LinkedIn — UoM Careers Service
LinkedIn is a global social media platform for professionals to network. It’s a great way to market yourself, connect with other students, alumni, employers and recruiters. Employers use LinkedIn as a recruitment tool and advertise roles and some companies allow you to submit your profile as part of your application.
Why is LinkedIn useful for students?
- Create a professional online profile to go with your CV
- Network with professionals who also work in your chosen field
- Research prospective employers and organisations and filter through location or industry
- Explore different types or jobs and career paths
- Connecting with alumni and others to gain insight and guidance
Create a CV
Before you create your profile, first things first — get your CV right! We’ve created a blog post on everything CV, and collated all the resources on offer. Go to CVs — UoM Careers Service Support (update link).
LinkedIn Advice — Careers Service YouTube
The Careers Service has a YouTube channel on everything you could possibly imagine to do with careers ranging from online workshops to tips and advice. Find the Careers Service YouTube Channel here.
Below you will find a playlist of videos from the Careers Service that offer advice and tips on LinkedIn.
- Profile Essentials — Whether you are just getting started or want to refresh your existing profile, we will show you how to create a professional LinkedIn profile you can share with confidence.
- Tips and tricks — This online workshop will introduce some of the useful features and tools of LinkedIn. Once you’ve mastered the essentials and developed your connection etiquette, it helps to know some of the other resources you can leverage on the network. We’ll look at making your LinkedIn life easier with the Alumni Tool; the value of joining Groups; and how to get started posting your own content.
- Contacting and Connecting — LinkedIn is a professional networking platform to help you connect with professionals in fields that you are interested in. It also enables you to connect with alumni, classmates, colleagues, and mentors. This session covers the benefits of connecting online for your career and the etiquette around connecting online. Understand the do’s and don’ts of LinkedIn to help increase your visibility and employability online. This is for those starting out and looking at reviewing their LinkedIn approach and connections.
- Find jobs — LinkedIn is more than just a networking site — it can help you find a job or work experience. This recorded webinar will help you find professionals and alumni to connect with who can support your job search and learn how to write professional connection requests. You will find out how to join and make the most of groups and be active on the LinkedIn community. You will be able to use the LinkedIn job search function effectively and create alerts to help you find the perfect role for you.
LinkedIn Academy Resources
This is a resource for University of Manchester students and graduates to help you get the most out of using LinkedIn. We have one of the largest alumni populations of any university on LinkedIn, a community of which you are a member! This resource focuses on how to create a professional looking profile.
The resource takes you through how to:
- get started with LinkedIn
- find your privacy settings and switch off sharing profile edits
- add an appropriate photograph to your profile
- create an engaging profile headline
- customise your public profile URL
- create a powerful About section to introduce yourself
- add your Education and Experience sections
- add skills to your profile
- add accomplishments such as a project
- add a Twitter account to your profile
- next steps and further resources
Click here to access the LinkedIn Academy Resource
Careers Service — Using LinkedIn
Go to the Careers Service — Using LinkedIn webpage for more details and tips on using LinkedIn and the resources on offer to help build your profile.
1. Develop an effective student LinkedIn profile
Start by copying across information from your most current CV.
2. Start by connecting with people you already know
When you do a search on LinkedIn, it will prioritise the results depending on your degree of connection with that individual. Thus, the more connections you have, the greater chance of the results including people to whom you are connected. Begin by connecting with classmates, staff and work colleagues.
3. Join some LinkedIn groups
The groups you join will signal to future employers the kinds of work, employers or values you have. Joining groups to link to your volunteering interests speaks volumes, as does membership of any professionally based groups associated with the kinds of careers or industries you’re interested in. Following companies will also signal your interest in work areas too.
Useful LinkedIn groups to join:
- The University of Manchester Alumni Association group
- Manchester Business School group
- Greater Manchester ChamberB
- Networking in Manchester
4. Use Alumni Search to connect with Manchester Graduates
This tool will allow you to search the profiles of all Manchester students and graduates on LinkedIn. Enter “The University of Manchester” in the top search box and select the profile with the logo.
Careers Guidance appointments
A one to one appointment to discuss your career ideas, and plans with a Careers Consultant. Whether you are just getting started thinking about your future or have some clear ideas we can help.
You can find out how to book and what to expect at the Careers Guidance appointments webpage.
Careers Drop-in
Talk to a member of the Careers Information and Advice Team online during our Zoom drop-in session. They’ll be online to answer your careers questions, if you need advice on how to get started with your career research or help using your CareerConnect account. Drop in any time between 10–11am. The sessions are usually held on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Go to CareerConnect > Search > Events to find the Zoom link.
LinkedIn for Students
LinkedIn has created its own resource to help students create a profile. They’ve developed a whole host of videos that take you through how to use the platform to secure internships, tailor your profile and top tips to make the most of your profile. Find the resources at the Linked for Students webpage. Some of the resources include:
- Get Hired Video Series: Episode 1
- The Student Job Hunting Handbook: Chapter 1, 2 and 3
- Build your professional brand
- Profile Checklist: College Students
- Building a Student Profile
- Finding a Job or Internship
- Networking on LinkedIn
- Tailoring Your Profile to Your Goals
- Communicating on LinkedIn
- Building Your Personal Professional Brand
- LinkedIn for Students: Overview
- LinkedIn for Students: Top 5 Profile To-Do’s
