I LOVE LINKEDIN – FIND YOUR CAREER PATH | #BeBoldConnect | Post 5 of 6

Kirstin on Fullback and Friends | This weeks’ blog is all about how to use LinkedIn to maximise your career/job search. So many of us invest quality time in building a profile, networking, and enjoying seeing our connections grow, and then stop. Why? There is so much more LinkedIn users can do to support their sector insight, and here is the bit I love, be inspired by others professional journeys and advice. And, wait, there is more, platforms to help you job search, and for students and graduates just starting out, advice and resources, to help you set yourself realistic goals that will then turn into internships, graduate schemes, and work experiences that you can later feed into your profile.

Through my 1-2-1s with under-graduates, I always introduce LinkedIn, to show students how they can obtain sector specific advice to support them in personalising their job/internship searches. When you are just starting out in your career, trying to get into an industry/profession can be quite daunting, and it is very easy to quickly get ‘the fear’ which, leads to questions such as “why would anyone hire me?” or “I have no experience or skills, so why should I apply for this job?”

Be inspired. These articles will provide you with just that, and they will help you understand that you are not on your own. We all had to start somewhere, and these career stories will provide you with golden nuggets of advice, to help you along your career path.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/things-i-would-tell-my-20-year-old-self-hanna-meiners
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/career-advice-i-wish-had-25-shane-rodgers
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/advice-my-25-year-old-self-rachel-brecht

& seeing as my blog theme is all about my love for LinkedIn, here are some words of wisdom from the LinkedIn Founder and its HR Chief.

http://www.techinsider.io/linkedin-pat-wadors-career-advice-for-20-somethings-2016-4
https://blog.kissmetrics.com/hoffmans-advice-for-entrepreneurs/ – LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman’s Advice for Entrepreneurs

There are over 30M+ students and graduates who are LinkedIn users, which speaks volumes as to how many groups, connections advice and resources that are available via LinkedIn, here are just a few, to get you started:

https://uk.linkedin.com/jobs/graduate-jobs
https://studentcareers.linkedin.com/
https://students.linkedin.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/creative-&-cultural-skills
http://www.careerealism.com/category/job-search/linkedin/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/1-advice-entering-creative-industry-shirley-pan

Here is my last top tip for this week, and is my favourite piece of advice that I gladly share through my 1-2-1s identify the top 20 /top 25 profiles of a profession that you are interested in pursuing. Then, be bold, and view, their profiles, and work through their career history. Find out what types of roles you need to do before you can achieve mid/senior management status. Not only will you be inspired, but also it will help you identify if you have any gaps in your career history that you can fill with amazing experiences. In addition, you may learn that internship experiences with companies that you never knew existed.

https://gb.linkedin.com/title/producer-director/manchester – Top Producer Director profiles on LinkedIn
https://gb.linkedin.com/title/textile-designer – Top Textile Designer profiles on LinkedIn
https://gb.linkedin.com/title/freelance-photographer – Top Freelance Photographer profiles on LinkedIn