LinkedIn for College Students:

Chapter 3 in our “Social Media Workbook 2017” discussed the basics of the social site LinkedIn and how it is used for individuals and companies. The big association this chapter had was Facebook is like a company picnic, LinkedIn is a business networking event. I understood that to mean that Facebook is the fun side of business. Get everyone involved, talking and having a good time. LinkedIn is more professional. There you stick strictly to business topics and getting yourself and company out into the social media world. My personal experience with LinkedIn is one that is constantly changing. I first made a LinkedIn account in high school. I did not have much to put on it because at the time I only had a serving job and was not involved in after school activities. Coming to college grew that along with my resume. I feel a sense of pride every time I can edit both my LinkedIn profile and resume. While reading this chapter I decided to go back and check on my account (which is something I do not do enough). It was mostly up to date and only one section had to be changed. I then made a mental note to update it again when I graduate because a lot of information will be changing.

The reason my account is so up to date was from internship searching within the last year. Although this chapter did not discuss job search on LinkedIn I find it personally to be very helpful. Your profile is an electronic resume for others to view. Keep it up to date and keep it simple. A few sentences for each thing is enough. Overloading your profile will make it so no one reads it. You want it to be interesting enough that people ask you about it later. A good way to make sure your account stays up to date is every time you update your resume check and see if your LinkedIn page needs updating. You should be activity engaged and participating on LinkedIn, but not everyone remembers to double check their profile. Another reason why LinkedIn is great for job search is I’ve known many people who were offered a job because human resources found them on the site. Keeping your profile up to date can help you significantly when looking for a job.

LinkedIn is great for connecting. It will show you how many people you have a 2^nd connection to. In other words, you and the other person share a mutual connection. In my future industry of marketing this is great for sales. It is hard to connect with people if you are starting cold. Once you have established a connection or something in common talking is very easy. That will also make the sale go easier. Having a LinkedIn account has many benefits and as a business major I see them and utilize them.