LinkedIn

Connect with professionals and alumni in fields you’re exploring. These relationships can lead to mentorship, informational interviews, and opportunities you might not find otherwise.

Search for internships and jobs, and discover opportunities shared through connections, company posts, and referrals—many of which aren’t widely advertised.

Go beyond a resume by highlighting projects, classwork, internships, and accomplishments. Share what you’re learning and where you’re headed.

Recruiters actively use LinkedIn to identify and reach out to candidates. A complete, well-crafted profile helps you show up in searches and stand out.

Follow companies, organizations, and industry leaders to keep up with trends, hiring needs, and insights that can help you prepare and stay competitive.

Connect with WWU alumni who can share their career paths, offer advice, and potentially open doors through introductions or referrals.

Engage with faculty, programs, and current students to learn more about graduate school options, research areas, and application expectations.

Find collaborators, mentors, and potential partners or investors if you’re interested in launching a project, business, or creative venture.

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.​

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 your 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:​

• Are 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!