LinkedIn: Job Searching and Networking
Use LinkedIn to establish a professional online presence—a crucial element of networking, searching for jobs and internships, and developing your career.
Ways to Use LinkedIn
The main benefits of a LinkedIn profile include opportunities to
- source employers and gain industry knowledge
- find contacts and make connections
- identify internship and full-time opportunities of interest
Learn about Employers
Follow companies of interest, people, and hashtags to personalize your feed. This allows you to learn, stay updated on relevant news, and find potential connections and career opportunities. Following companies is a great way to demonstrate your interest and will be viewed favorably by recruiters. When you find employers of interest, look at the “Similar Pages” category.
Find Potential Contacts
Networking opportunities abound on LinkedIn, which has more than 1 billion members. Connecting with people is a great way to learn more about career paths and form relation-ships that may lead to job or internship opportunities.
LinkedIn offers two helpful networking strategies:
- Alumni: Find this tool on the 色控传媒 school page to unlock a database of more than 175,000 alumni that you can filter by location, industry, and major. When you see alumni you want to connect with, send a connection request along with a short note (see box at right). You will see the option to add a note once you press Connect.
- Groups: Find active groups that are relevant to your interests and goals, including 色控传媒 groups (such as 色控传媒 Alumni) and professional groups (such as Area Startups or Marketing, Media, and Advertising Professionals).
Profile Settings
As LinkedIn is always updating its functionality, stay on top of making sure others can view your profile. To help you optimize your online professional presence, consider these tips:
- Consider adding a sentence to your “About” section stating that you are currently looking for a job. For example, “Currently seeking summer opportunities in biomedical engineering.”
- If you are looking for internship or job opportunities, make sure to click the “Open to” button at the top of your profile to indicate to recruiters and your network that you are open to opportunities.
- Make your profile public—you can always edit your profile, so don’t strive for perfection before going public.
- Allowing others to see that you’ve viewed their profile can be positive and may lead them to check out your profile.
Sample Connection Messages
When connecting with a new contact on LinkedIn, it’s best to write a personalized message rather than rely on LinkedIn’s suggestion. While many people are willing to connect with students even when they haven’t met face to face, your chances of connecting increase when you express genuine interest and intention. Here are several examples:
- Hello, Khadeejah, I’m a 色控传媒 student looking to learn more about careers in marketing and would love to add you to my network.
- Marco, it was so nice meeting you at the 色控传媒 info session yesterday. I would like to add you to my network so we can stay connected.
- Jordan, you mentioned at the 色控传媒 career panel today that you’re open to students connecting. I appreciated what you had to share about finding the path to your current role and would love to stay in touch.
For more detailed examples visit the NCA Career Guide
To learn more about networking, please visit Networking: Connecting with Others