A LinkedIn Primer for New Graduates

You have graduated (or are about to graduate) from college, and are hunting for a job. You already know that you need to create a professional profile in LinkedIn. Unfortunately, you don’t have much of a meaningful professional life to describe, yet. Nevertheless, you need to proceed with the task. Think of your LinkedIn profile as a work in progress – continuously. It’s crucial to keep your information fresh and up to date. But you need to start somewhere. Here are some tips:

1. YOUR NAME: Everyone searching for you or connecting with you will use this information. If you have always been known by a shortened version of your first name (e.g. Tim vs. Timothy), you should continue use that name. On a Search, LinkedIn knows enough to return Timothy for Tim, William for Bill, Richard for Rick. (Note that it doesn’t seem quite as smart in regard to shortened versions of women’s names, e.g. it did not list Kaitlyn for Kate.) If you have a very common name, you will need to provide other information in your profile to facilitate an Advanced Search, such as your Alma Mater and your Location.

2. YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS: Not only will you use your email address to logon to LinkedIn, but your email address will be visible to all of your LinkedIn connections. It will also be used to notify you of important LinkedIn updates (including requests to connect and incoming messages). Many students have been using a university-provided email account. If you are about to graduate, you may need to create a new email address for yourself. Using gmail is a good, free option. Make your email address moniker a version of your name, so that people can easily recognize it as yours.

3. PHOTO OR NO PHOTO: Having a photo on your LinkedIn account is optional, but I believe that it is beneficial. However, a bad photo is worse than no photo. Change out of your T-shirt, put on a shirt with a collar and/or a jacket, and have a friend take a decent head shot of you for your profile.

4. YOUR AVAILABILITY: Your profile should include your graduation date and a statement regarding your availability – both in terms of timing and location. For example: “Available for employment immediately after June 2012 graduation. Currently living in Chicago, IL, but open to relocation anywhere in the continental U.S.”

5. CRAFTING THE SUMMARY: Tell us what you have studied, what your degree is in, and how you hope to apply your education (what kind of job you hope to find). This isn’t a resume. You can be a little creative here and give us a glimpse of your personality.

6. YOU DO HAVE EXPERIENCE!: A big part of your LinkedIn profile is the enumeration of your experience. You may require some help thinking about this from the perspective of a potential employer. It’s certainly easier to detail the experience you gained from an internship related to your field of study than it is to find the relevance in other types of summer jobs, but you can always focus on the responsibilities with which you were entrusted and the skills you gained. If you closed up a pizza joint after the manager went home, you were entrusted with the security of the premises and the cash register – AKA “Management Experience”. If you were a camp counselor, you were entrusted with the development and safety of children – AKA “Mentoring”.

7. RECOMMENDATIONS: You need several professional recommendations on your profile. Tap your connections while they are current! If you have had an internship, as for a recommendation from your Supervisor(s). Consider approaching other past employers and professors as well. For more tips, read my April 2010 blog on Collecting Recommendations.

8. HELP US RELATE: LinkedIn Profiles can be very dry and technical. Your profile will most likely be viewed by related professionals who understand your field, and by Human Resources professionals and other acquaintances who do not. The wording and terminology you use needs to generate universal interest. If you are in a technical field, use of specific terms may be necessary – but you also need to offer a translation for people who don’t know the lingo, so they can relate to your skills and experience in some way.

9. WELL-ROUNDED: Something prospective employers consider is whether you will “fit in” to their team and work environment. Give them a glimpse into who you are by adding a little information about your interests and extracurricular activities. LinkedIn also allows you to add a “Reading List by Amazon”. Use this if you are reading books that highlight your interest in continued learning and professional growth.

10. START CONNECTING: Send out invitations to connect to past employers, fellow students, friends, relatives, etc. The real value in LinkedIn is your network. You’ll be surprised how quickly it expands once you get started.

Once you have a draft of your LinkedIn profile – ask trusted, experienced professionals that you know to review it and give you feedback. Make changes. Look at other people’s profiles and adopt good ideas for your own use. A healthy majority of employers now search social websites to research job candidates. You can make a good impression by having a well-developed LinkedIn profile.

Other recommended reading:
Advice for Newly Hired Graduates
10 Ways to Screw-Up Your LinkedIn Presence
10 More Ways to Screw-Up Your LinkedIn Presence
Are you Purposefully Positioning Your Online Identity?

Collecting Recommendations (+LinkedIn-Specific Tips)

Your professional reputation will be affected by other’s opinions of you and your accomplishments. Your work relationships will be important to your short and long term success while you are employed, and when you are searching for work.

Don’t wait until you are in a crunch situation to line up recommendations that will enhance your opportunities. Collect written recommendations as references throughout your career. Here are a few tips:

• The best recommendations and references come from people who have their own professional credibility. Who do you know well, whom you admire? (Google them to make sure they have a positive online presence.)
• Don’t be afraid to ask. Most people are flattered to be asked to provide a reference – as long as you are sure they know your work and respect you for it.
• You can suggest the points on which you would like the recommendation to focus. For example, “It would be great if you could comment on how successfully I managed that big project last year."
• Ask superiors, peers, former employees (whose careers have blossomed), and even clients and service providers with whom you have developed positive relationships.
• Select the best recommendations you receive to actually use. When read serially, they should give a well-rounded and impressive picture of who you are professionally.
• Keep your file of recommendations fresh and current. That nice letter you got 15 years ago will have lost its punch by now.

Special hints for LinkedIn recommendations:
• They should be brief; no more than 2 to 4 sentences.
• Target your requests to people who have good LinkedIn profiles and lots of connections.
• LinkedIn provides a means not only to approve recommendations you receive, but to ask for them to be edited. Ask for an edit if content, grammar, or spelling isn’t correct.
• Return the favor when you can. Write thoughtful recommendations for people you admire. (It’s another way to get visibility on LinkedIn and enhance your network.)
• If you get a recommendation that falls flat with you, or is too much like another you already have, you can choose not to show it on your profile.