Why every college student should have a LinkedIn profile

If you are in college, you’ll probably enter the job market of your chosen profession in the near future. However, the days of the traditional CV seems to be running it’s course and has made way for a new way to sell you skillset. 

LinkedIn is the new CV and cover letter and if you are in college, you should start to build your profile sooner rather than later. LinkedIn is not your average Facebook page as it tells your professional story, not the personal.

More and more companies are relying on LinkedIn to find suitable candidates and getting a head start on your profile will do you a world of good. LinkedIn for college students is not just a good idea anymore; it is a necessity.  

With the speed at which everything is happening nowadays, you need to be on top of your field of expertise. 

Whatever your career path, it is never too early to start building your professional network. Although you might not have entered the job market yet, you are dealing with individuals who are in your major field every day. 

The friends that share a major with you will one day become professionals like you and they could become business referrals in the future. 

Your professors and lecturers are also vital to your network as they can write letters of referrals and can write a character testimonial. After you graduate, you will often need guidance and keeping in touch with professors has never been easier.

Together with your professional network, searching for jobs on LinkedIn is one of the best features of the platform. More and more companies advertise posts on LinkedIn because it gives them direct access to an international pool of individuals who could fill vacant posts. 

They also describe their posts and requirements in detail, so when you search for jobs, you will receive suggestions about jobs that are compatible with your profile. 

The best feature of a LinkedIn job search is the fact that it tells you who works at the company that is in your network. They could then be great allies in putting in a good word for you to secure a job.

Building your profile is not a one off process. Just like Facebook, you need to update your profile to keep it relevant. 

As you progress with your degree or qualification, you need to upload your progress. The people in your network will receive notifications about your achievements and the message has a better chance of spreading. However, qualifications aren’t the only updates that you could make on your profile. 

Showcase your best work on the profile and if writing research papers is not your forte, Edu Birdie offers research paper writing services that you can utilise for college assignments and other writing projects as well. 

Any progress on research that you are doing could also be used to increase your presence and awareness of your profile. Building your profile in this way could attract possible employers as they are also constantly looking for hardworking individuals with solid credentials. 

Using LinkedIn for students is the perfect way for students to get ahead of the crowd. The sooner you begin building your profile, the better your chances are of getting the best job straight out of college. It acts as an extension of your CV, which is often not very useful to begin with.

When you step out of college, there generally isn’t too much job experience (if any) that you can put into your CV to make it look impressive. 

The biggest mistake that students then make is to fill their CV with waffling information. With a LinkedIn profile, students have the opportunity to sketch a much better picture of who he/she is and what their achievements have been over their academic years.

Technology in education has so many applications that it extends beyond the educators using it to get a message across. Now, students can actually use technology to work independently and use their skills to make informed decisions. 

Using LinkedIn to research companies is an excellent example of making technology work for you. When you graduate, the temptation might be there to jump at the first opportunity you get; however, giving your future employers a deeper look could save you much frustration. 

LinkedIn works both ways, in that your future employer’s profile is just as important as yours. You could get vital information about a company and figure out if the company fits your way of thinking and operating. It might seem like a small thing, but you can ask any professional that has worked in an environment where they felt out of place. 

It is never too early to start your profile and you will start to reap the benefits long before you enter the job market and long after you have built up your experience. Just remember to keep whatever you do professional and know that there are many people who are potentially looking for you. 

Bryan Davis is a digital marketing expert with special interest in the role of social media. He has worked with many recruitment consultancies and education firms to emphasise the role of social media in changing the lives of the students. When he is away from his computer, Bryan likes to watch news channels, go for a walk on the beach and try different salads in the kitchen.

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