Students who attended Klein College Career Center’s LinkedIn Workshop on Thursday said they learned how to improve their professional online presence. Those who went either came in not having a profile at all or very minimal knowledge of the platform and left with pages that will set them apart from other students on the job market.
“I didn’t know much about LinkedIn before today, but I knew I was going to need it to apply for jobs and internships. I didn’t even have an account when the workshop started and now I have an entire profile,” sophomore John Fererra said.
At the workshop, Fererra was able to create his LinkedIn profile and began exploring how it functioned with the help of Lu Ann Cahn, the director of career services.
“Employers are really using LinkedIn more and more. After surveying recent grads, the percentage of students who are now finding their jobs on LinkedIn is increasing dramatically,” Cahn said.
During the workshop, Cahn taught the importance of how you brand yourself online while stressing the importance of a professional headshot, a brief bio, first impressions, and networking. For students, this can be a useful tool in securing either internships or jobs.
“There are 500 million people on linkedin. This is not going away. This is going to stay with you and 93% of companies are recruiting directly on LinkedIn” Cahn said.
The workshop met the needs of not only students whose journey is just beginning, but also who are actively looking for employement. Dana Kuffa, a junior communication and social influence major, said she felt the workshop was useful in alievating a lot of her stress in regards to career planning.
“I’m feeling a lot of pressure to start applying to jobs and internships, especially for the summer so this workshop helped me build my online portfolio to set me apart from other candidates” Kuffa said.
Klein College career services houses two desks in an office on the lower level of Annenberg Hall.
“The purpose of Klein College Career Services is to make sure that every student has the oppourtunity to make the best of their experiences on campus to prepare them for post-grad life” said the office’s student employee, Meghan Solomon.
Both Kuffa and Ferrera said they both plan to continue visiting the office for their different services such as resume/coverletter workshops, LinkedIn headshots, and mock interviews to help facilitate their career exploration process. Ferrera said he feels confident enough to attend the career fair on Feb. 21 based on what he learned during the workshop.
“Before today I wasn’t sure how to even communicate with company I wanted to network with for future oppourtunities. Now I know how to present myself on LinkedIn and how to interact with employers I want to work for” Ferrara said.
Kuffa, as a student with only a year left in her Temple experience, is planning for a more intimate 1-on-1 meeting.
“Now that I know how to use LinkedIn, I plan to meet with a career advisor to tweak my resume and cover letter closely so that I am in even better shape when it comes to meeting prospective employers,” Kuffa said.
To visit Klein College Career Services, their office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and you can connect with them on LinkedIn at Klein College Careers.