Perhaps odd to hear, Reddit is my only social media account. Although I recognize the communication benefits of social media as a whole, the culture it creates as well as its addicting tendency are reasons I stay away.
In my view, LinkedIn, under the veneer of professionalism, is just another social media outlet, with maybe even more of that accomplishment-comparing, virtue signaling culture. Are you guys nonetheless able to use LinkedIn just as a professional tool? Is it necessary for going into business nowadays?
LinkedIn is really important and I honestly haven’t heard of anyone using it as something other than a professional tool. Employers will look at it, and it’s a great way to form professional connections. I made mine last year, my junior year, as a requirement for one of my classes but I’m really glad I did - super useful.
It is good to have LinkedIn account (at least once you are junior or senior). It is free. You can follow research and news from several colleges there in your feed. It is better that your LinkedIn page shows up first in web searches rather than your instagram. You can mention your research or subject interests and showcase skill set. If you are doing coursework or projects (outside of regular school academics) - you can mention it there. You can connect with professors from colleges where you are looking to explore research (but don’t go after them for admissions, etc which will backfire). Do all this with the understanding that most don’t take high schoolers LinkedIn very seriously.
For the most part, I think that high school students have no business being on linkedin as most have nothing worth sharing. The only HS posts I really ever see are kids plugging their non-profits and other equally spammy posts like asking incredibly basic “any advice???” questions. See the dead a2c linkedin group for examples. Don’t be one of those kids.
If you’re using it to just reach out and network, fair enough, I just don’t think HS students really have anything to offer. Even just as a college student I ignore any HS students I don’t know personally.
Frankly, most freshmen probably could do without a linkedin, or at least without ever posting. Pro tip for when you get to college: no body cares about what you covered in one of your intro classes last week, that you made deans list, or your super generic internship that everyone gets. Don’t post about it.
I do. I made my account back in September after my school guidance counselor advised us all to. My profile is pretty well built with all my past professional experience, fellowships, club memberships, etc. listed out and I have around 200 connections but it really hasn’t done me any good in terms of internship/volunteering opportunities (yet). It did help me get in touch with a few psychologists who I invited for our school’s annual Psychology Fest — one of them further got me in touch with a psych professor from a local uni who helped me design the framework of my research paper.
I suppose it’s more beneficial if you’re in college, as you have much more to offer in terms of your achievements/qualifications plus it helps you get good internships.
I have a linkedln but I never use it lol idk why I even made it. Many people in my school have a linkedln acc but I’m not sure if many of them r active on it. I use a lot of other social media platforms tho
Yes, I do. I have like 500ish connections and have info about some of my main ECs (mainly volunteering). Honestly, I’m finding it pretty useful as a “rough-draft” for college apps, so that’s something you could consider using it for! Remember, you don’t need to make everything on your profile viewable to the public if you don’t want to.
Not necessary but recommended imo, I’m a senior in hs and I have smith like 600-700 connections. When I created my LinkedIn some years ago I didn’t think it could bring any benefits but I’ve honestly met a lot of cool people there and got a tech job. While the general LinkedIn community seems full of bs and super fake, it could help you if u follow/connect with the right people.
Nope! I’m gonna make one eventually but I also make fun of my friends who use it heavily (jokingly, even tho I stalk people’s LinkedIn’s using my friend’s account)
Parent here: LinkedIn is really just your online resume that is publicly accessible to people interested in hiring you. You don’t need to interact with the site at all if you don’t want to. I’ve had a profile since it started and have never once read any posts or posted anything myself. I do however keep my profile updated and have sent the link to future employers. Also, I’m only connected to colleagues, particularly former coworkers, not my personal network of friends.
