Developing Your LinkedIn

Erin BullardManderson Graduate School of Business

Career Services Specialistembullard@culverhouse.ua.edu

What is LinkedIn?

• Over 300 million global professionals• 3 million + company profiles• 85% of employers say that a positive online

reputation influences their hiring decisions

The Basics of LinkedInIt’s all about Professional & Effective networking

– Connect with professionals and colleagues– Gain insight into companies of interest and their employees– Engage in industry-relevant conversation– Stay on top of current industry events and opportunities– The ability to develop a detailed online resume and portfolio that emphasizes your strengths

The Importance of LinkedIn

• 80% of recruiters coming to Manderson use LinkedIn as part of their search

• 65% of all recruiters use social media to evaluate character

• Almost all recruiters use social media to evaluate grammar and spelling

Aspects of a Good Profile

PictureHeadlineSummaryWork ExperienceEducationProjectsHonors/Awards

OrganizationsActivities & SocietiesVolunteerSkills & EndorsementsAdditional

Information

The Right Photo is a Recent, Formal Headshot

Questionable Photo Choices

• Group Shots• Clearly unrelated to your professional aspirations

• Too Small• Unflattering• Blurry

Customize Your HeadlineThis is your #1 branding statement!

This Not ThisWordsmith with proven ability to translate business objectives into communications strategies and tactics

Account Manager with 15 years experience in exceeding sales goals is ready to help your company

Helping clients find solutions to challenging problems in supply chain operations

Proven Financial Analyst and Consultant Looking For New Opportunity

Kelly J. Welch at Professional Speaker

Asistant Manager

You got questions, I got answers!

I’m a closing machine!

Summary: A Compelling Overview

• What do people say about you?• What are the main things people should know

about you?• Human Factor – show some personality.• Give yourself a voice– Demonstrates your writing skills

• Make it easy to find your contact info

Examples of A Good Summary

http://www.linkedinsights.com/3-stunningly-good-linkedin-profile-summaries/

Relevant Summaries

• Jen Pollard– http://bit.ly/JenPollard

• Joseph Wolfe– http://bit.ly/JosephWolfe

• Shabad Grover– http://bit.ly/ShabadGrover

Have A Descriptive Experience Section• Use Action Words• Conversational Tone• Be Thorough• Quantitative Details are

a must• Use the STAR method– Situation– Task– Action– Result

Work Experience Examples

• Travis Autry– http://bit.ly/TravisAutry

• Sarah Renner– http://bit.ly/SarahRenner

Education• Tag The University of Alabama

– And any other schools you may have attended• Include your degree & majors/minors• List the years you attended

– (if your graduation date is in the future, that’s fine – list it!)• Include any relevant details about the university

– Accounting major – include the rankings of the accounting program.– Interested in career in sports marketing - include Alabama’s culture

of sports.• GPA is optional

– >3.5 preferable

Courses• Illustrate your curriculum by emphasizing those courses that might prove your skill set• Determine what skills are relevant for the

positions you’d like to apply for• Go beyond those courses typical of students in

your program– Which classes did you particularly excel in?– Which classes would you be able to apply your

knowledge of in a job position?

Projects

• Class Projects give you relevant, “real world” experience– Detail the project parameters, goals, actions

taken, and results• Tag classmates you worked with• Example:– http://bit.ly/leahstuart

Organizations• Include positions

you’ve had within organizations – Just like work

experience, but you typically aren’t paid for this

• Leadership positions especially

• Example:– http://bit.ly/prakas

hsudhir

Volunteer Experience

• Just as valuable as work experience

• Relatively easy to get involved as a volunteer

• http://bit.ly/mhdeck

Activities & Societies• Honor Societies• Intramural Sports Teams• Clubs where you were not

heavily involved• Little room to add detail –

typically just listed• Example:– http://bit.ly/jennijohnston

Skills & Endorsements

• Organize your endorsements based on relevance and importance of skills

• Endorse others to encourage reciprocity

• Make sure skills are relevant to your experience and future career goals

Honors & Awards

• Scholarships• Dean’s List– Note the number of

semesters• Awards for

Competitions

Additional Sections• Languages• Certifications• Patents• Publications• Test Scores• Interests• Personal Information– Birth date– Marital Status

Adding Content• Creating an online portfolio through LinkedIn– Pictures– Presentations– Papers– Projects– Links to sites– Publications– Videos– Graphs

• http://bit.ly/susfant

Recommendations• You can request a

recommendation either via LinkedIn or personally– Be specific about what you’d

like the recommendation to focus on• A specific project, job, work,

skills, etc.• Aspects of good

recommendations:– Provide some context and

define the professional relationship

– Concentrate on specifics – project, skills, etc.

– Be genuine• You can reciprocate the

recommendation if you feel comfortable enough to comment on their professional work

The Power of LinkedIn: Connecting With Others

• It develops a more powerful and trustworthy connection when you take the time to personalize your message.

Researching Companies• Example: Google– http://bit.ly/googleLI

Research Employees & Career Paths• Which university/universities did they attend?

– This could provide insight as to where the company recruits.

• What degrees do they have?– Do you have a similar degree that would qualify you for a similar position?

• What experience do they have?• What positions did they previously have?• Where are they located?• How do they describe their job responsibilities?

Connecting through a Mutual Contact• Tell them:– Who you are– What you have in common– Why you want to connect?

• How can they help you?– Ex: You aspire to work for the same company and in a similar position and want some advice on how they got there.

• Don’t give a sales pitch• Keep it short & to the point!• Be tactful

Your Personal Brand“Personal branding is the process of developing a “mark” that is created around your personal name or your career. You use this “mark” to express and communicate your skills, personality and values. The end goal is that the personal brand that you develop will build your reputation and help you to grow your network in a way that interests others.”

Your Brand is a Start-Up• Treat your career as a startup– Companies hire people to monitor their brands– They have a clear, consistent brand image & message

• SO SHOULD YOU!

• Monitor your online activity• Post!– Consistently post material that is valuable to your brand

• Using social media for your social/personal life is fine– Update your privacy standards– Use the Grandma Rule to judge what is appropriate

Questions?