LinkedIn

LinkedIn connects college students with professionals in their field of interest, opening doors for mentorship and career opportunities.​

It serves as a powerful platform for finding internships, part-time jobs, and entry-level positions.​

Building a strong LinkedIn profile showcases skills, experiences, and achievements, enhancing students' professional image.​

Follow companies and industry leaders to stay updated on trends, news, and relevant information.​

LinkedIn Learning offers a wide range of courses to enhance students' knowledge and skills.​

Facilitates connections with alumni who can offer guidance and advice in navigating post-college life.​

Receive recommendations from professors, employers, and colleagues, boosting your credibility.​

Groups and forums on LinkedIn allow students to join conversations and connect with like-minded individuals.​

Employers actively use LinkedIn to search for and connect with potential candidates, increasing students' visibility.​

Engaging with professionals on LinkedIn exposes students to diverse perspectives and encourages personal and professional growth.

Discover internship and job opportunities through referrals from your LinkedIn connections.​

LinkedIn allows students to highlight their projects, research papers, and creative work, gaining recognition and feedback.

Connect with professors and researchers at graduate schools they may be interested in attending.​

Students interested in starting their own businesses can connect with potential partners, investors, and mentors on LinkedIn.​

Offers webinars, workshops, and resources to enhance students' professional skills and knowledge.​

LinkedIn promotes industry events and conferences, providing opportunities for students to attend and network with professionals.​

Profiles with a photo get 21x more views and 9x more connection requests than those without!  ​

• Choose a photo that looks like you
• Put your face in the center of the frame​
• Practice your facial expression​
• Wear what you’d wear to work​
• Choose a non-distracting background​

​View more Tips for Taking a Professional LinkedIn Profile Photo to take an engaging photo! ​

​And don’t forget to include a background photo! Here are some ideas.​

​And…the Career Services Center is also providing free professional photos!!  Click here to learn more.​

Aside from your photo, your headline is the single most important factor to making a strong first impression. Make your headline more than your current job or education status!​

• Make it quick​
• Make it catchy​
• Make it you​

​View more tips and examples from LinkedIn: Eye-Catching LinkedIn Profile Headlines to Inspire Your Own.​

Create a summary that tells your story—and be yourself!​

• Make it about you​
• Tell a story​
• Write in the first person​

View more tips and examples from LinkedIn: LinkedIn Profile Summaries That We Love (And How to Boost Your Own)

Create a compelling experience section to showcase your skills and make a strong impression on potential employers, colleagues, and connections.

• Include relevant positions
• Use action-oriented language
• Highlight achievements and impact
• Tailor you content
• Be concise and relevant

Build credibility with references​

• Aid their memory (include notes for your reference to help guide them)​
• Highlight your abilities ​
• Make it personal

Start connecting with people you already know today!​

• Friends​
• Fellow Students​
• Family​
• WWU Staff ​
• WWU Faculty​
• Co-workers​
• Supervisors ​
• Alumni

Connect with professionals that:​

• Recruiting for a job, industry, employer you’re interested in​
• Work in an industry you’d like to explore​
• Currently, or used to, work at an organization where you’re interested in working​
• Have an interesting career path you want to learn about​
• Graduated from WWU​
• Are connected to your 1st connections ​
• Share content on a topic of interest​
• Are members in a mutual group​
• Live in an area where you’d like to relocate

What to include (in 300 characters or less)​

1. Personalized greeting​
2. How you know them​
3. Why you want to connect​
4. Polite sign off​​

Need some examples? Here are 6 message templates for LinkedIn Connection Request Success.​

• Follow Companies (especially if you want to work there)​
• Join Groups ​
• Follow Influencers​
• Subscribe to Newsletters​
• Connect with Schools

• Engage: Like, Comment, Repost, Send ​
• Create: Posts, Articles, Videos​
• Give & Receive: Recommendations ​
• Communicate: Messaging​
• Meet: Informational Interview

Use LinkedIn to research the organization and the people who work there.  ​

Pro Tip: Reach out to people to ask them for an informational interview to learn more about the:​

• Company​
• Culture​
• Team​
• Supervisor​
• Position​

Search for jobs and internships using LinkedIn’s extensive database of jobs and extensive search filters. Here are some key filters to utilize:​

• Job title​
• Job function​
• Industry​
• Date posted​
• Experience level​
• Under 10 applicants​
• In your network

• Message or connect with the hiring team (job poster) if they’ve included their name on the posting​
• See how your skills match those added by the job poster​
• Set up & manage job alerts​
• Find jobs directly from company’s LinkedIn page​
• To find hiring managers, use “hiring” as a Title keyword in the People Filters​
• Go directly to the Company page

Check out this webinar from a WWU alum!