After obtaining a communications degree, the logical step for many is to find employment in their chosen field. One way to accomplish that is through both business and professional networking sites, including LinkedIn.
The LinkedIn Profile
It’s important to understand someone’s individual LinkedIn profile actually is available to be viewed twenty-four hours a day, year-round. It’s not only job recruiters who examine the profile. It also encompasses people with similar interests. This, in turn, can lead to actually having a job offer suddenly show up or having someone get invited into a professional LinkedIn work-related group.
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Professional Groups
One of the ways for someone looking to further their communications degree through LinkedIn is to join a communications-related group. The LinkedIn groups are comprised of people involved in a common field of expertise sharing experiences, triumphs, struggles, and generally adding to the general knowledge.
It’s not enough to simply join a group. Participation is a necessity. The more an individual participates in a group, the greater the likelihood that person’s name will get noticed. A particularly insightful comment might cause others in the group to look up someone’s LinkedIn profile, for example, which might lead to a long-term communications connection being established.
The Right Demographics
The Pew Research Center found that the people who use LinkedIn tend to be well-educated individuals who are also in the higher-end of the earnings spectrum. For someone looking to further their communications career, this would seem to be the prime target demographic being sought out. In addition, it seems that older users (aged 50-64) were more prevalent on LinkedIn than the 18-29 demographic. The older demographic tended to be the ones in a position to either offer an employment position or assist in some sort of mentoring capacity.
Mentoring
One of the most effective ways to advance a communications career is to reach out to successful individuals who might be willing to offer career advice. There are literally hundreds of people involved with communications willing to share their advice. By engaging them via LinkedIn and learning what paths they recommend and which paths to avoid, it’s possible to save both time and effort in the long run. Successful people usually want to share what they’ve learned with others and LinkedIn is a great way to learn from those shared experiences.
Job Opportunities
There is little doubt that LinkedIn is one of the top places where job opportunities can be found. An article in Forbes outlined various ways to improve an individual’s odd for career success using LinkedIn and pointed out that nearly every job recruiter uses LinkedIn to find the right people for the right job. Having the right profile on LinkedIn and using the right connections can greatly increase the odds of landing a job that is both financially rewarding and personally satisfying.
With today’s competitive environment in both employment and career advancement, it’s imperative to use every tool available. Combining a communications degree with a strong, active presence on LinkedIn makes for an effective approach to further an individual’s career in communications.¬