In Defence of the LinkedIn Warrior : How and Why you should be using the platform as a Student in 2021

Dear Class of 2021, it’s time to forget everything you think you know about LinkedIn.

Let's face it, the picture is bleak. With graduation just on the horizon, we're about to enter a job market set against the backdrop of a global pandemic that is far from over, not to mention in a Britain that has finally left the European Union. When you factor in the disruptions to our learning over the past two years, it's certainly a less-than-ideal situation.

I created my LinkedIn profile in my first year of uni, and I vividly remember what a scary place it was.

To me, it was a cesspit of internship announcements, job updates, hollow automated compliments, and worst of all, far-fetched ‘inspirational’ stories that are nothing more than vapid attention grabs.

For a guy who picked his degree subject based on its open-endedness, and its ability to defer his career decision process for as long as possible, it was definitely not the place to be. If Instagram was the place to make you feel awful about your current reality, LinkedIn was the place to make you feel bad about both your past and future. You'd end up feeling like you didn't have nearly enough work experience as your peers, and woefully unprepared for what was to come.

But things are different now. LinkedIn has undergone deep changes over the past few years, becoming a much more friendly and welcoming platform.

If you haven't already, it's time to get to grips with this online tool.

The truth is, you don’t need to have six different internships, spring weeks, and vacation schemes to make LinkedIn work for you.

I spoke to a former YouTuber, Cambridge University graduate, personal branding expert, and founder of WOAW - Joe Binder about how students can build a personal brand on LinkedIn.

It’s been over six years since Joe matriculated at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. During his uni days, no one was using LinkedIn, at least, not in the way they do now. He tells me that people would have profiles and use them to get recruited, and that was it.

However, over the last few years, there’s been a marked shift in the kind of content that appears on the platform.

“It’s become more and more like Facebook and other social media platforms where you have a newsfeed where people spend most of their time scrolling through content.” 

The shift in content is key here. Students now have the opportunity to create content that will get them noticed and help scale their reputation in a way that they couldn’t before. 

It wasn’t until after he’d graduated that Joe realized LinkedIn’s potential. He began to dabble in the platform, creating posts at a point where there wasn’t too much content on there.

“I was blown away by the level of reach and engagement I got despite me not having a big following. If those posts had gone on any other platform they would have been dead, nobody would have cared.”

Joe tells me that he’s always been a deeply career-driven and entrepreneurial person and that he was grateful to finally find a home for the kind of things he wanted to post and read about.

I asked Joe for some profile-building advice for LinkedIn-shy students looking to become more active on the platform. When it comes to building your personal brand on LinkedIn, he advises a ‘shopfront’ approach which can be split into two parts: arranging the shop window and attracting customers.

• The photo: Try and use a professional-looking headshot, preferably one with a blurred background so your face stands out.
• The banner: This is one of the most important spaces on your profile. it’s what people immediately see as soon as they click on your page, so it’s best to use a photo that reflects what you’re about. 
• The tagline: This appears below your name every single time you post or leave a comment. If you’re associated with a well-known university or company, you might want to put your position here (e.g. History Finalist at Cambridge University). It should be short and snappy. 
• The ‘about’ section: You can treat this as a mini personal statement. Mention your past achievements, your interests, things you’re proud of, and the type of work you want to get into.

In short, treat your profile as you would a shop window by making sure it's really pretty and has the best display possible.

Then, Joe tells me, it’s how to get people to come and visit your shop. If you’re a new shop on the high street, you have to take steps to get people interested. And more importantly, you want to get the right people interested. Here are some of Joe’s top tips for getting noticed.

• Engage with content that interests you. Leave meaningful comments and start conversations with people.
• Connect with people from industries you’re interested in, send them messages, and ask questions.
• Create content that will spark people’s interest. You can document your life as a student. Share insights into life studying your subject. Celebrate and reflect on your life’s milestones. On this point, Joe suggests treating LinkedIn like you would a WhatsApp group containing your mentors, family members, and like-minded friends.

If you’d like to hear more from Joe about his story as well even more personal branding advice, I’d highly recommend checking out his appearance on the Talk Twenties podcast with Gaby Mendes.

So with all that being said, here are my top five ways to make LinkedIn work for you as a student in 2021.

1. Build relationships / Find Mentors: LinkedIn makes it incredibly easy to access highly successful people. If you have some idea of the industry you’d like to enter, reach out to people in that sector with questions you have and ask if they’d be up for mentoring you.
2. Seek out opportunities: If you’re looking for jobs or internships, LinkedIn is a great place to be. It’s always worth messaging high-up people at companies enquiring about internship opportunities, and loads of jobs are advertised there too.
3. Explore industries / Stay up to date with developments: By following hashtags as well as top voices from the industries you’re interested in, you’ll be exposed to content relevant to your ambitions which will help you remain aware of updates and developments.
4. Start a blog: LinkedIn has a blog feature that makes writing and publishing articles really easy. If you have a subject you’re particularly interested in, why not begin researching and writing articles on it. LinkedIn also makes it incredibly easy to put all your work in one place so it can easily be viewed by potential employers.
5. Track your personal development: Tracking your personal development while you’re a student is really important. Keeping the ‘experience’ section of your LinkedIn profile up to date and creating posts about your journey through education is therefore a really useful thing to do.