LinkedIn – Page 3 – Penn & Beyond

Feeling a bit thinly spread – networking for researchers

Dr. Joseph Barber

Time is a funny old thing – we’re either wishing we had more of it, or wishing it would pass more quickly. We are never quite satisfied with what we have got. Time might be relative (and no, I don’t really know what this means), but we are relatively certain that it is also finite. The reason that I am thinking deep, philosophical thoughts this early on a Monday morning is that I just came across another social networking site for academics, scientists, and researchers. This one is called MyScienceWork (www.mysciencework.com). This one can be added to the list of those that try to cater to the scientific, academic, or research communities in one way or another (e.g., LinkedIn, Academia.edu, ResearchGate, Vitae, Versatile PhD). The problem is, as this exciting list of social networking opportunities grows, the time available to use them seems to shrink (is that relativity?) There is certainly not enough time in any day to do study, complete research AND have a complete and updated profile on every single social networking site that pops up. This can leave people feeling a little guilty that they are not reaching their fullest networking potential. However, spread yourself too thinly, and you run the risk that you don’t get the most out of each platform you might use. So, my next few posts will take a brief stroll through some of the social networking sites that are especially relevant to academics and researchers. Let’s start with the biggest fish.

LinkedIn

Still the biggest, and many would probably argue the best. This is very commonly used for research students at universities as they are making use of the alumni networks available to them. Researchers within industry (e.g., biotech, pharma, start-ups, life science consulting) also tend to use this site a lot. There are university faculty members on LinkedIn, but many represent more junior members of a department who are more familiar with social networking in the virtual world. There are certainly some faculty who actively shun LinkedIn and all it represents. I have heard of one faculty member who stated to a student that anyone who has a LinkedIn account would immediately not be taken seriously as someone who wanted to pursue an academic job as a tenure-track professor. That’s a little extreme, pretty short-sighted, and will certainly be a perspective that becomes the minority view over time.

LinkedIn has gotten a little more researcher friendly over time. You have been able to include publications on LinkedIn for a long time. However, it was only possible to list yourself as the first author for a long time (i.e., your name would always appear first in the list). Given the importance of whose name comes first in scientific circles, elevating oneself to first author would be very controversial! The good news is that this issue has been addressed. You can now position your name appropriately in the list of other authors – so go ahead, add a selection of your publications! There are also places throughout your profile where you can link to papers or upload documents. This can make it easier for people to access your work.

You can also go into more detail about some of the research projects you are involved with by actually listed them under the “Projects” category on your profile page. This way, you can provide a broader overview of your work in the “Experience” section, and a more in-depth summary of your unique research elsewhere. Combined with information you can add on your patents, courses taken, and the list of skills and expertise you have, you can get a lot of information across about your academic experience and research know-how. As for those skills that people can endorse you for, they are really a bit of a mixed kettle of fish. You can certainly list some great keywords that might help people find you on LinkedIn. Recruiters do search for people with hard-to-find skills and expertise, so if you have some of these, then mention them. The problem is that people will endorse your skills without even having any experience of you using them. It’s not a bad problem – it makes your skill look more effective when you have lots of people saying you have it – it just feels a little vacuous. What is worse, though, is people coming up with new skills that they think you have. I would not list “statistics” as one of the skills that I have, so please stop suggesting that I add this to my profile.

There are extra whistles and bells you can add to LinkedIn through third-party applications, but there seem to have been several recent changes to the profile page that integrate these more fully into the LinkedIn platform. If you want to share your last presentation, then you can upload this via SlideShare and link it to a particular experience or project on your profile page. There isn’t really anywhere obvious to list conferences or symposiums attended, or presentations or posters given, but with some creative use of the sections available to you, it is possible to get the most important information you want to share on your profile. Leave the rest of your conference-related experiences on your CV – they are probably not essential to your brand anyway.

BRANDING

LinkedIn lets you create a bit of a brand when it comes to presenting your work and knowledge. Your brand is the “you” that you want everyone else to see – your potential, your achievements, the length and breadth of your combined knowledge and experience. It can be hard to create a single brand that is equally attractive to the different people you might want to visit your profile (e.g., the search committee from a university, or consulting/biotech/science writing employers), and so you will lose a bit of the benefit of tailoring how you want to present yourself when you are keeping your career options open.

INFORMATION GATHERING

The other benefit of LinkedIn comes in terms of the huge amounts of information you can gather. For example, there are 30,000 members who have proactively joined the Penn Alumni LinkedIn Group. When you join groups, you can search the membership by keyword to find specific types of people you might want to connect with to help you answer your questions. You can even join in conversations and ask your questions to the whole group. Over 100,000 people are grouped together by LinkedIn as having the “University of Pennsylvania” written somewhere in their education section. There is plenty that you can do with this population by using the “find alumni” tool. Both these approaches will help you gather information about the types of positions/employers that might be relevant to you based on where people with similar academic experiences have gone with their careers. If you are in the exploring career options phase, then this type of information can be extremely valuable.

You can actively “follow” organizations, and this will help you to keep updated on news and current affairs about a company that might help you with either your continued networking or even your applications or interviews. Whether you are interested in industry postdocs or full-time non-faculty positions, you can find lists of opportunities under the “careers” tab on most company pages. You might even see the names of some HR/recruiting staff listed, together with people you might know who are associated with that organization. Combined with industry insights you can gain by following “channels”, “publishers”, and “influencers”, there is an endless supply of information you can expose yourself to each day, and this can be a great use of your time. I’m not saying there is enough time to actually digest any of it, though, but it is there for the taking…, especially if you don’t need to sleep.

Time…, it’s a tricky thing. Perhaps it is not a thing at all…, which in my mind just makes it even trickier.

LinkedIn and the ABD Graduate Student

by Ana Schwartz

For a Ph.D candidate in the humanities, LinkedIn might seem to be only remotely relevant. LinkedIn serves as a platform for connecting professionals, yet several important qualities of the academic profession don’t lend themselves to smooth representation in such a social network. Graduate research demands a highly specialized skill set that’s not often widely applicable and the networks cultivated in academia are often already close, occurring independently of a central platform—at conferences, through personal introductions, or perhaps on intra-disciplinary message boards. Anticipating future publication makes sharing samples of professional writing online a dicey proposition. Furthermore, academia boasts a unique culture of industry loyalty: tenure—or the pursuit of tenure—prevents great investment in alternate career paths, and in turn, diminishes the need to demonstrate a skill set beyond those taught in graduate school such as research, teaching.

Nevertheless, if we consider the growth of LinkedIn as a reflection of its possibilities, and its increasing flexibility across professional communities, there might be some utility in the social network. Career Services at the University of Pennsylvania offers appointments as well as walk-in visits during which students can work one-on-one with advisors to identify how LinkedIn, among other resources, can best supplement a student’s career goals, within the academy or otherwise. During a recent fifteen-minute walk-in meeting, Joseph Barber pointed out several important networking features that LinkedIn provides to help users represent their unique professional qualities. Cumulatively, these features—facilitating connections, showcasing endorsements, and providing tools for ongoing networking and social engagement—can be useful to research-oriented academics by facilitating professional reflection and self-assessment.

Profile-Based, Not Post-Based
LinkedIn is a social network that, like Facebook, and unlike, say, tumblr, is profile-based rather than post-based. Because LinkedIn prioritizes professional networks, the profile data used to suggest connections follows educational and employment history and can show how many degrees of separation exist between any two users. Although searches for other users must often be deliberate rather than prompted by the network, and because LinkedIn places high priority on public networking, there’s little point in making a profile difficult to find. And since a user often has to search out connections, the cumulative character of these connections can be a deliberate, if small part of a professional profile.

Demonstrate Expertise with Endorsements
These connections can become meaningful first, and most obviously, in leading to more connections, both virtually and in person. Second, they can be useful through the “endorsement” feature. LinkedIn allows users to request and grant endorsements regarding skills and expertise. These endorsements range from mastery of specific software (“Microsoft Office”) to facility in a broad skill set (“Research”). Over time, these endorsements appear in a graph that showcases the individual’s strongest qualities. Note that endorsements can be solicited. If a user considers herself exceptionally skilled in fundraising, for example, she might request endorsement in that specific facility by those familiar with her expertise. These endorsements can range from checking a box to writing a prose recommendation of another user’s strengths, a feature much like the letters of recommendation that often act as the currency of the academic profession. As a graduate student with teaching obligations, and thinking back to the first few letters requested by current and former students, this feature here provides useful insight into the sorts of skills and values that might be demanded by future employers of undergraduate students and advisees.

The Value of Groups
But LinkedIn also provides platforms to directly create connections, through shared content, through groups that create and organize communities, and through search tools to locate relevant individuals in the field. One of the most compelling features LinkedIn provides is a platform to repost content from elsewhere on the web, with a space for comments and conversation. These posts often take business and industry as their theme, but range over a broad spectrum of specific topics. Because they’re hosted on a professional network, the discussions that take place following these articles tend to significantly more thought-provoking than the general tone of conversation elsewhere on the internet. And because they take place within the platform, a user’s profile will link to recent comments, which highlights not only the topics that interest individual, but also point to his or her specific thoughts on the topic, as well as the quality of his or her participation, writing style, etc. Similar to the posts feature are groups, organized around industries and interests, where users can connect based on shared qualities but in a more general fashion, as well as interact in a more direct, if still exploratory fashion, with others. Content such as articles and job searches can be posted within groups, which range from “English Teachers Anonymous” to “Penn Swimming Alumni.”

Connect with Alumni
More specifically focused are the tools under the “Networks” tab, particularly the “Find Alumni” feature. This tool taps into the immense data that LinkedIn gathers from its users. Based on a user’s listed alma mater, and her connections, both personal and institutional, she might locate key individuals at one or two degrees of separation, and then sort them by alma mater, by industry, by specific skills or even location. Toggling categories yields smaller or larger lists of relevant individuals, whose profiles a user can often access (although not always, depending on the other user’s privacy settings and level of LinkedIn membership). Based on usage of the resources named earlier—connections, content, groups—these new alumni connections might be present themselves as more or less relevant to my professional interests, and, vice versa, the archive demonstrating a given user’s own interests might bridge a connection between two otherwise distantly connected alums.

At this point, reflection and self-assessment becomes inevitable. A profile is by default visible to others and can shape a more vivid representation of one’s professional interests and qualities than can a resume alone. Through this frame, LinkedIn appears as a useful tool for discerning unique strengths—the combination of networks (connections), skills (endorsements) and knowledge (content). This is relevant to the ABD doctoral candidate in a number of small, but meaningful ways. Generally speaking, it’s a nice refocusing from the intense—and to some degree necessary –tunnel-vision attendant to research and writing. It reminds the doctoral candidate of a wider world and the possibility of other career paths. Specific to my own dissertation, it’s a useful though experiment about the way that media and genres shape personal representation of the individual, but you don’t have to be an doctoral candidate in English Literature to be reminded of the one of the greatest resources of the university—the diverse and intelligent people with which we’re surrounded with here at the University of Pennsylvania and the value of these colleagues to all disciplines.

Ana Schwartz is a PhD candidate in English Literature specializing in genre and seventeenth century American writing. You can check out her common-place blog hosted by tumblr at http://www.m-d102.com.

Organizations Use Social Media To Recruit? Yes.

77% of organizations today use social media to recruit. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), reported this growing trend in a recent survey. So, who are some organizations that partake in “social recruiting”? More publicly-owned organizations are leveraging these tools, like ExxonMobil, Apple, J.P. Morgan Chase. You may have heard of them, and if you’d like to work for them one day, you should consider how their social media presence can be used to your advantage.

At Career Services, we’re here to help take your social media presence beyond liking pictures of friends on Facebook, tweeting sarcastic comments on Twitter and being intimidated, perhaps, by LinkedIn. If you want to take your social media use to a professional level, see what we have in store for you this year to make that happen:

1) LinkedIn Profile Reviews. A LinkedIn profile is the new resume. Just like resume/CV critiques, we’re offering LinkedIn profile critiques on a one-on-one basis. Connect with your school’s team of counselors to set up an appointment.

2) Social Media Workshops. We’re offering special programming to students this year on how to use social media, as well programs through Weigle Information Commons on setting up LinkedIn. Stay tuned for these programs through our various event calendars for grads/postdocs and undergrads.

3) Follow Us on Twitter. Our main account is @PennCareerServ, but one gem in particular is our @PennCareerJobs account. Employers who post on PennLink schedule tweets to promote their new listings – don’t miss out!

4) #Hashtags. If you’re already active on social media, and given Facebook has rolled out use of hashtags, it’s time to put them to professional use. Look for our hashtags: #penncsevent, #pennOCR. Beyond that, consider #career and #jobtips, as well as following an organization you’re interested in to see what tags they are using. Wondering what is a hashtag? Read this article from Twitter.

There are a LOT of opportunities out there to connect with organizations, learn about their internships and full-time jobs, as well as see if there is a Penn connection – all via social media. Take advantage of the resources we have available to help you take your social media presence to the next level.

To see more resources, check out our Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Vimeo and Online Networking pages.

by Shannon C. Kelly

LinkedIn for International Students

by Gerald Parloiu, WH & CAS ’15

International students can have a harder time finding jobs in the U.S. especially because not all the companies can hire international students. If you are a freshman or a sophomore, firms might be reluctant to go through the complicated issue of sponsoring Visas, as they tend to look to hire juniors to whom they can extend full time offers at the end of their junior internship. However, OCR is not the only way of finding an internship!

inMails on LinkedIn
Coming from an Eastern European country and interested in returning and working in the area for the summer, LinkedIn proved a very helpful resource in my job search. After creating a profile and adding my experiences I received an email with an offer for a 2-month free LinkedIn Gold upgrade. I immediately signed up and received 10 free inMail credits. With these credits I was able to contact anyone on LinkedIn. The way it works is that you go on the person’s profile (HR, Associate, MD, Partner, anyone you’d like to contact) and you can write them a message. I used this function for job inquiries and it always proved successful as the messages sent through inMail go directly to the E-mail address the person used when they signed up for LinkedIn. Given this, you can rest assured that the person you are trying to contact will read your email. If for some reason they don’t answer to you in 7 days LinkedIn will give you another free inMail credit for the message you did not get a response back!

Whom to look for?
LinkedIn messages proved a very helpful tool as a lot of the people I contacted got back to me. In order to find out what companies to contact I did preliminary research on the companies in banking and consulting in my country. It also helped to join different professional groups on LinkedIn – this gave me access to hundreds of different people who I could potentially contact. This might not work that well for contacting people in the United States or other countries that have a strong economy, as these countries tend to have a very formal recruiting process and the people you contact will most likely direct you to the company’s website or to HR.

Overall, I think LinkedIn is a great resource for international students looking for a job back home! And remember, most students find their job in April or May, there is no need to become anxious if you didn’t secure an internship in January. Start your search today by signing up and contacting people in the industry you are interested in!

To learn more about LinkedIn, visit Career Services’ LinkedIn resource page and come by for a LinkedIn profile critique!

Gerald is a sophomore studying in the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business. Besides his Romanian and Hungarian skills he is fluent in Spanish and is now studying Portuguese. He is the Academic Relations VP for Wharton Europe, is part of the CURF Student Advisory Board and also serves on the Career Services Advisory Board.

Get Noticed: The Importance of Networking

by Anubha Kapur, SEAS ‘13

Recruiting is undergoing a vast phase change and one of the primary reasons for this reinvention is the advent of social media and its profound impact on society and people. Social networking is no longer just about webpages; it is an ever growing experience enriched with the interactions between people. Here are some ways to use social media to prepare for the career fairs next week, and in your general search.

LinkedIn
“Networking to get noticed” is a new mantra for climbing up the recruiting ladder. One of the most essential platforms is LinkedIn, where your profile speaks volumes about your career goals, expertise areas etc. Keeping your profile updated, following organizations you like, expanding your connections with recruiters etc. are key focus areas. If your profile shows up in the search tools used by recruiters, you’ve gained an edge over thousands of other candidates. Referrals and testimonials give a very good impression about your work ethic and commitment, thus making you a first choice for many firms. Penn Career Services organizes regular LinkedIn profile workshops that are a must for students to attend.

Facebook
With the introduction of Facebook Graph Search, you can easily connect with people of similar interests and field of work, thus expanding horizons. Regular updates by on Career Services’ Facebook page about upcoming information sessions, OCR workshops and career fairs is a good way to initiate and streamline search.

Connecting with Penn alumni working in the industry is another very powerful tool. A friend forwarded his resume seeking an internship to a recent Penn graduate working in a leading bank, and one week later, due to this referral, he got an interview. Who knows, your next recruiter, may be a senior you’ve known at some stage in your Penn journey. J

Twitter
I came across a feature on Twitter quite recently, where you can bookmark your tweets as favorites and embed them on your blog or Facebook page. If someone has a nice testimonial for you, why not tell the world and make them take notice?

Career Fair Prep
Career fairs are the best way to engage with people and learn about prospective opportunities in-person, and social media can help you prepare. When there are so many people in attendance at these events, it might be difficult to have a detailed conversation with the recruiters. Use social media to help with research on organizations and develop talking points. With the Spring Career Fair and Start up Fair next week, here are a few tips to remember while approaching recruiters:

Carry ample number of resumes that you can quickly reach for while speaking to the recruiters.
Introduce yourself and ask about available opportunities within the company.
Emphasize your potential and skills, and what it may add to the organization.
Request a business card for future reference or communication.
Follow @PennCareerServ on Twitter for live updates and information regarding the fair.

The wait to find out if your hard work and research paid off may frustrate you. Remember, with networking, patience and perseverance the wait can truly be worth it!

About: Anubha Kapur is a 2^nd year Master’s student in Systems Engineering. Apart from technology, her interests span creative writing, social blogging and travelling. She can be followed on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.