It is the 21st century and majority of us are aware of and are active on social media networking sites. It is rare to come across someone who does not have an account on either of the social networking sites. Each social networking site has its own aura and offers a platform for different kinds of networking. Globalization has sped up as well as thanks to social media networking sites. You can connect with your relatives across the globe and remain updated with their life events thanks to the content sharing nature of such sites. Businesses are opting for social media marketing as well to cater to the large audience active on social networking sites while simultaneously also increasing their audience reach. Social media is an integral part of our lives now.
The LinkedIn platform
Founded in 2003, LinkedIn is considered to be the largest professional network online with over 300 million active users. Unlike Facebook or Instagram, it is purely professional in nature and even though a lot of social but professional networking is going on, on a regular basis at LinkedIn, the platform has largely been used in searching for jobs and gaining employment. Recruiters would verify the online presence of a prospective employee by checking them out on LinkedIn. The LinkedIn profile lists your qualifications, experiences, skills and your area of interests; in short acts as a detailed resume. Accordingly, people do not post goofy or funky pictures or share memes or articles having a comic nature but instead upload professional looking headshots and instead follow company pages which give them insight into the practical world.
How can the LinkedIn platform benefit students?
A college level or high school student or whichever level student would be most probably occupied with their assignments and deadlines and exams etc. The most networking that either of them would consider is simple social networking given the nature of their lives. While social networking forms a crucial aspect of our lives, it is necessary that we comprehend the significance imposed by professional networking from early stages. Most graduates fresh out of college struggle with adapting to the professional requirements and lifestyle, amongst one of which is now LinkedIn. The LinkedIn recommendation feature allows for people to get recommendations as well thereby improvising their profile.
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits that LinkedIn has to offer for college students:
Creating Connections:
If you start connecting with people working in the industry from a very early stage, you can hope to gather expert advice for when to step out into the practical world plus build connections which can ease up the process of acquiring a job when you start seeking for one. Plus having references can look pretty good on your resume as well! You can also connect with other students worldwide and communicate without hurdles. You could be providing ACCA thesis writing help to another student and maybe cash on it too!
Enriching your knowledge pool:
The LinkedIn platform offers a wide array of groups where a large number of people are present and follow certain topics and discussions as well. You can conduct company research on LinkedIn by checking out their company pages and connecting with the employees working in them. Companies often publish miscellaneous articles and posts filled with useful information which can positively add to knowledge pool of the student and provide them with insight into the practical world.
Landing Jobs:
The basic foundation on which LinkedIn was laid on was connecting recruiters and potential employees. Your profile acts as your resume and recruiters can easily search for and verify your online presence. Unlike a PDF resume, you can update your LinkedIn profile on a regular basis and let recruiters know that you are open to jobs as well. You can create custom alerts as well which will notify you every time a job as per your requirement will be posted on LinkedIn. You can land jobs on an international level as well by communicating with global recruiters online.
Conclusion
LinkedIn is a very handy tool now assisting in social media marketing and B2B businesses as well so it is only obvious that students can also benefit from it greatly given that they make proper use of it.
