Do you need a LinkedIn Profile? Yes!

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a social networking platform specifically designed for career and business professionals to connect.

Your LinkedIn profile is like your online CV.

Some tips to get you started:

AcademyEX suggests the following to make a great LinkedIn profile:
-Take a good profile photo (school photos work well).
-Create a headline that’s more than just a job title.
-Write a summary that tells your story (or the career story you want!.
-List all and any relevant skills or experience.
-Get active: connect with others, comment on posts, endorse others, get involved.

Here are a few reasons from LinkedIn:

#1 Demonstrate your expertise

Possible employers can see your work and education history, volunteer work, recommendations and connections and evidence of where you have added value to projects or others jobs.

#2 Gain proof of your skills from others

Let others recommend and endorse you for your skills, talents and past work. IYM are always happy to provide recommendations! When others recommend or endorse you, anyone who sees your profile can see these and it shows you have other experts backing up your claims of having certain skills. This is very powerful in making connections.

#3 Follow individuals

If you find someone while stalking a company you would love to work for, follow them. A follow is different to a connection. You can follow their journey and see their posts without sending them a connection request. You could start by following people you have seen on IYM Anytime.

#4 Use LinkedIn as a research tool

Having a LinkedIn account means you can use the site to research companies, interviewers, and those who already work at the workplaces where you want to work — this is helpful before submitting applications and researching who’s interviewing you. I have definitely done this before!

#5 Follow companies

LinkedIn is a brilliant tool for researching organisations and people that work at them. You can use this to target people within your network that work for organisations that you really want to work for. Follow those companies and organisations that are your dream workplaces! Find employees of these companies, compare their education histories and career paths.

#6 Posts and re-shares

Create your own posts of activities you have been involved in (like IYM) or re-share posts from others or companies that are important to you.

Let’s Start at the Top

Your Headline and Cover Photo:

Looking at the example on the right, Blake has his job title (Senior full stack web engineer) as his headline.

As a student, you may like to say:
-“Future Mechanical Engineer”
-“Interested in pursuing a career in STEMM”
-“Open to all opportunities to help me make an informed choice about a future in STEMM”
-“Talks about: #climate change, #girlsinSTEMM”

Try using ChatGPT or other AI to write your headline for you!

Sticking with the above example, you will see Blake has not changed his cover photo from the generic LinkedIn blue. There are a number of downloadable cover photos or create your own on canva.

Next, Let’s Look at your LinkedIn Summary (about section)

AcademyEX recommends:

-To start strong with a catchy opening summary. Do not be afraid to inject your personality.
-Write in first person, this feels more personal to the reader.
-Run your summary through a spelling and grammar checker.
-Write in short paragraphs or bullet points.
-What are your goals and ambitions?
-Why are you passionate about? (This could include current interests or future passions).
-Is there any unique knowledge or skills you have? (This may be outside of an education or career scope, more about your personal interests or hobbies).

Other sections of your profile:

From here, there are a number of different sections you can add to your profile:

Education (List your NCEA levels or university papers being studied)
Current position (if you are working)
Experience (paid jobs)
Volunteer experience
Skills (think teamwork, digital knowledge, time management etc)
Licences and certifications (e.g. drivers licence level)
Honours and awards (school awards, merit or excellence endorsement for NCEA)
Languages spoken
Contact info
Create a LinkedIn Profile