Getting Started with LinkedIn: A Professional Networking Tool - by Cornell University

A LinkedIn account is one of your first steps to creating a professional presence on-line. It encourages you to consider several important components of your professional life and is a very effective tool for tracking the contacts you are making. When you begin actively networking to connect with people in your field of interest, LinkedIn will enable you to identify leads very easily.

Creating an account

●Start with the easy sections and aim to have 100% completeness in the next 6 months. This will make a very favorable impression on employers.

●Look at other profiles for ideas; search for alumni and students in your field of interest and see what they are doing.

●Use the summary section wisely – this is your opportunity to share with everyone what is important to you and the skills and talents you enjoy using.

●Use your headline as a hook to pull people into your profile. The headline, your current organization, and your photo are the first things people see when your name pops up in searches. You need to entice potential employers, clients, and partners - spark their curiosity.

●Do not pay for an account. As a job seeker, there is no need for this.

The time factor

It takes some time to thoughtfully create your profile and search for everyone you know. After that, you will log-on to add contacts as you meet new people and conduct searches, participate in discussions, and search for jobs as needed. Email preference settings give you the ability to have all personal mail sent to your email and you control the frequency of mass emails. Go to Settings under your name, on the top right.

Connecting with people you know

Take a trip down memory lane. List all the adults you know from home: teachers, neighbors, family friends, supervisors for work or volunteer. Invite them all to connect. List all the people you've met at Cornell and any off-campus jobs or activities: students, faculty, alumni, staff. Invite them all to connect. Invite EVERYONE to connect. If you've emailed the person directly, you should connect with them on LinkedIn. For people you know through a mass distribution channel, consider whether they know who you are before connecting.

If it's been awhile since you've spoken with someone, add a short note to the invitation to connect. For example, "Hi. I hope you are well. I'm finishing up my sophomore year at Cornell and looking for internships in media. I'm also exploring LinkedIn and how I might use it as I explore career options. I invite you to connect with me and hope I can be of help to you someday." Or "Hi.How are you? I hope to see you when I'm home for spring break."

When you invite people to connect, especially if they are in your field, consider taking a look at their profile for ideas. Do not invite people to connect if you don't know them. Get introduced first. Be careful of allowing LinkedIn to access your email contacts. This will send a mass email inviting people to connect and you should be personalizing these messages. Sending personal messages takes more time, but will yield more accepts.

Participating in the community

To be a part of the conversation, regularly scan discussions from groups you are most interested in and consider having weekly or daily digests sent to your email. Contribute to the discussion if you have something to add. Post questions to learn more about careers. The Cornell groups are a great place to test the waters. Alumni love helping students and sharing advice!

●Join groups based on interest and affiliation – see what groups others are in (search for Cornell & IvyLife).

●Pay it forward - Recommend and endorse others (only if you truly know their skills).

Job searching

Follow companies and organizations to stay up-to-date on news, job postings, and trends. To get ideas for additional organizations to consider, see where people at your dream organization have worked in the past. See where Cornellians work. Search by location, organization, field, major, and skills with a fun interactive chart. Go to Network, Your Alumni. Narrow the range of graduation dates for more specific information.

Network! This is greatest benefit of this platform. Take full advantage of it. Before applying to a job and certainly before an interview, you should learn as much as you can about the organization and position. Not only will it help you feel more confident, but employers expect this.The best way to learn more is to identify and speak with a contact at the organization, or possibly someone who used to work at the organization. This is where your 2nd degree connections become extremely valuable. Search for people in your field or organization of interest and get introduced to 2nd degree connections. A friend of a friend will typically be happy to give you 15 minutes over coffee or phone.If you can't find 1st or 2nd degree connections, reach out to alumni and ask if they would be willing to speak with you.

Follow-up

Remember to say Thank you! This is one simple way you can make a great impression. Thank each person individually for the time they took to talk with you or help you make a new connection. Let people know the outcomes of your job search and any advice they gave.