These days your online presence isn’t complete without a LinkedIn profile, and you might have been thinking about it for a while, without knowing where to begin.
Follow our four steps to get started:
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Think of LinkedIn as an online CV
Use the headline to think about what your value proposition is. Summarise who you are and your career goals, and then add your education and work history to build a picture of your knowledge, skills and experience. Don’t forget to add a professional photograph to help your profile stand out.
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Build your network
First of all connect with friends and other students from your course. Add in your lecturers and, if you have a part-time job or volunteer, your manager and colleagues. Join the University of Nottingham group and research alumni, you may even want to send them a message and request to connect! If you speak to an employer at a careers fair or event, follow up afterwards with a message too.
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Explore your interests
Search groups for the sectors you are interested in working in and request to join. Search for and follow companies to gain insight into industry trends and company updates as well as university alumni to understand their career pathways. You’ll gain great insight into industry trends and company updates.
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Find job opportunities and prepare for job applications
Try LinkedIn’s job search tool to find advertised vacancies, and set up alerts so you don’t miss out on any opportunities. You’ll also see posts from individuals to say their company is hiring, or see vacancies listed in company posts, so use a range of channels to help your search. Use your sector and company research to personalise your answers when submitting applications or answering interview questions.
It’s a useful tool to connect with colleagues, classmates, or lecturers, who can provide endorsements for your skills and recommend you based on their experience of working with you.
There is a job-search tool, and you can configure notification alerts when new employment offers are out.