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Using LinkedIn

LinkedIn is not just a professional networking platform.

It offers resources to help: 

  • connect with individual professionals and employers
  • find and apply for jobs
  • research job sectors and companies

Learn how you can make the most out of using LinkedIn in your job search and networking.

Networking tool

Engaging with the networking side of LinkedIn can help you build:

  • a professional network
  • relationships with specific employers
  • your reputation

Build a professional network

To start, be proactive about connecting with people you meet in real life - whether that's through careers events, during work experience or with academics and fellow students on your course. You may feel this doesn't come naturally to you, but with practise you can become more confident at networking.

Find people on LinkedIn who you might like to connect with (eg professionals working in a sector you're interested in). See what topics they're posting about in their sector. Try connecting with York alumni - you might use a shared academic course or student society involvement, as a possible in-way to contacting them.

Build relationships with specific employers

Review a company's profile on LinkedIn to see more about what it does, find news articles where it features and find out generally about its employees (eg stats, roles within the company, individuals you might connect with, etc).

Following relevant companies can also keep you up-to-date with the latest news about them and gives you insights into them that you can use to show your interest in them for future enquiries, applications and interviews.

Build your reputation

Build your LinkedIn profile with a professional-looking photo - people are more likely to connect with you if they can see your face. You can include a background on your profile that's relevant to your work or personality, but avoid anything too distracting.

What to include in your LinkedIn activity:

  • notable updates, eg graduation, starting a new job
  • links and articles that relate your professional interests
  • your unique perspectives on causes you care about
  • appreciation of others professionally
  • tips, questions and advice for other LinkedIn users
  • things you find professional inspiring

How to build meaningful connections

Here are some things to keep in mind when using LinkedIn to connect with others.

When connecting with others, be short, clear and consistent in your messages. Always include a message when sending a connection request, rather than the general one LinkedIn automatically provides. Adopt an enthusiastic tone and make it authentic, and don't solely rely on AI to write messages for you - after all, this is a way to directly connect with other people.

Avoid directly asking for a job or specific inside information on a recruitment process - the person you're connecting with may not necessarily be involved with the process or able to comment.

Don't expect immediate replies from people you've sent a message to - they may be busy with work or other commitments.

Job hunting tool

As well as networking opportunities, LinkedIn provides a bank of employers and job openings for those job hunting. You can search and apply through the platform's jobs section, which allows you to casually browse or actively search jobs, explore job collections or see who's hiring in your particular networks. You can also set up job alerts to keep on track with the latest vacancies.

For some vacancies, there are opportunities to apply through the LinkedIn platform, where your profile can form the basis of your application, but you can then tailor it further. In other cases, you can apply via company websites. 

When you're searching jobs through LinkedIn, note the way employers describe the required skills. Many employers use keyword searches, so it's important to use them too in your applications.

When viewing an individual's profile, take note of the experiences they gained before securing their current role - it can give you ideas of routes into that types of work.

Career research tool

As well as researching employers, sectors and career ideas through external websites, LinkedIn can provide a great source of news items, opinion posts, labour market updates and business-related insights - all of which can help expand your knowledge and develop your commercial awareness.

The career journeys and employment history of individuals on LinkedIn can provide you with inspiration and ideas, as well as the reality of working in a particular sector. All of this can be used to help you research future career areas.

Further resources

Find out more about LinkedIn and how it can help you: