TO THE EDITOR:
Perhaps you’ve heard about LinkedIn, the professional social network, but you’re not sure exactly what it is.
For students who are accustomed to Facebook, LinkedIn can feel like a foreign land — a bit uncomfortable and a bit intimidating. If you are a student or recent grad, setting up a professional profile and becoming active on LinkedIn are absolute musts.
LinkedIn profiles rank very highly in search results (almost always on the first page), so having a LinkedIn profile is like a business having a listing in the yellow pages: it shows that you are proactively taking part in the professional community. Just as you build your professional visibility by showing up at a company information session, industry association conference or networking event, you need to “show up” online as well.
In today’s ultra-competitive job market, a good resume is not the only tool required to land a position. Online portfolios, blogs, Twitter feeds and other virtual tools are helping people present their credentials in new ways. Smart students know this and manage the online representations of their credentials as carefully as they craft their resumes and cover letters.
In the end, building a professional presence and growing your professional network on LinkedIn are great ways to declare to the world that you are ready to contribute and you are eager to make your mark on the world — the online world and the real one.
Holly Paul
US Recruiting Leader
PwC
