Linked In

Apr 21, 2017 | Piece of Flair | mkoehler |
10 This Piece of Flair focuses on creating a new linkedin.com profile.

As you probably know, LinkedIn is a social network dedicated to the world of work. This Piece of Flair is good for you if you’re looking to increase your professional online identity. If you are considering looking for a job or a new job in the future, this Piece of Flair could be especially beneficial.

One way you can use LinkedIn is to market yourself and/or connect to people you know at work or in other networks to see if they know of any openings that you might be interested in. You can also use LinkedIn to receive endorsements and recommendations from current or former co-workers that can go a long way towards helping you qualify for a new job.

LinkedIn can also serve as a more professional version of other social networks, like Facebook. Just as you might keep in touch with family and friends through social networking sites like Facebook, you can keep in touch with co-workers and other people in your field through LinkedIn. This website can act as a sort of online resumé that provides an ongoing explanation of who you are, what experience you have, and what your skills and talents are.

Requirements

To complete this Piece of Flair, go to linkedin.com and create a new profile. Spend some time exploring LinkedIn’s different features, and begin adding the most relevant ones to your profile. We don’t expect you to add everything to your profile right away, but we expect you to have at least the following:

  • A picture
  • Some details of your education (including this degree!)
  • Work history
  • Other features that will help you accomplish your current (and future) career goals

Like all Pieces of Flair, you may not use existing work to complete this Piece of Flair unless you’ve demonstrated to a TA that you will be making significant changes or improvement. Please check with the instructors before submitting a “revised” LinkedIn profile as a Piece of Flair.

This Piece of Flair is not a “one and done” sort of activity, and we hope that you will maintain and keep up all of the parts of your portfolio, but this is especially important for a Piece of Flair like LinkedIn. A LinkedIn profile that is clearly out of date may be more problematic than no profile at all; as you work on this Piece of Flair, please consider some strategies for regularly updating this part (and other parts!) of your online profile.

Relationship to Other Pieces of Flair

Consider how you could connect with your “Active Blog,” include a “Cover Letter” or “Online Business Card,” or showcase your classroom with one of your “Classroom Teaching and Practice” pages to communicate with a broad audience.

If this doesn’t sound like a good fit for your portfolio, please see other Pieces of Flair for ideas that might work better for you.