(Published in The College of Westchester’s Newsletter, December 2013)
LinkedIn, with over 200 million members can be used equally by business and individuals and requires little social media know-how. It’s a powerful tool recruiters cannot ignore and as a matter of fact LinkedIn is becoming the next “Monster” with more recruiters turning to it. But how can you relate LinkedIn with Higher Education?

You may start by using your profile as your resume. Actually the structure of LinkedIn is similar to a resume and as mentioned before many recruiters prefer to check your credentials via LinkedIn. You never know who is looking for an accountant, graphic designer or game designer out there.

The old adage that “it isn’t what you know, it’s who you know” still holds value. LinkedIn takes this thought one step further, making it “who you will know soon to be of utmost importance.” Using LinkedIn will make you spread your wings and get connected with companies that you might otherwise have thought were beyond reach, and to the persons they were looking for in those companies.

In LinkedIn you won’t get the chance to chat, share photo albums, take care of a Farmvillle, cows, lost pets, etc.,(like in Facebook) just pure and simple professional contacts. However, if you want something more than that (networking) you can join some discussion groups. You’ll have an array of options such as Higher Education Management or Higher Education Professionals among others.

If you have a specific topic in Social Media you would like me to cover here don’t hesitate to contact me.

The old adage that “it isn’t what you know, it’s who you know” still holds value. LinkedIn takes this thought one step further, making it “who you will know soon to be of utmost importance.” Using LinkedIn will make you spread your wings and get connected with companies that you might otherwise have thought were beyond reach, and to the specific recruiters they were looking to hire in those companies.