LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 660 million users worldwide. As a student, having a strong LinkedIn presence can help you connect with professionals in your desired field, find internships and jobs, and showcase your skills to recruiters. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to optimize your LinkedIn profile as a student.
Why Should Students Use LinkedIn?
There are several key benefits for students who use LinkedIn:
- Networking – Connect with alums, professionals, and peers in your industry of interest.
- Jobs – Discover and apply to internships, fellowships, entry-level jobs.
- Build your personal brand – Showcase your accomplishments, skills, and interests.
- Get insights – Follow companies and thought leaders to stay up-to-date on industry news and trends.
- Showcase your work – Share projects, presentations, research, and more via your profile and activity feed.
In short, LinkedIn provides students with an unparalleled platform to build relationships, explore career paths, enhance their personal brand, and stand out to recruiters and hiring managers. Investing time in your LinkedIn presence as a student can pay dividends for your future career.
Step 1: Create a Student LinkedIn Account
To create your LinkedIn account, go to LinkedIn.com and click “Join now.” You’ll be prompted to enter your first name, last name, email address, and password. Be sure to use a professional email address like [email protected] versus something informal.
On the next page, LinkedIn will ask you to select your country/region, enter your ZIP code, and answer some additional questions about your identity. This helps LinkedIn customize your experience.
On the education section, be sure to add your school, degree, major/field of study, and expected graduation date. This helps identify you as a student to recruiters. You can also add past schools you’ve attended.
Once you’ve entered your basic profile info, LinkedIn will prompt you to select a photo. Choose a professional headshot of just you (no selfies, group shots, or informal pictures). You can always change the photo later if you don’t have one ready now.
Some additional student profile tips:
- Use a customized URL – Change your public profile link to something like Linkedin.com/yourname versus a bunch of random numbers and letters.
- Customize your background photo – Choose a clean, professional background versus the default option.
- Show your student status – Be sure “Student at [School]” is listed under your name.
Step 2: Optimize Your LinkedIn Headline
Your LinkedIn headline appears below your name and photo on your profile. It’s valuable real estate to communicate who you are to visitors. Some examples of good student headlines:
- “Computer Science Student at University of Michigan | Seeking Software Engineer Internship”
- “MSW Candidate at Columbia University | Passionate About Mental Health Access”
- “Undergraduate Marketing Major at NYU | Incoming Marketing Intern at XYZ Company”
Your headline should include:
- Your major/field of study
- Your university name
- Your degree (BS, BA, MS, etc.)
- 1-2 of your focus areas or interests
- The type of role you are seeking (if applicable)
This communicates the key details visitors need to understand who you are as a student at a glance. You have 120 characters, so be concise.
Step 3: Build Out the Core Sections of Your Profile
With your basic profile setup, it’s time to flesh out the core sections that will comprise your LinkedIn presence as a student. This is what hiring managers and recruiters will look at to evaluate you for opportunities.
Photo
As mentioned earlier, use a professional headshot of just you. Some tips for an excellent student LinkedIn photo:
- Professional dress in business or business casual attire
- Friendly smile
- Clear, high-quality image
- Neutral background
While selfies or casual photos may seem fine to you, they give a bad impression to recruiters. Invest in a professional headshot – it’s worth it.
Student at [School Name]
List your degree, major/field of study, minor (if applicable), clubs (if applicable), and expected graduation date. Recruiters want to understand your areas of study and progress toward your degree.
About
Your About section tells your story. Share your background, interests, academic studies, and goals. Use first-person language. Some topics to cover:
- Fields of study that excite you and why
- Clubs, activities, or causes you are involved in
- What sparked your interest in your major/field
- Academic projects or research experiences
- Goals for your future career
- Top skills you have developed as a student
This is your chance to bring your student profile to life. Share details that capture your academic experience, passions, and personality.
Experience
List any jobs, internships, volunteer work, freelance projects, research, teaching roles, or other professional experiences you have as a student. These help demonstrate valuable skills and knowledge to recruiters. For each experience:
- Organization name and position title
- Employment dates
- Location (city, state/country)
- 2-3 bullet points summarizing your responsibilities and achievements
If you don’t have professional experience yet, list course projects, club leadership roles, tutoring, or academic achievements.
Licenses & Certifications
List any professional licenses or certifications you have obtained as a student, such as:
- CPR Certified
- PMP Certified
- Certificate in Financial Analysis
- TEFL Certified
Relevant licenses and certs show you’re developing professional skills.
Awards & Honors
Showcase any notable awards, honors, scholarships, or grants you’ve received as a student, such as:
- Dean’s List Recipient
- National Merit Scholar
- Recipient of XYZ Scholarship
- 1st Place Winner of Business Case Competition
Highlighting your academic achievements demonstrates excellence to employers.
Courses
Listing relevant courses helps summarize your areas of academic study. Recruiters can see what coursework you’ve completed to develop skills in your field. Select 5-10 classes to highlight.
Projects
Showcase class, volunteer, freelance, or other projects that demonstrate desirable skills like:
- Leadership
- Research
- Communication
- Marketing
- Web design
- Data analysis
For each project, summarize what it involved and your specific contributions. This shows how you apply classroom learning.
Skills
List 8-10 key skills you have developed as a student that would interest employers, like:
- Journalism
- Customer Service
- Project Management
- Social Media Marketing
- Lab Research
- Fundraising
This gives recruiters a snapshot of your abilities tied to roles.
Languages
List any language skills, along with your proficiency level. Fluency in other languages, like Spanish, is valuable to employers.
Interests
Share 4-5 interests or hobbies outside of your work. This helps personalize your profile. Just keep them professional – no controversial topics.
Step 4: Expand Your Connections
Building your connections on LinkedIn allows you to:
- Network with professionals in your industry of interest
- Join relevant student and industry groups
- Follow companies you’re interested in
- Connect with recruiters and hiring managers
- Get introduced to alums and leaders at your university
Expand your connections in a strategic way by:
- Connecting with students and alums from your university, especially those in your major or field of interest. They can offer career advice and mentorship.
- Following companies you want to work for or are interested in. This lets you get company updates and job postings.
- Joining LinkedIn Groups for students interested in your major/field as well as general career advice groups.
- Connecting with professors and faculty you have a good relationship with. They can provide recommendations and industry introductions.
- Following thought leaders in your field whose posts you find interesting and insightful.
Focus on quality connections versus quantity – people you can build mutually beneficial relationships with.
Step 5: Engage With Content
As a student, you can leverage LinkedIn to:
- Consume valuable industry news and resources by following companies, thought leaders, and hashtags in your field of study.
- Publish your own content like articles or presentations to build your personal brand and share your projects.
- Like and comment on posts from your connections to grow visibility and engagement.
- Join discussions in LinkedIn groups relevant to your major and career interests to connect with other students.
By actively engaging with content, you position yourself as interested in and committed to your field versus passive.
Step 6: Utilize LinkedIn’s Job Board
Once your LinkedIn profile is built out, tap into LinkedIn’s extensive job board to find:
- Internships
- Fellowships
- Entry-level jobs
- Career events
You can filter by location, company, job function, industry, job type, and more to pinpoint opportunities that interest you. Set job alerts to get notified when new postings match your criteria.
The LinkedIn job board should be part of your broader job search strategy as a student. Many employers post here exclusively because they know strong candidates are on LinkedIn.
Tips for Applying via LinkedIn
- Tailor your resume and cover letter to each application.
- Write a unique LinkedIn message to the hiring manager if able versus just submitting your application.
- Follow up after applying if you don’t hear back within 1-2 weeks.
- Leverage your connections at the company to help get your foot in the door if possible.
Applying for jobs through LinkedIn as a student makes your profile visible to recruiters. Even if you don’t get a particular role, you may be considered for others in the future.
Step 7: Seek Recommendations
Recommendations help validate your skills, achievements, and work ethic from professors, advisors, former managers, or colleagues who know you well professionally. They hold more weight than you touting your own abilities.
Ideally, aim for 2-3 recommendations as a student. Think strategically about who to request them from – you want recommendations that support your academic narrative and future career goals.
When asking for a recommendation, provide context on your current academic and professional path to jog their memory on your contributions and impact. Make the request process easy by:
- Asking politely if they feel comfortable providing a recommendation
- Offering to send your resume/LinkedIn profile to refresh their memory
- Expressing you appreciate their time and would value their endorsement
Having engaging recommendations on your student LinkedIn profile helps you stand out as a promising candidate for opportunities.
Step 8: Check Your LinkedIn Settings
Take some time to review your account settings. Key things to update:
- Privacy settings – Adjust what profile info is visible to the public vs private.
- Notifications – Manage notifications so you stay up-to-date on key messages and activity.
- Ads – Control whether you want to see LinkedIn ads or not.
- Groups, Companies & Feeds tab – Customize your homepage experience.
Optimizing your settings ensures your LinkedIn student profile has the visibility you want while filtering any unwanted noise.
Step 9: Install the LinkedIn Mobile App
LinkedIn’s mobile app (available for both iPhone and Android) makes it easy to manage your profile and network on-the-go. Key features include:
- Viewing profile visits and messages
- Receiving notifications so you stay connected
- Posting updates and articles
- Commenting on posts and joining discussions
- Searching jobs and contacting recruiters
The app provides a streamlined experience for students to nurture their LinkedIn presence and network from anywhere.
Step 10: Continue Building Your Profile Over Time
Don’t look at your LinkedIn profile as a one-and-done exercise. Update it continually as you advance through school by:
- Adding new positions, projects, courses, skills, honors, and activities
- Revising your About section and headline to reflect your evolving academic interests and career aspirations
- Connecting with new people, companies, and groups relevant to your studies
- Publishing new articles and content to demonstrate thought leadership
The more robust and current your student LinkedIn profile, the better it supports your personal brand and journey after graduation.
Conclusion
Optimizing your LinkedIn profile helps unlock the many benefits of the platform as a student. By showcasing your passions, skills, accomplishments, and goals – and expanding your professional network – you amplify your future opportunities.
It does require an active time investment to nurture your LinkedIn presence throughout your academic journey. But doing so can significantly enhance your personal brand, network, exposure to companies and leaders in your desired field, and competitiveness for internships, jobs, and other openings. Approach LinkedIn as an integral element of your student experience and career strategy.