Comparing My LinkedIn Page To The Textbook's Guidance

As mentioned in my post about social media usage, I use LinkedIn to find professionals and companies in my career interests. While I was reading section three in chapter two of Essentials of Social Media and Marketing, I was interested in how their LinkedIn guide compared to my page and the choices I made. Here are some similarities and differences when it comes to LinkedIn.      

The top of my LinkedIn page

Something I highly disagree on when it comes to the profile picture shown in the textbook is that the woman is looking straight ahead. This makes her an easy target of identity theft, a common crime on LinkedIn. Instead, a picture of your head at a slightly different angle has both the same professional intent and provides security. For my profile picture, I used a formal yearbook photo where the photographer instructed me to slightly tilt and turn my head. 

I have not placed a cover photo. The cover photo LinkedIn provides is a blue-grey circle pattern. I plan on keeping this automatic cover photo because unlike the example, I have no set career plans. I also believe not setting a cover photo prevents people who view my profile to make assumptions about my interests and skills for the job market. 

My headline is simply the fact that I am a student at Ohio Northern. I disagree that the textbook discourages stating that you are simply a student. The only exception I can think of is if you are set on a career path and are sure you will never change your mind. 

My work experience as listed on my LinkedIn page

Stating my work experience and my education was a simple copy and paste task from my resume. The work experience will be sorted on LinkedIn as the top being the most recent. For each job, I simply listed the most common and/or the most career relevant responsibilities. For example, the underwhelming jobs of babysitting and tutoring were phrased to show that I am capable of working with and understanding a younger age group along with providing them with a positive influence and guidance. Proclaiming myself as a self-employed author shows that I see writing as more than a hobby. Under my education, I added what sports I participated in, showing that I am able to work with a team during a physically demanding time. 

The only volunteering I chose to include was a public summer reading program. This enforced that I could work with the different age groups of not only young children, but their parents as well. I personally avoided listing volunteering associated with my place of religious worship to keep my page on a neutral ground for all types of employers to consider. 

I believe that the textbook did not put as much enthusiasm into completing the Skills and Accomplishments section of LinkedIn as it should have. That section is a place to list your unique skillsets, such as if you are skilled at programming or are proficient in multiple languages. 

My skill sets as listed on my LinkedIn page

Everyone has had different experiences in life, so it is important to display the experiences that could be beneficial to employers and their companies. However, I believe a student's LinkedIn page should be shown as someone who is open to all job opportunities and not just jobs that they may be initially interested in.