2017 HBCU Careers Magazine

HBCU Careers Magazine

with other college students and professionals from similar industries so that you can broaden your

job search and add dimension to your networking opportunities. Do not accept every person

who asks to connect to you but rather build your personal network of people who you respect,

have done business with (or hope to) as well as any professional committed to assisting you with

your job search and “big picture” plans. Do not be discouraged if Human Resource professionals

and/or recruiters do not readily accept your connection invite as they are overwhelmed with

applicant requests and find a distance is needed in order to remain objective and impartial.

Groups: Not a joiner? Now is the time to change that. Join a minimum of 25 groups and

get involved in discussions and sharing of posts. Hitting “like” on everything interesting is not

effective networking. Posting a comment “thanks for sharing this fascinating article” will position

you as a thinking person with an opinion. Posting a relevant article to share with your group or

connections will position you as an Influencer and recruiters take notice of that. Use your voice

as effectively as possible. Remember your audience and the wide reach it has.

Following: Follow every company/organization you are interested in. See what happens in a few

weeks – who has been hired, what internal changes have been made…how can information about

a company you have an interest in help you put together a strong cover letter/letter of interest.

Organizations take notice of who follows them – show your interest in every way you can.

Once your profile is robust and each section is filled out completely, you can begin to use the

information available to you to start the actual job search/networking. By being an active and

relevant voice – your opinions, shares and commentary will show up on the ‘home page’ of all

your connections. If an article you share is of particular interest it might get shared with others

and before long you will be contacted (or viewed) by people in the small circle you are trying to

break into. There are endless webinars available on LinkedIn to walk you through any function

you are having difficulty with.

The most important thing to remember is that LinkedIn is not Facebook. Everything you do and

say is being viewed by the world’s most professional influencers – this tool can land you the job

of your dreams…or get you in hot water for many years to come.

Get LinkedIn. Get Networking. Get that Great Job!