How to get the most out of LinkedIn for students

Early development of skills and networks provides an advantage in fast-paced workplaces. For better career navigation, most professionals and experts advise students to join LinkedIn early on.

LinkedIn provides students with possibilities for networking and mentoring, as well as important knowledge about their areas, resources, and potential career options. Here are some tips for getting the most out of the social media platform for students:

Increasing your professional connections

It’s a good idea to start networking with people in and out of your field. Students should begin by connecting with their classmates and university seniors. When the seniors graduate, they become potential business referrals. Those who have not yet begun working or who do not have coworkers can make contact with university lecturers.

Get instructors to write LinkedIn recommendations for you. As a result, you develop a growth mentality and are motivated to improve as a result of the feedback you receive. Connecting with university professors allows you to keep in touch and learn from them even after you graduate.

Freshman students frequently join a variety of student clubs to broaden their horizons in terms of extracurricular activities. These organizations host webinars with industry experts, business competitions, and knowledge-sharing events to which professionals and experts are invited.

Samuel Mursalin, a lecturer in North South University’s Department of Management, gives an example from his time as a faculty advisor for the NSU Young Entrepreneurship Society (YES) club. “Executives expect young club members to approach corporate professionals for various events in a professional manner and through the appropriate channels. LinkedIn is a great place to start when it comes to properly reaching out to them.”

He also feels that students may study the fundamentals of professional etiquette and use LinkedIn to develop their skills in this area. “Students can learn how professionals build up their LinkedIn profiles and get ideas for how to promote the right talents and experiences. Furthermore, LinkedIn tools such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Recruiter, LinkedIn Learning, and others provide individuals with resources to work on their professional and personal development. Students can also use LinkedIn blogs to learn from experts and write more intelligently “Added he.

Joining resource/knowledge sharing groups

LinkedIn suggests groups to its users that they might be interested in joining. Here, industry experts and professionals share their knowledge and perspectives on various industries. Students can learn more about the fields they are interested in by joining these organizations and following their posts.

They can also find people/experts with whom they may be able to connect for the guidance/advice they require for their professional development.

Posting intelligent comments or questions on expert posts is another action that enhances the educational value of the experience for students. This leads to a desire to network with specialists and maintain a fruitful relationship with them.

Extending the resume  

Many organizations need a one-page CV, which leaves little room to include all of your skills and expertise. LinkedIn allows students to contribute more detailed information about their experiences, such as the hurdles they overcame or the skills they learned along the way. In job applications, putting one’s LinkedIn profile URL on a CV is a wonderful idea. Recruiters will be able to look at your profile and learn more about you as a result of this.

Students need basic etiquette to cultivate contacts on LinkedIn in addition to adding experiences.

“As a lecturer, I’ve encountered students from a variety of academic disciplines who believe that being on LinkedIn isn’t necessary for their age or major. Students from pharmacy departments, as well as students in their first or second semesters, would debate about this. It’s important for them to realize that LinkedIn isn’t just for job and resource seekers. It’s a place where people may grow their professional networks and improve their networking abilities “According to Mohammed Abdul Mumin Evan, a lecturer at North South University’s Department of Marketing and International Business.

“Some key manners students may learn from being on the network are sending a letter along with a connection request to someone new, not uploading irrelevant photos on your LinkedIn page, and not leaving informal comments on formal postings,” he says.

Sharing updates with others

LinkedIn allows you to share professional updates with your contacts. Linkedin alerts your connections whether you have joined a new university club or got a certificate from an online course. This allows students to enter the talent hunter/potential recruiter pipeline. This also informs your network about the talents you’re developing, your areas of interest, and your ongoing progress.

Check out the career path

Students looking for a job in their desired field can find people who are currently working in that field on LinkedIn. Examining their LinkedIn profiles can give students insight into the abilities and experiences that are required of them, as well as how they rose through the ranks. Taking a lesson from their career path and applying it to your own is one step closer to your dream job.

This is also true for students seeking attractive scholarships for their post-graduate studies. Finding alumni from your target university and getting ideas from them about how to document their path from undergrad to post-grad can help you build your application.

Landing internships/jobs while in university

Companies frequently publish job/internship announcements on LinkedIn, and some even accept applications there. If you come across job/internship possibilities that you think you’d be a good fit for, you can start applying right away and building a portfolio of experiences. More importantly, if you enjoy discovering new things, LinkedIn can assist you.