This document supports the #CollegeCash chat session held on September 22, 2011. It highlights the usage of Linkedin by College Students.

1. LinkedIn For Students #CollegeCash September 22, 2011 Presentation

2. LinkedInFor Students What we will cover: Success Plan Profile Basics Student Features Applications and other Features

3. Your Success Plan Have your Online Presence Ready: Employers and Recruiters check Work Towards 100% profile completion during college years Save your written presentations and videotape your spoken presentations. Get testimonials and recommendations Participate in professional and alumni groups Build your network/connections strategically

4. Make Sure your Online Presence is Ready Even Freshman Year isn’t too early to start planning and building your profile. Having a strategy in place will help the student create a great profile, by the time they are ready to enter the workforce. Students Utilizing LinkedIn correctly can help with Scholarships, Internships, and getting a job and pay off those loans Clean Up Pictures, for one student I helped, Drop your Facebook sombrero/margarita picture and replace with ROTC picture. Make sure you have Facebook privacy settings set correctly. Be careful of what you post, update, tweet. Stating that you took GMAT hung over isn’t good.

5. Set the Foundation for a Complete Profile Professional Headline Professional photo Summary Specialties Customise web links & profile link Check for spellings and grammar. Use application like Word to check and paste into LinkedIn. Get Recommendations from Professors, Bosses, and Volunteer Advisors

6. Profile Elements for Students Projects: Add compelling research or class projects to your profile – especially those that demonstrate experience relevant to your professional goals. Honors & Awards: Did you make the Dean’s List or earn a merit-based scholarship? Add it to your profile. While much of profile is a subjective characterization of your abilities, Honors & Awards provide objective validation for your accomplishments. Organizations: Participation in on-campus or external organizations shows your contributions outside the classroom. Leadership abilities, and making a positive impact within an organization, are talents widely sought by employers and recruiters. Test Scores: Employers often view strong test scores as indicators of good problem solving skills. If you have excelled at standardized tests (ACT, SAT GMAT), or have a stellar G.P.A., include these scores on your profile. Courses: Do you consistently push the envelope by enrolling in rigorous coursework? List select courses on your profile – especially those that qualify you for positions you are seeking, or demonstrate your commitment to expanding your academic horizons. Many employers know your school’s course catalogs as well as you do, so include the strongest courses of your college experience.

7. Go to your LinkedIn profile page in edit mode, and click the blue “Add sections” bar under your profile summary. Then, browse the available sections and select a section to add to your profile. When editing section, include examples and specifics about your contributions, and how experience added to your skills and abilities. The new section will appear on your profile – and you can adjust your profile settings to control who can see these sections. Quick Tip: You can rearrange the sections of the profile to highlight your strongest sections How to Add Student Sections to Profile

8. Profile Applications Add Slideshare Or Google Share to show off your great presentations. Use slideshare video features to highlight your presentations and demonstrate your speaking effectiveness. You are videotaping, aren’t you? Use Boxnet to download your impressive papers. If your field is creative use the portfolio app to show case your talents. Use Amazon Reading Lists to demonstrate your readings and research If appropriate for your field, use the Creative Portfolio to show case your “creative work”

9. Groups Can Be Helpful Alumni groups of your university for potential mentoring and networking. Industry Join groups in industry you are interested in Professional Join groups pertinent to your technical expertise. Networking Join recruiting and networking groups to expand your reach

10. Prepare for the Job Search Make Sure your Online presence is ready for the job search. Many companies check Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube as part of their background checks. Make sure your LinkedIn Profile is ready for campus interviews. Have an appropriate status update posted a couple days before. Recruiters do check. Sharing your scholastic achievements can help guide relevant people to your profile, and may even help you land that dream summer internship or job opportunity right out of college

11. Company Profiles Follow Companies you are interested in. Search for alumni in those companies. Read what is going on with that company Check out their metrics such has career path trends and popular colleges.