Lehigh Career Center gives advice on LinkedIn networking

As summer and the end of the school year approach, so encroaches the anxiety related to the search for desired jobs and internships. This pressure often leads students towards the Center for Career and Professional Development, as well as the professional networking platform, LinkedIn.

The Career Center’s website provides links to webinars that provide resume writing guides, interviewing guides, networking guides and guides to LinkedIn.

LinkedIn has grown in popularity for those students on the hunt for a job or any work experience. However, although it provides various tools for finding a job or internship, students remain confused about how to best use the site to maximize its potential.

In order to take advantage of this tool and use it to the best of its abilities, students must learn how to use it effectively.

Candice Sierzega, the associate director of the Center for Career and Professional Development, said she believes creating a LinkedIn profile is a necessary step in applying for jobs and internships, as it serves as an extension of an applicant’s resume.

LinkedIn provides a forum for including awards or leadership positions that may not have been highlighted on a one-page resume. A person’s profile should include an updated, professional photo as well as a summary about the applicant and their goals. Summary paragraphs on LinkedIn should tell employers what to expect as they peruse the rest of the profile.

When making a profile, Sierzega said, students should be sure to include details that set them apart from other applicants, such as haveing a stury or speaking another language.

Recruiters look to LinkedIn to see how active possible employees are, and how passionate they are about their organization.

“When you’re applying for internships or jobs, LinkedIn will allow you to follow the company and engage in conversations they are having regarding trends in the field,” Sierzega said.

LinkedIn allows candidates to develop a professional brand for themselves that sets them apart from other applicants. They may follow professionals and various companies through the site, as well as professors and faculty on Lehigh’s campus .

“LinkedIn allows you to network with individuals in an organization or it allows you to follow the company page itself if they have one,” Sierzega said. “LinkedIn is really a social networking site for business.”

Vinicius Aguiar, ’16, took advantage of the professional networking tool and was able to secure a job after his graduation this May.

“Throughout my research for a job, LinkedIn helped me out tremendously,” he said. “I connected with a vice president at Charles River Associates.”

Aguiar found that forging relationships with prospective employers is one of the most effective ways to make his resume stand out among thousands of other applicants in his same position. The connection with the vice president at Charles River Associates that he harbored through LinkedIn was one he was able to indicate on his cover letter.

One of the first questions Aguiar was asked on his first interview was, “What is your connection with the vice president and practice leader for the energy practice?”

He said his LinkedIn experience allowed him to confidently answer this question and eventually secure a job as an analyst after graduation.

The Center for Career and Professional Development also provides an alumni network. Lehigh University as an institution has over 46,000 students and alumni connected on LinkedIn.

When utilized properly, LinkedIn has the potential to provide its users with career-related opportunities.