LinkedIn, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Social Media

The internet sure is useful. You can use it to illegally pirate your favorite movies, complain on forums about small changes made to minor characters in the new screen adaptaiton of a book you liked, or even watch weird, pointless YouTube videos.

Like this one:

Or you could make productive use of your time and use it to network with people accross the globe with the purpose of moving forward in your career. That is what LinkedIn is for.

In a recent lecture I attended, I learned that having a LinkedIn account is almost a neccessity for anyone seeking career advancement in this digital age. Most employers will seek out their potential job candidates' profiles. It is an easy way to examine one's experience and qualifications, as well as connections. In other words, LinkedIn takes examination of their potential employees beyond the job interview.

There are four major components to a professional LinkedIn profile.

Headshot: A selfie is not going to cut it. The more professional your account appears, the better. An employer is probably not going to take you seriously if you choose a picture from your vacation to Brazil to represent yourself.

Education: Your employer is always going to examine this. This can go beyond your alma mater and degree. If you took any specialized classes that could present an advantage, it couldn't hurt to list them.

Experience: This is arguably the most important section of your profile page. Remember, you can list more than just job experience here.

Description: What do you currently do? What information about you is relevant to the job you seek or the connections you wish to make?

Social media seems to be a permanent part of our lives now. Whether that is for better or for worse is arguable in most cases. However, in LinkedIn it seems the world has aquired something special, a tool that makes it easier to rise above one's station, to pursue their dream job, and, in the case of employers, find the perfect candidate for an open position.

Welcome to the 21st century, where your dream job may be a few clicks of a mouse away.