Maral Rostami, MSc Information Security

LinkedIn is one of the most professional networks which creates economic opportunities for every member of the global workforce. It could be beneficial for the graduates to connect the world’s professionals to build commercial awareness through following influencers and news channels.

When I started to build my profile, I encountered lots of challenges. As I am a foreigner, I had a problem with the titles and the professional words that I could use in my profile to correctly express my education and career status. I started to research my classmates and colleagues LinkedIn profiles in order to get some inspiration on how I should build up my own profile.

I found the headline, summary, and getting recommendations the most challenging parts of completing my LinkedIn profile. The headline and summary parts were challenging because I didn’t know how I should approach them and what were the best keywords to use. Fortunately, the two webinars on LinkedIn that I listened to really helped me to know how I should complete these parts.

I wasn’t aware of the ‘open to work’ section and ‘alumni tool’ on LinkedIn until I listened to the webinars given by Doreen and Siobhan from the careers team. As I’m currently looking for a job, I can let recruiters and my network on LinkedIn know that I’m open to new job opportunities. I have also learnt how to specify the types of job opportunities that I’m interested in. After making these changes to my profile, I saw an increase in my profile views.

Moreover, I discovered fellow alumni who are currently working in the career area I wish to work in. So, I reached out to them and asked for advice and recommendations.

I have learnt that managing a professional presence on LinkedIn is not a one-off task. On the journey to building my LinkedIn profile, I have become aware of what other relevant skills and achievements I can develop to become competent in the Industry I am seeking to be part of.

Finally, I would like to thank the career team and their efforts to guide students through their career path. I’ve learnt a lot from these two webinars and from completing the LinkedIn challenge.