciate you adding me to your LinkedIn network, and perhaps I can

contact you in the future to ask you questions about your experiences as a

Marketing Manager at XYZ Corporation.

Thank you in advance,

Jo


Tips

• Customize your public profile url and make it easy to remember – include on your resume


Tips

• Select the types of messages you’re willing to receive option under

Settings to fully open, ensuring you’ll receive both introductions and

InMail (LinkedIn’s internal e-mail)

• As you would update your resume, you should also keep your

LinkedIn account updated with your updated resume, contact

information or profile information

Note: you can turn off notifications to your network as you update –

recommend doing this unless a major change that you want

broadcasted to your network


Tips

• Use LI as a research tool, look for job postings, seek

announcements for opportunities

• Participate and interact often, the more you interact the

more contacts you make, growing your network

• Top 10 overused buzzwords on LinkedIn profiles 2013:Responsible ~ Strategic ~ Creative ~ Effective ~ Patient

Expert ~ Organizational ~ Driven ~ Innovative ~ Analytical

Date post:	14-Jul-2020
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