LinkedIn 101

May 9

Article by Shivina Mittal

What Is LinkedIn?

A virtual portal that allows a member to showcase his or her professional profile and to build a network of professionals and students.

What Features Does LinkedIn Include?

While there are subscription packages available for users who actively engage with the platform and want to do more with their networking, college students only need the free and basic version which includes the following:

Ability to build a professional identity by listing educational and professional background
Messaging option for in and out of network member
Advanced search function
Groups for similar professional, educational or extracurricular interests
Blog posts from distinguished professionals
Recommendation and skillset boosts on profile

Why Will It Benefit You?

I started a LinkedIn account after attending a global health conference during my 1st year in college. I met many people at the conference who gave me their business cards and almost every business card had a LinkedIn profile link on it. Not only did I not have a business card but I essentially had no way of keeping in touch with these people besides calling or emailing them. I was told that cold-calling and emailing these organizations did not have a very high success rate and when I still gave it a shot I learned very quickly how true that was. Even though I eventually found an opportunity that I was excited about this way, I decided to create a LinkedIn profile. I instantly started connecting with people I met at the global health conference and many other events. As my network grew, I started getting connection requests from people! While I did not feel the need to message people directly at that time, looking at other people’s profiles helped me learn about the many opportunities that exist out there, whether it was related to volunteering or professional. LinkedIn is a great research tool and here are reasons it will benefit you:

You are able to connect with people whose jobs you would be interested in one day.

You can message those people to schedule informational interviews and therefore, learn more about what they do and how they can help you. You always want to offer your value proposition while asking for help (see templates below).
Review the profile of someone who might interview you so you could bring up their background during the interview and earn bonus points.
Share updates on how your career is progressing.
Add things that you were not able to include in the one-page resume on your profile
You can research companies you are interested.
You also have the ability to connect with recruiters who can help you land internships.

How to Use It?

There are many ways to use LinkedIn, especially when you keep growing in your professional career but here are some steps you should follow in the beginning after creating your account:

Upload a professional picture.
Write out your educational background—high school, college, major, GPA (if above average) and test scores (if above average)
Include any volunteering organizations you have been a part of and include a description of what your role is.
If you have had any jobs in high school or college, make sure to list them in your profile.
Select a title for your profile. For example - “Student at X University” or “Student seeing internship Opportunities.”
Start requesting people you have met to connect. Personalize the connection request to stand out (see templates below).
Message any connections if you have a specific questions or request.
Keep your profile up to date.

Overall, LinkedIn is a tool that has helped me immensely in my career and at every step. I am at my current job because I reached out to a fellow alum who I had never met while in college but due to our mutual connection and my initiative, he put in a referral for me which helped bump up my resume.

Want someone to Follow on LinkedIn to get started? Follow Minds Matter San Francisco or the national Minds Matter Organization! If you want to connect with a person, connect with some of the members of the Alumni Mentee team: Shivina Mittal, Ninny Wan, Rachel Lee, Suhitha Uppalapati, Stefanie Lau.