Many university students are eager and excited to start being adults with responsibilities but are not sure where exactly to start. Starting college is a huge step forward in anyone’s career and one of the main topics that students often think of is finding jobs and work opportunities to start their budding careers.
One of the best things students can do is start using LinkedIn!
There are many benefits to using LinkedIn as a student, some of which include:
- Research
As a student, many think that LinkedIn is for professionals who share posts and who already have a network of other professionals. This cannot be farther from the truth since LinkedIn is also used by recruiters to source candidates and it is used for posting jobs.
If a marketing student wants to ensure that they have the best odds of being accepted into a marketing role upon graduation, they can start by looking at marketing internship job descriptions. From there, the student can see all the different popular programs that marketing professionals would require of them to know.
Get to know these programs, learn the skills, earn certificates, download the programs and get familiar with them! This is one of the best ways to get ahead of the crowd, employers would love a student who takes that kind of initiative because training and onboarding is an expensive process!
2. Network – connect with recruiters and professionals
The thing about many recruiters is that they are looking to fill open jobs. They want to find and be connected to the right candidates. Many people think of recruiters as evil, but many of them truly just want to do their jobs!
One thing students can do is to be kind, reach out to recruiters and maybe ask for a 15-minute coffee chat to learn more about the company and past company roles that might suit their skillset. You can stay connected to the said recruiter by sending them notes now and then during holidays or following them and maybe sending them articles that you think they might be interested in. Don’t overdo it though!
Another way to get networking is possibly connecting to professionals to learn about their companies, other companies in the industry and hopefully connect to some great people who might refer you to their company.
3. Get comfortable with the jargon
Skills and knowledge are often not enough to win over a hiring manager, many hiring managers want to click with candidates. Of course, this is a personality thing but there are still ways for you to get comfortable with a hiring manager and let your personality shine.
One way is for you to become more articulate in your language and get comfortable with industry jargon.
Following professionals on LinkedIn and reading their posts or talking to them can help students become more comfortable in their skin and be able to better express themselves without tripping over-complicated words or overthinking certain phrases.
I would also suggest practicing by posting your thoughts and ideas and having conversations with people interested in your content.
4. Start setting the stage to get sourced by a recruiter
By starting to use LinkedIn early, you start setting the stage to get sourced by a recruiter. Get comfortable using the application, perfect your profile and edit your skills many times to focus on the most important skills that you must advertise.
Being able to perfect your LinkedIn profile is one of the best tools you can use to get sourced by a recruiter. You can read more about how you can get sourced by a recruiter here.
Being a student is both a blessing and a curse. You are at the prime of your life and so there is so much you could do to ensure you have a bright future ahead. At the same time, you can spend up to 5 minutes at the local convenient store calculating how much you can spend on a bar of chocolate without breaking the budget.