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The Number 1 Way Students Can Get Ahead Years Before Joining The Workforce

This article is more than 4 years old.

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Have you attended a high school or college graduation party this season?

It's that time of the year again when we celebrate monumental life changes for high school and college graduates. As several young students head off to their new lives this fall, whether it be to college, a new job, or a venture into entrepreneurship, they have one secret significant advantage over their peers: LinkedIn.

Today, and more than any other time in history, job candidates are finding new career options through referrals and networking. According to Mr. Lou Adler, in 2016, he noted that 85% of jobs today are filled via networking.

As of this year alone, there are over 590 million people on LinkedIn. Part of this equation includes 40 million students and recent graduates, as well as over 15 million entrepreneurs.

As parents of young adults, most of us have seen former colleagues land new roles quite fast. If you've been working at one company for decades, you may not know how much the workforce, hiring practices, and the new gig economy have changed over the past decade.

When you see a former colleague who stepped right into a new role, do you wonder how s/he got there so fast? Most likely, this person made a successful transition due to building and nurturing critical business relationships from years ago.

Whether you're a young person who wants to get into a preferred college, land a job out of high school, or build your own business, you should start networking via LinkedIn at least by your last year in high school.

What is networking?

According to Merriam-Webster networking is,

the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically: the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business

A unique opportunity

Once you begin networking, you are already ahead regardless of your life plans. And, if you start actively using the platform by your junior year in high school, you have a four to six-year window to build and nurture relationships before you join the workforce. These moments and relationships you build over time can open new, unexpected doors as well as provide the basic framework for opportunities.

Different student goals and situations

Let's break each student situation down into four potential situations: college-bound, work full time after high school, college graduates and young entrepreneurs.

College-bound students

Establishing a LinkedIn profile while you are still in high school can teach you how to use social media for professional means. Although you may be used to using apps like Instagram and Snapchat to communicate, moving from a personal social media world to a professional one takes time, and there is a lot to learn. Posting 1,000 selfies, inappropriate images, and sharing every moment of your personal life can hinder your growth.

Also, when your digital footprint is dirty, you can miss out on potential opportunities that you didn’t even know existed.

However, when you focus your energy toward a professional site, as a prospective college student, you can begin to change your mindset. When you can connect and network with like-minded individuals, you can begin to learn from them, begin conversations, and get a better picture of your future career. Also, you’ll be able to grasp your major in a better light because you can see commentary from those in your industry-on LinkedIn in real time.

Professional networking not only helps you when it comes to your digital footprint, it can also show college admissions officers how serious you are about your professional life. Right now, there are over 6 million college admission representatives on LinkedIn. Take advantage of the platform to show how you’ve progressed and grown as a person through high school (rather than solely a test score). Share your events, display awards, and upload media examples of your work.

You can design your path throughout your high school years, and garner significant opportunities in the future.

Work full time right out of high school

When high school ends, if you start your LinkedIn journey early, you can already have a professional network to tap into before you send out one résumé (and résumés aren't usually the way people find jobs today).

You can also find internships, your first role, mentors, and reach out to hiring managers on the platform. Also, students can find an incredible amount of resources such as interview tips, and job searching skills within LinkedIn’s higher education section. If you go to the bottom of the page at this link, you can also find specific jobs for students by location, function and industry.

LinkedIn has a list of companies that no longer require degrees. Joseph Milord, News Editor at LinkedIn wrote ha fantastic piece about this topic entitled: "No degree? No problem. Here are the jobs at Top Companies you can land without one."

For more information and resources, you can go to this article written by Anwesha Jalan entitled, "Introducing LinkedIn Career Advice, a New Way to Help You Find and Connect with Professionals for Mentorship."

For college graduates

Instead of coming home with a degree in your hand, no job prospects, and mounds of endless debt, you can significantly up your chances of finding a job through your network.

Since you've already built out your relationships over a four to a six-year window, you should have a good amount of people who can help you find your first entry-level role. Also, with a little help from your friends, you'll find your job search can become manageable.

For example, wouldn't it be nice to reach out to a hiring manager you've known for six years? Or, how about connecting with a friend who is at a company you'd like to work for one day? Resumes don't cut it anymore, and this is the only place online to network and land a job.

Also, 80% of jobs are never shared with the public; you can only find them through networking, according to The Muse.

Therefore, if you're still in college, or even if you’re about to enter the workforce, take advantage of these moments to create business relationships, network, and work on your personal brand.

For the young entrepreneur

LinkedIn has become a gold mine for entrepreneurs.

According to OmniCore, LinkedIn has 61 million users who are senior level influencers, and 40 million people in decision-making positions. Also, 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn vs. 13% on Twitter & 7% on Facebook.

Potential clients who are active on LinkedIn are usually ones who are looking for business deals, spend money and are open to different working relationships.

Although LinkedIn isn't as much fun as the apps you're used to right now, it can change your startup, and your life if you invest your time and use LinkedIn the right way.

LinkedIn is a long-term investment. You can't create a profile today and expect to land clients tomorrow. However, for those people who make the take time and put in the effort, the rewards can be endless. You can read about how entrepreneurs are using LinkedIn via this article by Emily Freeman from LinkedIn, "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Entrepreneurs and How They’re Using LinkedIn."

Here are some other benefits to using LinkedIn early:

Discover and research potential career ideas

Most high school students have never experienced or worked in the industry before they choose their college major. What can look exciting right now from the outside doesn't mean it will be the right job for you. With a lack of hands-on experience, it's easy to make the mistake of choosing the wrong major in college. And, that mistake can be with you for life in the form of college debt.

By using LinkedIn, you have a golden opportunity to begin to explore companies, find out about company culture, learn from others, find a mentor, or land an internship in your potential desired field of work.

Stand out

Only 9% of high school students use LinkedIn's platform. Having a positive digital online presence is a crucial way to stand out from your peers while putting you ahead of others for potential job opportunities.

You will be one out of many high school students who uses LinkedIn, and that can make a significant difference. All it takes is one person-the right person to see what you can do.

Linkedin is the best place to build your professional brand

What is a personal brand? According to Jeff Bezos (and many agree), “Your brand is what other people say about you when you're not in the room.”

If you take this statement and look at what you’re doing online at the moment, you might want to change your online presence and remove negative commentary.

Although various teenage apps are popular for communication and selfies, they aren’t the best places to begin building a personal brand. And, quite often, many students have created a negative digital footprint, only to find out later that they lost an opportunity because of their online behavior. Having a lack of digital citizenship can easily close doors and keep opportunities at bay.

If you want to build a positive social media presence, your best bet is to use LinkedIn. If you're a high school student with a stellar Linkedin profile, you are a young adult who is already ahead of the game.

Show them who you are in one place

Wouldn't it be helpful for others to see your growth along with your education or career journey? Instead of a test score or a piece of paper representing you, others can see you--the holistic you. You can share your story and showcase your growth right on your profile.

Classes, tournaments, volunteer roles, leadership activities, sports--all of these areas are examples of your life. You can show who you are, what you've accomplished, and where you want to go.

Use your profile to tell your story.

Lead the way for others

The current number of high school students who actively use LinkedIn is fairly low. However, if you’re on the site, you can become a mentor to your classmates. As we move faster and faster into the gig economy, it is essential for the future workforce to be aware and prepared of this economic change-you should have a plan A and a plan B.

It doesn't take much to help your peers along the way. By leading this change, you are opening doors not just for yourself, but for others as well.

Learn from leaders

Whether you are off to college or want to start a business, you can find an incredible amount of information from different members who share content on LinkedIn. You can read thousands of articles, learn from leaders, and find out about new and upcoming roles. You can also find companies that you never knew existed.

Albeit LinkedIn is an incredible place to grow opportunities, there is still no substitute for effort, determination and experience. However, knowing the right person at the right time can make a significant difference in your career journey. LinkedIn allows you to connect and nurture all types of potential opportunities and connections--and it only takes one person to see your work that can change your life.

You've heard the phrase, "It's not always what you know, it’s who you know."

And, According to Alex Pirouz, Founder of Linkfluencer states,

Every social media platform has a golden era. 2019 is no doubt the year for LinkedIn. Only 1 million posts go up per day across the entire network. 9 out of 10 people are unsure how to use LinkedIn successfully to find, connect and start engaging with their audience. It’s an unbelievable opportunity.

And, this statement couldn’t be more true today.

Here is a list of more student resources from LinkedIn.

LinkedIn for Students

Student Jobs 101

LinkedIn for Learning

LinkedIn Campus Editors

LinkedIn University Pages (This is an example. Be sure to find your alma mater to connect with friends and potential connections through this common ground.)

Students of LinkedIn: From the site, "A new initiative educating, encouraging & exposing students to build authentic personal brands & unlock their potential through LinkedIn."

LinkedIn Learning 

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