Love your Career: What is LinkedIn and why is it useful for students
LinkedIn is the biggest online social network for business professionals.
It's different from Facebook etc. because it's specifically designed for professional networking, as opposed to chatting with friends. It's a really useful way to network with graduates and recruiters, particularly if you're job hunting. It’s also a great way to keep up with developments in your area and, as well as having an up to date online presence.
Many employers now use LinkedIn to recruit. They can shortlist candidates based on qualifications, location, experience and skills at the touch of a button.
- If you haven't already, go into Linkedin.com and set up a profile
- Populate your profile as much as you can. Display everything you are doing. Employers like to see what else you have to offer besides your degree. The better and more complete your profile is, the more likely it will appear near the top of the page in a Google search on your name.
- Go into the universities section on the top tab and look for TU Dublin. Once you find it, you should see that there are over 75k profiles listed. Using keywords, narrow down your search until you find graduates from your course.
- Personalise your request to connect, telling them why you want them in your network.
- Go into the group section on the top tab and using keywords, identify and join relevant groups, including Technological University Dublin – Graduate Network.
- Go into the company section on the top tab and search for organisations that recruit graduates in your area. There's often useful information here that's in addition to what's on their website.
For more advice, have a look at these short LinkedIn videos designed for students and graduates.
Here are some help sheets too:
LinkedIn Cheat Sheet
Networking on LinkedIn
Conducting Employer Research on LinkedIn
LinkedIn Etiquette Guide
You can also read about all the Love Your Career events taking place across TU Dublin this week, here.