LinkedIn Academy

October 2019

Noeleen Hammond-Jones and Helen BuzduganCareers Service

What we will cover in the

LinkedIn Academy

Part 1: Creating a professional LI profile

• How to create your profile, step by step

• Customising your ‘career interests’

Part 2: Using LinkedIn to research careers and find jobs

• LinkedIn etiquette (quick intro)

• Alumni search

• Other searches on LinkedIn

• Using groups

• Job search

Part 3: ‘Free play’ on LinkedIn

We will be available to answer individual

questions about LinkedIn and give feedback on

your profile.

The LinkedIn Academy

workbook

• Your step-by-step guide to all the key

aspects of LinkedIn

• Key workshop tasks and extension

tasks…

www.network.manchester.ac.uk

Part 1: Creating a professional

LinkedIn profile

Your CV

• Static document

• 2 pages max (or even 1)

• No photo (in UK)

• Text only document

• Various CVs targeting

different jobs and sectors

• A CV targets a specific

recruiter for a specific role

Dynamic document

No limit on length*

Photo important

PPT, docs, photos, PDFs, links

Only one profile (can’t transfer

connections between two accounts)

Can be targeted by recruiters

AND used to connect with

alumni / professionals for

‘insider info’, opportunities etc

LinkedIn Profileversus

LinkedIn is your calling card

14 x more likely to get a response when you have a photo

Anatomy of a

LinkedIn Profile

Task 1: Switch off sharing

profile edits

Using the Settings & Privacy menu, click on

‘Privacy’, and make sure that ‘Sharing profile

edits’ is set to ‘No’.

Task 1a: Visibility

Again using the Settings & Privacy menu, click on

‘Privacy’, and ‘Profile viewing options,’ to choose

how you want to be seen when you view

someone’s profile.

Task 2: Add an appropriate photo

• Head should fill ~60%

of the frame

• Professional attire for

your target sector

• Good lighting

• No “props”

• Clear, tidy background

• Should look like you!

Tasks 3 & 4: Profile headline and URL

Task 3: Update your profile ‘headline’ so it

reflects your experience

Task 4: Edit your profile URL to remove the

extraneous characters

NB: Don’t forget to check your contact

information is appropriate!

Task 5: Create a powerful

summaryIdeas for your summary:

• Give an idea of what you are about professionally

• Talk about what you’ve just done, what you’re doing now and what you hope/plan to do next

• Highlight the best bits of your profile, that may be less visible

• Read other people’s summaries (graduate from your course/professionals in your chosen sector) to get ideas for the content/style/structure, but don’t plagiarise!

• NB: Only the top 3 lines of the summary show initially, so make sure the key points come first

Task 6: Education/work experience

• Update your Education or Work Experience

section with some information

• Add some bullet points to the “description”

fields

Tasks 7 & 8: Skills and

accomplishments

Task 7: Add in some skills to your profile

– Be specific!

Task 8: Explore the Accomplishments

section, and perhaps add a Project

Other sub-sections under ‘Accomplishments’

include:

– ‘Languages’, ‘Honors & Awards’ and ‘Courses’

Task 9: Career interests

• Let recruiters know you are ‘open to job

opportunities’

• Customise your career interests, by

specifying preferred job titles, location,

start date and whether you are looking for

temporary/permanent jobs etc

• BUT don’t rely on LinkedIn to give you

exact job matches

Part 2: Using LinkedIn to

research careers and find jobs

Where are you in terms of

thinking about your career?

Go to www.menti.com and type in

code: 539396

Questions that LinkedIn

can help with…

• I need some inspiration! Where do graduates from

my course really work and what do they do?

• I want to work in […insert dream role…]

What sort of jobs are there? What experience and

qualifications would be useful?

• I want to get some work experience in [...place...]

What companies could I target?

• I want to study […course…] – where could it lead?

Who you know

…Alumni search

What do University of

Manchester graduates

do?

Use the Alumni search tool to explore...

• What grads from your course went on to do

• Try filtering by location, company and what they studied

• Select a profile or two to look at…– What was their career path?

– What work experience did they do?

– Have they obtained any further qualifications?

– How have they laid out their profile - any ideas for your own profile?

Task 1: Alumni search

Connect with

etiquette

Recruiters want you to connect

with them

Connect with etiquette

Always hit Connect from their profile page, to make sure you can add a note to your connection request

Connect with etiquette

• Ensure your profile looks professional and completed

– Good photo, strong headline

• Visit their profile first (leave your “calling card”)

• Personalise your message to establish any connection

– ALWAYS connect from within the person’s profile page

– ALWAYS, when using the mobile LinkedIn app, select

“Personalise…” from the menu; don’t just click Connect

• Give them a reason to link with you

• Don’t ask for a face-to-face meeting before they have

connected with you (unless you already know them)

Other searches on

LinkedIn… people,

companies, groups,

posts etc

Use the main ‘Search’ box to explore a particular career area:

• People (who holds a particular job title and what was their career path to get there?)

• What are the job titles matching your keywords?

• Posts relating to your area of interest

• Companies (who recruits people in these roles -who could you target?)

• Groups (useful groups to join – we will look at this further shortly)

Task 2: Other searches on LinkedIn

…Groups

How can I connect with

people who share my

interests?

Use group search to find...

• Groups in your career area of interest

• Groups based on extracurricular interests

• Groups based in specific regions

Request to join, after reading the ‘About this group’ section and ensuring it’s relevant and open to you.

Task 3: Groups

…Job search!

How can I find a job?

Use the Job search tool to explore...

• The jobs available in your area of interest for example “marketing assistant” or “software engineer”

• Filter roles by location, date posted, industry and experience level

• When you have your search results, you can create an alert to notify you when new jobs come up that match your criteria

• Once you have chosen a job to explore further, take note of other opportunities people have viewed on the right side of your screen

• If you know which companies you want to work for, explore their pages for jobs available

• NB: This is just one job search tool. If you are looking for jobs, use CareersLink (www.manchester.ac.uk/careerslink) and other resources too

Task 4: Job search

Being active in the

LinkedIn community

Task 5: Being active in the

LinkedIn community

Try one of the following:

• Post an update

• Share an article

• Follow a few companies

• Tailor your news feed (click on the … in the top right-hand corner of any post)

• When you feel confident, you can even post your own article

“Homework” suggestions…

• Continue to update your LinkedIn profile– Develop the summary section of your profile

– Add a suitable photograph

– Add more projects, multimedia etc

• Observe how people interact with LinkedIn– Check out profiles of other students and grads

– Join some groups and watch what goes on, e.g.Uni of Manchester Alumni Association group

• Start to connect with people you know – friends, family, tutors, employers, contacts through hobbies etc.

• Use the alumni search for career inspiration

• Connect with us and keep in touch!

Your LinkedIn toolkit

• LinkedIn workbook from today

• Check out our website and download our ‘CV and LinkedIn Guide’ for further tips: www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/findjobs/networking/linkedin (hard copies available in Careers Service, Atrium, 1st Floor, University Place)

• Official LinkedIn resources for studentshttps://students.linkedin.com/uk

• ‘Learning LinkedIn for students’ coursewww.linkedin.com/learning/learning-linkedin-for-students

Part 3: “Free play” on LinkedIn

– we are here to help with any

questions and give feedback

on your LinkedIn profile