LinkedIn useful before grad. for job search

With LinkedIn’s growing success in the online startup market, the professional networking site is becoming increasinly important for college students who want to turn connections into job opportunities, Boston University career experts said.

The site has exhibited rapid growth in 2012, marked by the launch of a mobile application, a streamlined webpage and the establishment of an endorsement system, LinkedIn senior vice president of product Deep Nishar told Business Insider Sunday.

“LinkedIn has sort of become what human resource people used to dream about, but imagined was impossible — that there would be a mysterious tool at their fingertips that would give them professional background on almost everyone that they could possibly care about with a click,” said Stephen Quigley, a College of Communication professor.

LinkedIn, which was launched in 2003, has 187 million registered users in more than 200 countries, according to LinkedIn’s Press Center. More than 2.6 million companies have LinkedIn company pages.

In the third financial quarter of 2012, LinkedIn reported a revenue of $252 million, 81 percent greater than the third quarter in 2011, according to a Nov. 1 LinkedIn release.

“LinkedIn had a strong third quarter with all of our key operating and financial metrics showing solid growth,” said LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner in the release. “The last few months mark the most significant period of product development in the company’s history.”

Although LinkedIn has fewer registered users than other major social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, Quigley said LinkedIn’s 200 million members is impressive, since they are all professionals.

“Maybe it’s more boring than Facebook, but when you put your job-seeker hat on, or your recruitment hat on, it’s like Facebook without the junk,” Quigley, who teaches a New Media and Public Relations course, said.

Features of the site include a snapshot, in which other users can view your basic information and past work experience, statuses that allow users to share professional updates, endorsements and a Question & Answer section, where users can display their knowledge of their profession.

“That’s pretty cool to get a third party endorsement on your LinkedIn page, so that now an employer not only sees your resume so to speak, but also painlessly gets to see what other people think of you,” Quigley said.

Though LinkedIn is a site for professionals, Quigley said students should begin familiarizing themselves with the site during sophomore or junior year of college.

“It’s important to use initially as a sort of discovery tool, and then once one begins to narrow down one’s focus, I think you can then start to use it as a sort of exposure tool to create your own little corner of the universe,” he said.

Terry Brown, the assistant director of counseling and programs at the Center for Career Development, said LinkedIn is advantageous for a number of reasons.

“I have heard from many people who have successfully connected with other LinkedIn members who helped them, whether to clarify their goals, learn more about a specific career field or organization, or get a foot in the door either for an informational interview or for an interview for an actual job opportunity,” Brown said in an email.

Brown said he would recommend LinkedIn over other professional social networking sites because of the large number of members, nationally and internationally, and the networking benefits.

Mike DeFilippis, a COM senior, said LinkedIn is the best way for searching professionals to view his experience online.

“Not having one is saying ‘I don’t care’ to a recruiter who may Google me,” DeFilippis said.

Katie Lohec, a COM junior, said although she has neither found a job through LinkedIn nor had a class that encouraged her to use the site, she finds it is a good way to become informed on interesting organizations.

“If you’re interested in interning or working with a certain organization, following their company profile on LinkedIn is a good way to learn more about the organization and to stay informed on their news,” Lohec said.

Alex Cenedella, a College of Arts and Sciences junior, said she is not too familiar with LinkedIn, but has heard it is an incredibly useful professional tool.

“I don’t know much about it, but it seems like a good tool for networking and jobs,” Cenedella said.

Students can be successful using LinkedIn if they are dedicated and motivated with their job search, Brown said.

“Being proactive means reaching out to people you know — friends, classmates, professors, previous employers, etcetera — to connect with them on LinkedIn and joining groups in your areas of interest,” Brown said. “You can also look up employers of interest and follow them on LinkedIn.”