Using LinkedIn To Enhance Employability Prospects For Computing Students

1. Thomas Lancaster • Birmingham City University Using LinkedIn To Enhance Employability Prospects For Computing Students

2. Workshop Overview Introduction to the LinkedIn Social Network Practical Activity Using LinkedIn Discussion – Integrating LinkedIn Into Teaching

3. Introduction To LinkedIn

4. LinkedIn

5. LinkedIn • Largest Professional Social Network • Over 120 million members • Provides opportunities for professionals to • Network with existing and new contacts • Establish a professional presence • Receive recommendations • Look for employment possibilities • Provides a professional mechanism for staff and students to stay in contact

6. LinkedIn For General Users • Profile page • Introduction • Resume/CV • Photos • Portfolio

7. LinkedIn Profile http://uk.linkedin.com/in/thomaslancaster

8. Use Of LinkedIn By Students • Maintain a professional network of acquaintances • Other students • Lecturers • Professional contacts • Find placement and employment opportunities • Look for existing jobs • Send speculative requests through contacts • Seek out freelancing work (good for their CV) • Maintain a professional presence • Shows what they do beyond their course • Vital for employability

9. A Professional Profile Is Essential http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/9162356/Facebook-passwords-fair-game-in-job-interviews.html

10. Search Engine Control • Many employers in the technical fields will filter students informally by searching for them online • Find embarrassing Facebook photos • Find their bebo account from when they were younger • LinkedIn allows some control over what information is available through an Internet search • Ranks very high in Internet searches • Professional by default • Provides an online CV • Can be included in job applications • Students in technical fields are expected to be online

11. Use Of LinkedIn By Staff • Maintain a professional network • Other staff from their institution • Industrial and professional contacts • Former students • Provides a professional focus for their course • Encourages students to apply • Allows dissemination of professional activities

12. LinkedIn Networking For Teaching • Add people who you know • Suggest letting students approach you, rather than the other way around • Use the “Add Connections” feature • “People Who You May Know” is very powerful • Network outside your immediate Connections • Use “Get Introduced” • Generate speakers and work experience opportunities for students

13. Practical Activity Using LinkedIn

14. Activity • Create a LinkedIn profile • Include a professional photo • Include interesting text • Add professional connections • People you work with • People who you know from Higher Education Academy contacts • Improve The Profile • Add links to your other web sites • Customise your url • Advanced Activity • Join LinkedIn groups and use these for networking purposes • Ask for a Recommendation

15. Further Use Of LinkedIn

16. LinkedIn Is For Marketing • Pushing your personal brand through a professional channel • Headline needs to be attractive • Use keywords (both as keywords and within the text) to reflect your aims for being on LinkedIn • Ensure that the profile is public • Make sure that the information is detailed (write it as an advert) • Post to the profile regularly (and monitor what is posted)

17. Social Media Syndication • Advanced Technique • Link your social media sites together • Provides great visibility across a professional presence and on LinkedIn • Twitter Linking • Showcases Twitter link on LinkedIn profile • Can automatically show all Tweets on LinkedIn • Can automatically syndicate LinkedIn content to Twitter

18. Using LinkedIn Within Teaching

19. Motivation • Make sure that students understand the need for a LinkedIn profile • To represent themselves professionally online • To build up lifelong professional connections • Lead through staff • Ensure that staff are represented on LinkedIn (even if the information is brief) • Builds up the university brand (and their personal brand)

20. Training • Students are used to social networking • But training can still be beneficial • Students benefit from training on branding and marketing • Integrate teaching within appropriate modules • Professional Practice • Personal Development Planning

21. Assessment Idea • Professional Presence Assignment • Students required to represent themselves professionally online • Produce material for a CV • Can include elements of PDP

22. Mahara

23. LinkedIn

24. Web Site http://emmettcooper.co.uk/

25. Web Site http://www.cvickers.co.uk/

26. LinkedIn Is The Start • Building up a whole online presence across social media is important • Controlled Facebook • Google+ • Twitter • LinkedIn • YouTube • Web Site • etc

27. Discussion: LinkedIn Teaching

28. Upcoming Workshop Enhancing The Employability Of Computing Students Through An Online Professional Presence Friday 8 June 2012 Birmingham City University Millennium Point, Birmingham Free Of Charge (Limited Places) Contact: thomas.lancaster@bcu.ac.uk http://www.bcu.ac.uk/tee/ctn-hea-employability-workshop

29. Any Questions?