Yesterday, in either higher secondary classes or in a college. A significant element in that process, particularly geared towards a professional career, is the use of LinkedIn.
Here are some hands-on tips about what to do on LinkedIn, specifically for students.
1. Get the basics in order
What are the basics for LinkedIn?
a. Display picture
- Not too formal, not too casual.
- Wear a decent outfit that you may consider wearing to an interview and take a good quality photo.
- If you are going to use your smartphone for the photo, ask someone to click your photo with the usually more-powerful rear camera instead of taking a selfie yourself with the relatively poorer front camera.
- Take the photo in a well-lit place, preferably lit with natural light.
- The photo should include your head and body, till the chest. Don’t make the photo just about your face alone.
- Smile as enthusiastically as possible for the photo.
- Observe the background: what is behind you? Is it distracting in terms of color, shape, or writing/text? Make yourself the only subject in the photo, but do not make the background plain white like a passport photo either. Use your imagination.
b. Cover picture
- The cover picture is like your own personal billboard. Make it count.
- Find something that could make a visitor (to your profile) spend at least 5+ seconds on your cover photo. What would that be? Put yourself in the shoes of a visitor to your profile and try to think like them?
- Many people use a quotation they like (Steve Job’s quotes seem like a particular favorite), but that, in itself, doesn’t say much about you. Make the cover picture truly communicate something specific about you. For instance, if you put the covers of your top 5 favorite books, that may perhaps say something about you. Get creative – think hard, and make your personal, professional billboard count.
c. Profile video
- You have just 30 seconds to introduce yourself. So, do not record something impromptu and work really, really hard on your script.
- Imagine what you’d tell a specific kind of stranger if you are meeting them for the first time? Think of a hiring manager, or a start-up CEO, or an HR head, or a venture capitalist… it could depend on what kind of career you have in your mind. Fix that person as an individual in your head and then write your 30-second script.
d. The all-important ‘bio’ (or ‘headline’)
- This is really your elevator pitch.
- You get between 120 characters to play around but using a hack, you can extend it to 220 characters.
- But more isn’t always better – remember!
- To construct your bio/headline, imagine yourself in an industry event within the sector/industry that you want to see yourself in. You see tons of strangers all around you talking to each other, exchanging business cards. If someone comes and shakes your hand (a pre-pandemic behavior, of course!), how would you introduce yourself? Would you say your name, followed by your school/college name, what you are studying, and your interests? That seems most logical and safe, but that’s what any/every student would do too. How can you stand out in the only self-introduction you are allowed?
- Do start with ‘Student at…’, but that’s not enough. That’s like merely stating your designation and company name when asked ‘who are you?’. You are more than your designation, the company you work in, or the school/college you study in.
- Avoid using the word ‘enthusiast’ as a suffix with a/any subject (‘marketing enthusiast’, ‘e-commerce enthusiast’, ‘legal enthusiast’, ‘supply chain enthusiast’, and so on). Instead, frame it as ‘Interested in a career in supply chain’.
- Do not merely use keywords or hashtags to make it seem like a laundry list of random topics. Frame proper sentences about yourself and your intent.
e. The ‘About’ section
- Use the same frame of reference as the profile video – who are you talking to? Not a group of assorted people, but a specific designation/position. Better still, imagine a specific person in your head and talk to that person as the content for this section.
- Use the appropriate keywords that befit the sector/industry that you’d like to see yourself in, but don’t go overboard with them. Make them fit naturally within the sentences. This is not like Instagram hashtags.
- Working professionals—particularly those that may hire you eventually—may not be as cool with messenger chats (which they may prefer with people they know; not necessarily with strangers like you) like you and your friends. So make it easy for them to contact you even beyond LinkedIn. Create a specific email (gmail) ID and add it at the end of your ‘About’ note. If this is a unique email ID you use only here, when you get an email to this ID (add it to your existing gmail ID so that you don’t miss emails), you know that LinkedIn is the source of the incoming interest.
- Wherever possible, add videos, documents, photos, or presentations to back any claim you are making in terms of interest areas or volunteering experience.
f. Experience section
Sure, you do not have work experience, but do add every experience you have gained in terms of volunteering, interning, and so on. Also add any certifications, awards you may have received. Explain the context of such certificates or awards along with a note on what you gained from them qualitatively. Add feeling/emotion to this part instead of merely stating, ‘C++ certificate from NIIT’.
g. Unique URL
Get yourself a unique/custom LinkedIn profile URL (it will be under the ‘Public profile section’ that you can access by clicking on your name on LinkedIn).
2. Use the ‘Open to’ feature when you are ready to work/intern
LinkedIn says that people who use that are 40% more likely to receive messages from recruiters.
3. Sending connection requests
As a student, you may be keen on connecting with industry leaders in your areas of interest. But do think from their point of view – why should they connect with you (even if it takes no time or effort)? Sending a connection request without a personal message is a complete no-no. Sending a personal message that goes, ‘I’d love to connect with you’ is a close second no-no – it is putting your need on priority; doesn’t care about the other person at all; so they need not care either.
Think from the other person’s point of view. They may ideally want to connect with their peers and seniors. Why should they connect with you? So, before sending a connection request put the effort to become known to the other person. How would you do that?
In the offline, it’d be called stalking, but this is normalized in the online world. You go their profile’s activity and add contextual replies/comments to their post. The better your contribution is the more the chances of them remembering you from your connection request and considering connecting with you because you may have earned it by now.
But when it comes to the low-hanging fruits, a simple personal message should do. Who are the ‘low-hanging fruits’? Working professionals in your own/extended family. Your professors. Your friends.
4. THE most important part of LinkedIn – your activity
Signing up for LinkedIn and filling the basics is like paying Gold’s Gym the annual membership fee and buying workout clothes from Decathlon. The real work starts when you show up every day/frequently without fail.
So, show up as frequently and as consistently as you can, on LinkedIn. With what? See .
Start by commenting on posts that are contextually in your areas of interest. Make the comments count. Think through what you are adding and recheck if you are adding value to the discussion or the original post. Your value-add could be in the form of new information or a new perspective. Or, it could be a reiteration of what others are saying, but with a different framing or articulation.
Join relevant groups on LinkedIn and add your comments only where you can make a tangible difference in terms of perspectives or new information. Groups also give you an interesting LinkedIn hack – even if you don’t have a premium profile (that gives you the power to send an InMail to anyone even if they are not connected to you), group membership allows you to write directly to fellow members even if you are not connected!
Have a regular habit of creating original content for the LinkedIn timeline in the areas of your interest (and intended future career). Read as much as you humanly can on a subject before talking about it. Consider multiple perspectives before sharing one. Remember: as a student, you do not necessarily need to demonstrate or showcase expertise. You can demonstrate and showcase your passionate interest and your joy of learning something new.
An easy way to get started is to read news updates on the industry you are interested in and add your perspectives on some of the latest/topical news. For instance, if e-commerce is your interest area, sharing your point of view on Zomato’s plan of 10-minute delivery would be purposeful. But think about what you want to say that doesn’t simply add to the existing noise.
For more tips on content, check the ‘Personal branding‘ section in this blog.