As college students, it is important that we are branding ourselves in the most efficient and professional ways possible. LinkedIn is a great platform to network and connect with your peers or other individuals that have the same interests as us. Here are a few tips and tricks for creating an eye-catching profile!
- Use a professional headshot as your profile picture. Your profile picture is the recruiter’s first impression of you. Stay away from using selfies and other unprofessional pictures of yourself.
- Add a background photo and make it relevant to you. For example, a good option could be using the Syracuse University campus as your background or your home school like Newhouse or Maxwell. For those of you who are graduating, you can use a picture of your home city. For example, New York City.
- Create an eye-catching bio. Shy away from just saying the basic “I am a junior at Syracuse University studying biology”. Be more creative and explain what you’re studying, what you’re interested in, and where you want to be in the future.
- Build connections! The more connections you have, the more opportunities you have to network. There are so many reasons to connect with people. For example, friends, family members, professors, job recruiters, and bosses! Even after a job interview or attending a career fair make sure to link with the recruiters!
- Add your resume and additional documents to your page. You can do this by going to your page, clicking on ‘Add Profile Section’, click ‘Featured’, and then click ‘Media’ and you will be able to upload files directly from your computer to your LinkedIn profile. This is also a great way to add some work samples or your portfolio!
- Include a detailed description of each of your positions. Instead of just listing all of your internship and job experiences, elaborate what your tasks were or any other eye-catching aspects of the job.
- Add your skills. This is a great spot to showcase your expertise and any additional skills that will show your uniqueness. There is also a section for you to take a quiz on your knowledge of certain programs like Adobe InDesign and you will earn a badge based on your performance!
- Follow companies that interest you. This will allow you to stay up to date to any new job or internship openings throughout the year. Additionally, when you apply to the company in the future they can see whether or not you are following them on LinkedIn!
- Make your profile more than your resume. In other words, like and comment on other individual’s posts, share content that you think is inspiring, and use this platform as an opportunity to network with other individuals!
- Keep your page active. To get the most out of LinkedIn, you need to stay active on it. Whether connecting with new people, updating your job status, or even liking and commenting on others posts, your profile will get more awareness if you stay active.
Still have a few questions or need additional support? Schedule a meeting with a Career Services team member through Handshake. Also be sure to check out some of their tips and tricks for connecting with Syracuse University alumni on LinkedIn!
I hope you found these 10 tips helpful! Happy networking!
Written by Haley Mykytka ’22, College of Visual and Performing Arts