LinkedIn Tools For Students

 By Noman Gulzar

In our opinion, LinkedIn is an invaluable resource for students but to help convince you, here are the top eight reasons why every student should be on LinkedIn:

• Build your professional network. 
• Prepare for interviews. 
• Get referrals.
• Land internships or jobs while in school. 
• Gain connections from conference attendees. 
• Share updates with others.
• Extend your resume.
• Update your Profile.

Build your professional network

• Grow your network thoughtfully from the start. Start by connecting with people you know or trust–including people you know outside of your current field of work.
• Choose quality over quantity–don't over-plant!
• Nurture your network.

 Prepare for interviews

LinkedIn’s Interview Preparation feature enables you to be more confident in upcoming interviews by giving you:                                                                                                                   

• Access to quality videos, informative text, and tips by experts and hiring managers on how to answer the most common interview questions.
• The ability to privately practice your answers to interview questions, either by recording a video or writing a response. Note: Your answers are only visible to you and they can be reviewed at any time.
• The ability to privately request feedback on the questions you’ve practiced. You can choose a 1st-degree connection whom you’d like to review your practice responses and message them for feedback.

Get referrals

You can then tap the “Ask for a referral” button at the top of the job listing and choose the person you want to reach out to. LinkedIn will prompt you to write a message, offering pre-populated text that you can personalize to your inquiry.

 Land internships or jobs while in school

•  Become an expert. 
• Have a strong headline. Get noticed.
• Include keywords. 
• Take advantage of student profile sections.
• Talk about all your relevant experience. 
• Build your network. 
• Ask your network for help. 
• Find “ins” where you want to work. 
• Search for the Student Jobs Portal.
• Get gutsy.

The detail of these options is given in the below link:

https://university.linkedin.com/content/dam/university/global/en_US/site/pdf/TipSheet_FindingaJoborInternship.pdf

 Gain connections from conference attendees

Remain active on LinkedIn during the conference to reach out to and engage with your new connections.

• Connect With Attendees.
• Take Pictures With Attendees and Speakers.

 Share updates with others

Your LinkedIn homepage provides daily opportunities to learn about your network and share professional updates and content. Discover how you can manage what you see in your LinkedIn Feed and who sees the content you share.

Sharing content raises your employees' personal profiles, pushing them to the front of people's minds when it comes to new opportunities, and establishing their expertise. There's real value in this for any professional.

 Extend your resume

• Tell your unique career pathway story in your profile summary.
• Highlight all the roles you’ve had.
• Highlight your skills in a productive manner.
• Showcase originality.

 Update your Profile

Over the past decade, LinkedIn has become an essential personal branding tool. It has never been more important to build and maintain a stellar LinkedIn profile. The virtual professional network has morphed from an online resume and networking site to a comprehensive personal branding resource. Here are nine eye-opening reasons why you need to polish and update your LinkedIn profile.

• It has millions of members.
• It shows up at the top of Google searches. 
• People are researching you.
• It’s packed with invaluable resources.
• You don’t know what you’re missing out on.
• You’ll stay ultra-current.
• You’ll automatically remain connected.
• It’s the most efficient way to manage your network.
• It’s the ultimate personal branding platform.

Join the conversation. Share your thoughts with our community in the comments section. Use “@” in the comments to tag your beloved ones to receive notifications of more personal branding advice from Noman Gulzar.