A sign is posted on the exterior of a LinkedIn office on July 26, 2023, in San Francisco. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images via TNS
“I’m proud to announce…”
A phrase that took on a life of its own.
Since its launch in 2003, LinkedIn has changed the way college students secure internships and jobs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform expanded from a simple job search tool into a social hub, encouraging users to share achievements, comment on posts, and personalize their accounts to build connections.
Everyone knows that one person who religiously keeps track of how many connections they have, regularly updates their page bragging about their achievements and uses a performative persona — also known as “LinkedIn warriors” or “LinkedInfluencers” — across social media.
“There is 100 percent a persona that people put on to be a lot more professional and what a workplace is looking for,” Mackenzie Peterson, a third-year in biochemistry, said. “When I post on LinkedIn, I’m going to use different vocabulary, and I’m going to use my words differently and speak in a different way than I would if I were talking about an experience with someone in person.”
For many students, Peterson said the online platform can cause anxiety, disappointment and the fear of falling behind.
“I feel like there’s pressure to post and make what you post stand out,” Peterson said. “I’m in a research lab at OSU, and I’ve had a couple of achievements, presentations and publications that I’ve been able to post about this year. Since I’ve posted, now I feel the pressure to continue and be more consistent with it, now that people know what I’m doing.”
While applying for jobs is important, Ryana Munford, a senior career advisor at the Fisher College of Business’s Office of Career Management, said the platform’s connection abilities are much more beneficial.
“I think LinkedIn is important for the purpose of connecting with alumni, learning about different career paths and learning about different trends or what’s going on in a specific industry, along with job searching as well,” Munford said.
As the world’s largest professional networking platform, LinkedIn has over 1.3 billion users, including more than 383,000 Ohio State alumni. With such a large alumni network, Munford said students should not only connect with alumni on the platform, but also reach out to them personally.
“I encourage students to look for alumni who are doing really cool things that sound interesting and reach out to them, or look for alumni who have done a similar path to what it is that you’re looking to do and reach out to them,” Munford said.
Munford said reaching out to alumni doesn’t need to be overly complicated, and she likes to remind students who are nervous about reaching out that most of the alumni, especially recent graduates, were once in their shoes.
“It’s usually just a simple connection request, letting them know that, ‘Hey, I’m a student in the Fisher College of Business and would love to learn more about your career journey,’” Munford said. “If they accept that connection request, then of course that opens up the conversation to maybe an informational interview, or maybe some job shadowing to further build that relationship. This works for students all over OSU; whatever college you’re in, you can start by just connecting with others who are in your college.”
Peterson said the online platform has played a key role in helping her discover new career paths she had never initially considered.
“Early on in my research days, I didn’t know much about what the possibilities were other than writing papers and getting them published,” Peterson said. “Learning that people can present at conferences and different things like that opened a new door to me.”
Beyond building connections and learning about different career paths, Munford said students should focus on how they present themselves to employers.
“They care that the student took the time to make sure that their application materials are neat and that they articulate their goals and their interests specific to that position,” Munford said. “Targeted resumes and tailoring your applications are important, and I always harp on about that with students. I think that’s one thing that recruiters are looking for, and they’re also looking for not only hard technical skills, but soft skills that I think sometimes students don’t articulate very well in their bullet points because they’re so focused on the hard skills.”
While LinkedIn can create new opportunities and expose students to new fields, constant posts about achievements can also cause students to compare themselves and feel like they are falling behind, according to Munford.
“I always encourage students not to give in to comparing themselves,” Munford said. “I know it’s hard to do because a lot of people tend to get on LinkedIn to brag about themselves and share positive things that are happening within their careers. Your journey is your journey, and you shouldn’t focus too much on what another student’s path looks like.”
