Lucy Yarrow - Modern Languages, second year

During the summer break, I found myself staring at the ceiling with not much to do due to the pandemic situation. I came across the LinkedIn challenge one morning and decided to take part. It was not only something to fill my time, but I also wanted to learn more about LinkedIn and bring my profile back to life from its abysmal state.

I hadn't used it in around a year and thought of it just as a waste of time— another social media platform which I would eventually end up deleting after getting bored of it. I had a profile, but I wasn't confident in using it and only sent invitations to friends and to people I knew on my course. After hearing the application being referenced a lot throughout my academic life so far at Royal Holloway, I began to think that it must be something that could be useful to me since other students and recruiters were talking about it frequently. With too much time on my hands and not much to do, I started to carry out all the tasks of the challenge and began writing my reflective essay. I had nothing to lose and even if I wasn't chosen as a prize winner, I still had a motivation to improve my profile and make meaningful connections.

I chose to carry out two of the optional activities: following companies on LinkedIn which were of particular interest to me and using the RHUL alumni function to identify individuals who have completed the same degree as me. I wanted to understand their career paths, find out where they gained work experience, and generate some career ideas of my own. By following the companies that were of interest to me, I was able to see updates on new developments on my newsfeed , as well internship opportunities and development programmes available in the sectors I was interested in. This is undeniably the most beneficial part of LinkedIn, and I’m grateful for the resource. In addition to this, studying Modern Languages as a degree opens a lot of doors in the world of work; I always felt overwhelmed with choice when trying to decide what I wanted to do in the future. Even when I found something I was interested in, I was unaware of the steps I needed to take to get where I wanted to be. The alumni function on LinkedIn was a great tool that helped me brainstorm possible career options. I could see graduates of my course with their career history and qualifications which really helped me to get a better sense of how to progress after my studies at Royal Holloway.

Taking part in the challenge has brought me many positives:

• I now feel more comfortable navigating and using the platform as I have an awareness of the benefits of having a profile on LinkedIn
• I am more aware of the job opportunities available to me
• Revising my profile to be more personal to my academic and professional career has made me more appealing to potential employers and particularly to recruiters
• I was able to interact with other professionals even after the challenge e.g. recently I attended a conference and was able to interact with other professionals who also attended and we were able to connect on LinkedIn and discuss the event
• I was also offered my first feature article!

Being able to have all these opportunities at my fingertips is such a privilege and I would advise anyone who doesn't have a profile to seriously consider making one. Even by starting out with a blank profile, you can gradually build up your experiences and connect and follow other professionals to brainstorm and prepare for your own career journey. There's so much information on the platform and I encourage you to take advantage of it. I have personally gained so much pride in my own successes and built up my confidence that I feel excited to share my accomplishments with others. Fighting against imposter syndrome is still currently an ongoing battle; however, I have realised that climbing the ladder to reach my own career goals is a great opportunity for personal development.