Graduating from high school, college, or any other academic program is an exciting milestone worth celebrating! After years of hard work and dedication, you deserve to spread the happy news far and wide. One great way to announce your graduation is by sharing it on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform with over 800 million members. Posting about your graduation on LinkedIn allows you to inform your connections about your academic achievement. It’s also a chance to reflect on your journey, thank those who helped you along the way, and start building your professional brand.
However, there are some best practices you should keep in mind when sharing your graduation news on LinkedIn to ensure your post is engaging and effective. This article will discuss tips on writing a compelling LinkedIn graduation announcement, optimizing images and media, using relevant hashtags, customizing viewer settings, and measuring your post’s impact.
How to Write a Strong Graduation Announcement for LinkedIn
When drafting your LinkedIn graduation post, you want to come up with creative and thoughtful messaging that will resonate with your audience. Here are some tips to write an appealing graduation announcement:
- Thank professors, mentors, friends and family who supported you. Recognize important people who helped you reach this milestone.
- Share a memorable quote or moment from your time in school that had an impact on you.
- Highlight your proudest academic accomplishments like special projects, internships, or any awards received.
- Reflect on the skills you gained and knowledge you acquired in your program.
- Show your personality by adding humor or clever messaging.
- Discuss your post-graduation plans and the next chapter you’re embarking on.
- Inspire others with motivational messaging about persisting through challenges.
- If customized for certain connections, relate the news back to how you met or worked together.
It can be helpful to look at other successful graduation announcements on LinkedIn from students in your network or alumni from your university. This can provide inspiration on wording ideas and formatting.
When crafting your message, be sure to use an upbeat and grateful tone. Share your excitement about this new stage in life. Use this post as a way to notify your community while also motivating or entertaining readers.
Optimizing Images and Media for Your Post
Including visual media in your graduation post helps draw attention and engagement. Follow these tips for selecting eye-catching images and video:
- Feature a professional headshot of yourself dressed in a cap and gown or graduation attire.
- Use an image of your diploma or graduation ceremony.
- Incorporate photos with professors, mentors, friends or family related to your graduation.
- If allowed, take pictures of memorable landmarks or buildings on your college campus.
- Create a photo collage highlighting your academic memories and milestones.
- Insert graphics with your school colors, logo or mascot.
- Incorporate motivational quotes as graphic images.
- Upload a video clip of the graduation ceremony or celebrations.
- Provide photos from your study abroad experiences if relevant.
When adding visuals, be mindful of image resolution and be sure to have rights to any photos or videos you post. Utilize high-quality images that will look polished and professional.
Supplementing your announcement with visual media makes your post more eye-catching and helps emphasize the emotions of your graduation.
Using Hashtags and Tagging for Increased Visibility
Adding strategic hashtags and tagging key individuals in your post can help amplify the reach of your graduation announcement:
- Include hashtags like #graduation, #classof2022, #newgrad to tap into larger trending conversations.
- Use school or university-specific hashtags like #Stanford2022 or #UNCChapelHillGrad.
- Add program or department hashtags like #RossMBA or #AndersonMBA for business schools.
- Incorporate inspirational hashtags like #followyourdreams, #motivation, #futuregoals.
- Tag your university, department, or program LinkedIn page.
- Tag and thank professors or faculty members.
- Tag family members and friends congratulating you.
Integrating 1-2 relevant hashtags and tagging connections directly involved in your academic journey makes your announcement discoverable by wider audiences. This amplification can help you gain more profile views, likes, and comments.
Customizing Viewer Settings for Your Post
Optimizing your LinkedIn viewer settings allows you to personalize who can see your graduation announcement:
- Public – Anyone on or off LinkedIn can view your post.
- Connections only – Visible just to your 1st-degree connections.
- Custom list – Configure specific individuals or groups to view.
Assess your comfort level on sharing this milestone widely or not. Typically, “Connections only” is recommended to limit visibility just to your professional network. However, “Public” expands reach for a major life moment if appropriate.
You can also leverage your customized LinkedIn Groups related to your university, alumni, or program to target the graduation post. For example, you may want to open visibility to extended connections and peer groups versus keeping it more private.
Measuring Your Post Impact and Engagement
Once your graduation announcement is live on LinkedIn, you can track reach and effectiveness by monitoring:
- Post views – How many times has your post been viewed?
- Reactions – The number of likes, celebratory, love, etc emojis.
- Comments – People posting thoughts or congratulations.
- Shares – How often others have shared your post.
- Mentions – Being tagged by others about your news.
- Profile views – Any spike in visitors to your profile.
- New connections – Growth in your network.
This data helps reveal how well your post resonated with your target audience. Strong reaction metrics contribute to your personal brand and validate the networking value.
Compare your results to previous non-graduation posts to gauge increased visibility. If you notice minimal views or engagement, you may want to experiment with different wording, images, or settings for your next career update.
Sample Graduation Announcement Post Text
Here is sample text you can reference when drafting your own LinkedIn graduation announcement post:
Title: Proud Stanford Class of 2022 Graduate!
I’m overjoyed to share the news that I have officially graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science!
When I first stepped foot on campus four years ago, I never imagined the incredible journey and growth I would experience. I’m forever grateful to my remarkable professors including @ProfessorTempleton who imparted so much wisdom beyond the classroom. Thank you to my family and friends who offered endless love and support along the way.
My Stanford experience provided me with knowledge and skills that will propel my career, as well as lifelong memories and friendships that I will always cherish. I’m honored to join the elite Stanford alumni network!
While graduation is bittersweet, I’m feeling optimistic about the future. I’m thrilled to be starting a new role next month as a Software Engineer at @Google in San Francisco. As I embark on this next chapter, I hope to continue making my community and @Stanford proud.
Forever a Cardinal! #Stanford2022 #StanfordGrad #Classof2022
Conclusion
Sharing your graduation news on LinkedIn provides an exciting way to mark your academic accomplishments. By crafting compelling text, incorporating visual media, using strategic hashtags and settings, and tracking engagement, you can spread the happy announcement to your professional network. Graduation is a major milestone that deserves to be celebrated and highlighted digitally. So don’t be afraid to leverage LinkedIn to share your graduation joy far and wide!