How to be successful on Linkedin after Graduation

Savannah call
Jan 29, 2023
4 min read

I graduated college almost 1 year ago now, and in my senior capstone class my professor focused on the value of Linkedin to land a job and start your career. A phrase from my professor that stuck with me is "you are in marketing, you need to know how to market yourself as well". That struck me as I realized I was trying too hard to fit into a resume template or a standard mold that I thought would earn me a career. I knew that those templates didn't resonate with who I was as an employee or as a person.

I began using design elements that captured my skills and expertise. I put more time and effort into developing a business persona that I could be proud of. In this post, I want to share with you some personal tips I've used to build my presence on Linkedin and some additional advice I've learned from professors.

Connections

The first thing my professor told me was "you have to get 500 connections on Linkedin - connect with everybody". I connected with so many people after that, my account was suspended for 24 hours. I started connecting with everyone who attended my university - professors I had, professionals that I was interested in, and people at companies I wanted to work for. You can search a company and connect with people that work there. Note that a connect and a follow are different, a follow will simply have you follow their page, you will not be connected as friends. You can also search a city and find companies and people in those areas.

The reason you want to get 500 connections is that once you hit that mark, your account shows 500+ connections, which makes you appear more connected... cause you are!

Linkedin Banner

Next, you should personalize your Linkedin banner with a second profile photo, your professional title, and contact information. You can easily design one using a free template from Canva.

Here is an example of mine:

Here are free banner template ideas from Canva:

I would recommend placing your banner profile photo on the right side, because it will get cut off by your primary profile picture once uploaded.

Professional Photo

I was fortunate enough to have professional photos taken as part of my internship while in college. Many universities also have special days where you can get a professional headshot taken. If you don't have one, find one of your favorite photos of yourself or take a full face selfie or self timer headshot yourself.

Here are examples of profile photos I have used:

While the first image feels more professional, the second image is a more accurate representation of me and my individuality.

Your Bio

Crafting a bio that fully captures your skill set can be difficult. It took me months of slow edits until I got to one that felt truly professional, and still there is plenty of room for improvement! The key is to highlight your skills by laying out the results those skills have produced. If you don't have enough experience yet, you can get creative with how you phrase your experience.

Here are the changes I made from my first bio to my current bio.

My Old Bio: I am a marketing professional that recently graduated cum laude with a B.S. of Business in Marketing and a minor in French. My experience with marketing can be attributed to my internship with Vandal Solutions where I managed multiple social media channels, as well as my internship with the Alumni Relations Office where I improved engagement and developed marketing strategies. I am highly motivated and looking to grow my skills and experience.

My Current Bio: Highly motivated digital marketing professional with 3+ years of experience in marketing. I have excelled in growing brand awareness, optimizing campaigns, increasing online traffic, and improving email campaigns. I have worked across multiple advertising mediums and designed materials for digital and print media. I am fueled by my passion for the psychology of consumer behavior and the effective, data-driven marketing strategies used to target consumers.

Stay Active

It's necessary to stay active on Linkedin to stay prevalent. Using Linkedin to post work accomplishments, career advice, or relatable content keeps you on people's minds and more importantly it accurately tracks your career and all of your accomplishments. Employers can look back on your lifetime of content and see your career growth and successes.

Post all of your Experience

In the experience tab you should include all of your relevant experience and even older jobs if they highlight other skills you may have. If you held a job for a long period of time, that is valuable to display because it shows longevity and commitment in a role.

In most roles, recruiters are looking to make sure you match the criteria in the job description. Go through a job description for a role you want, and see what skills they describe that you have and add those to your description. If you have the job listing for an old job, you can reiterate what it says for your job description.

Be sure to add skills you've gained from each job under the skills tab as well.

Start a Website or Portfolio

Having a website or portfolio is a great way to compile all of your accomplishments into one spot. This is especially valuable in my marketing career as I can keep examples of copywriting, design materials, video content, and

data driven results where any employer can view them. You can make a free website for free on Wix and other sites.

Now You're Ready to Improve your Linkedin

I hope these tips help you in further developing your Linkedin and gaining a role out of college. Stay tuned for more advice on how to land a job after graduation, or before...

Leave a comment if you have any other Linkedin tips that have worked for you!

Connect with me on Linkedin Here