When you are a student, you have the chance to transform your career and personal life to its best. This is where LinkedIn plays an important role as a bridge towards your success story. LinkedIn is one of the top recruiting, and job profile networking tools around the globe. Using LinkedIn to fulfil your future career goals is a lifetime opportunity that you should not miss as a student. Let’s explore how you can leverage your LinkedIn profile while you are a student.
Here are some quick steps you can follow to elevate your career game as a student:
Step 1: Create a Compelling Profile
There are 3 important sections in your profile that you can use to change and transform into a better professional and up-to-date profile display.
- Headline: Your profile headlines are an essential part of your profile. How your profile looks has the first impression on your personality and your future. Your digital introduction is similar to your headline. Mention your school, any previous employment or even volunteering experience. For example, instead of a generic “Computer Science Student,” opt for something like “Computer Science Student at [Your University] | Intern at Microsoft.”
- Photograph: Get a good picture of yourself. It should look professional. You can get a free picture at your school’s career centre.
- About: In the “about” section, talk about yourself. Say what you are studying, what jobs you have had, and what you want to do in your career. The “About” section is your opportunity to shine. Write about your skills, and volunteering experience, Craft a summary that covers your major, recent experiences, career aspirations, and industry interests. Make it engaging by sharing your motivations and what drives you professionally.
Step 2: Write in PARS about Your Experiences
The PARS method is famous for summarising your skills, experience and your actions. PARS stands for Problem, Actions, Results and Skills. When you describe your job role, and volunteering, write it down in the PARS method. First, write down the problem which you or the organisation faces, then write about the Action that you took, then write about what Results your actions made and lastly write about the Skills which you used or enhanced during that problem. Utilise the PARS method to effectively present your experiences. For example, instead of merely stating you interned at a company, elaborate on the specific projects you worked on and the impact you made.
Step 3: Highlight Your Ninja Skills and Recommendations
Most of the recruiters find their ideal employee through job skill match. It is important to add both your soft skills and hard skills to your LinkedIn profiles. Get your skills approved by your mentor, faculty or any particular senior who has worked with you, this will help to create a better skill profile. Highlight your relevant skills. For example your academic skills, sports, honours, awards or any other activity which you are good at be it singing, dancing or creating arts. All of these skills are an important part of learning.
Ask for recommendations from your last organisation, your faculty, your mentor or any supervisor. A recommendation works well towards providing you the little extra brownie points, Request recommendations from professors, mentors, or supervisors to add credibility to your profile.
Step 4: Grow Your Network
Student life is the golden time to create a great network for yourself. Networking works as a bridge towards your skills and success. Networking includes going to different workshops, attending seminars, and other professional meetings and then introducing yourself, your skills and what’s important about you in the career world. Create personalised connection requests that mention common interests or experiences.
Expand your reach by joining industry-specific groups and your college’s alumni network. Engage in discussions, ask questions, and share insights to establish yourself as a proactive member of the community. Remember, a big part of growing includes knowing your worth and networking with people.
Step 5: Online Certifications and LinkedIn Updates
Online certifications are a powerful way to enhance your skill set and demonstrate your expertise to potential employers on LinkedIn. By completing relevant courses in your field of interest, you can showcase your dedication to continuous learning and stay ahead of the curve in an ever-evolving job market. Adding these certifications to your LinkedIn profile not only validates your knowledge but also increases your visibility to recruiters searching for candidates with specific qualifications. Additionally, regularly updating your profile with new certifications and skills signals to your network that you are proactive about your professional development, setting you apart as a motivated and ambitious student ready to contribute to the workforce.
Step 6: Text or Professional Messaging Etiquette
Reaching out on LinkedIn is a part of networking and while you do that do not forget to maintain a particular demeanour and etiquette while you reach out to someone.
Create a professionally structured message, containing specific context, subject, greeting, content and ending rapport. Try to be more specific and polite when you message and do not write in short forms or use any lingos or informal language while you message. Maintain a professional yet friendly tone throughout your communication.
Step 7: Post Your Journey
Posting on LinkedIn connects you with the right audience. It helps you to market what you have to say, what you provide and what skills you have in which particular stream. Besides that, posting on Linked In helps to network with the right audience. Once you start posting about your professional journey, and your opinion on trending matters on your favourite topics, you will find the right audience. Engage your network by sharing professional content, personal projects, accomplishments, and event highlights. Original content can significantly enhance your visibility and showcase your expertise. This would also help the audience to get to know you better every day. It is not important to write a big paragraph or something significantly descriptive, you can share a gist of your thoughts about anything that you learned or maybe your favourite author or book review.
Step 8: Follow, Like and Engage
Follow leaders who share your ideas, values and skills that you want to explore more. Stay inspired by people through more engagement. Use LinkedIn’s social media platform as an opportunity to continuously learn and implement. Follow companies, and organisations relevant to your interests. Stay inspired by diverse content and use it as fuel to create posts that reflect your values and passions.
Takeaway
Being a student is the right time to start your career journey. It is the right time to introduce yourself to the future career and job market. Reflect on what your skills are, display your experiences and connect with your ideals. LinkedIn is the right bridge to create your early career path, by doing so you will make your professional journey more easier and smooth. Create a meaningful and professional profile which speaks about you and reflects your values, interests and skills. Do not forget to network and connect with different people. Explore, learn and implement. Life is full of opportunities.
