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7 Reasons Why Every High School Career Advisor Needs LinkedIn Now
As a high school career advisor, your role is important in shaping the professional futures of your students.
You guide, mentor, and open doors to opportunities.
You help them to think beyond the same 10 jobs they always come up with.
You show them how they can make an impact on the world around them.
And LinkedIn is one tool you can leverage to do this.
This platform isn't just another social media site (and if you think you only need it if you are looking for a job, I’m sorry, but you’re wrong).
LinkedIn is a game-changing resource that can drastically enhance your practice, knowledge, and the real-world advice you provide to students.
Here are some key things to think about:
1. Networking and Professional Development
LinkedIn is home to over 930 million members worldwide, encompassing a wide array of industries and professions.
But it’s not TikTok.
This vast platform that started in 2003 facilitates networking and professional development unlike any other. As a career advisor, connecting with other professionals in your field can expose you to a variety of strategies and practices that have proven successful elsewhere. By engaging in the exchange of knowledge and experiences with other career advisors, you can enhance your own expertise.
Beyond peer networking, LinkedIn provides an opportunity to follow industry influencers and thought leaders. These individuals regularly share insights into the latest trends, initiatives, and research in career advising and education. Keeping abreast of such developments can bolster your advice, ensuring that it remains relevant and informed.
Keeping your professional connections, conversations, and professional development, all in one place.
2. Showcasing Your Expertise
Your LinkedIn profile serves as a dynamic, online resume – but don’t think of it as something you only create (or update) when you are looking for a job. Employers, even in schools, know these days that a professional and updated LinkedIn profile doesn’t mean you’re looking to leave. Instead, it shows your expertise and experience, which goes a long way to elevating you at school, and beyond the school gates.
Regularly updating your profile and posting (or even sharing) insightful content demonstrates your dedication to your field, creating a positive impression on colleagues, parents, and sets a great example for students.
Ask almost any recruiter or major employer, and they’ll tell you that LinkedIn is one of the first places they’ll look when screening potential candidates. So demonstrating how to construct and manage a LinkedIn profile can be a important lesson in personal branding for students, helping them prepare for their future careers.
3. Access to Resources and Tools
LinkedIn is a treasure trove of professional resources.
It hosts a wealth of educational content and insights into career trajectories that can inform your guidance to students. By following industry groups, you can tap into discussions and resources that might otherwise be difficult to access. Additionally, the platform’s job board can provide valuable insights into job descriptions, requirements, and opportunities, enabling you to tailor your advice to the realities of the job market.
The professional development opportunities extend further with LinkedIn Learning. This service offers a multitude of courses covering a vast array of topics, allowing for constant development of your skills and understanding.
Offering a diverse range of courses from "Improving Your Listening Skills" to "Critical Thinking for Better Judgment and Decision-Making", the learning potential for you and your students is vast.
4. Understanding the (REAL) Job Market
In your role, keeping up-to-date with job market trends is critical. It’s not about just sharing whatever comes your way from local employers anymore.
LinkedIn’s access to real-time industry trends and data can provide important insights. Following companies and industry groups can shed light on emerging roles, changes in job demand, and shifting skill requirements.
In its 2020 Workplace Learning Report, LinkedIn found that 51% of professionals changed their role function within their industry or moved to a new one in the past year. And with AI rapidly changing hundreds of jobs (either replacing them or drastically changing them), LinkedIn can help you stay across these changes.
Having insights can inform your guidance, helping you steer students towards in-demand careers and prepare them for future professional landscapes.
Recommended by LinkedIn
5. Encouraging Student Use
In this digital age, the benefits of students having a complete and professional-looking LinkedIn profile are immense.
Some would say it’s just as important as having an up-to-date resume on hand.
It’s one of the first places employers will go to look, and many of them will be impressed if your student has one. According to LinkedIn’s user agreement (Feb 2022), Students can start one from 16 years of age; so if you are working with a cohort that age or older, it’s a good thing to consider teaching students how to get set up.
Being a LinkedIn user puts you in a prime position to guide students in their use of the platform. By understanding its functionality and potential, you can equip students with the skills they need to build compelling profiles, network appropriately, and use LinkedIn as a tool for job searching and research.
And if you don't want to show students your full LinkedIn profile, then use a well-crafted profile of someone appropriate to show them instead.
NOTE: It’s recommended that you don’t connect with your students, as even though this is a professional platform, think of it in the same way as Facebook. Unless you want students commenting on your posts, seeing your connections, or checking out your detailed work history etc. Remember, most users limit what is publicly viewable, so if you aren’t connected with someone on LinkedIn (i.e. your students), they won’t see everything either.
6. Enhancing Communication with Parents and Teachers
LinkedIn can also serve as a platform for communication and collaboration with parents and teachers.
By showcasing your expertise and the services you provide, parents can gain a clearer understanding of your role, what you are like to work with, and the value you can provide in their child's career development.
Collaborating with teachers can also be enhanced through LinkedIn. Literally, millions of teachers across the world are on LinkedIn – and with a well-crafted connection message, you’ll easily build a network to collaborate with.
This can be fantastic for finding out about events, seeing other teachers’ practices, and getting advice on key challenges you’re facing. It also means you don’t have to be ‘an island’ at school too, as a big network of Career Advisor contacts can be amazingly helpful when you need them.
7. Opportunities for Collaboration and Research
The great thing about LinkedIn is that it allows you to do lots of informal research.
For instance, you might conduct polls among your connections to gain insights into industry trends, successful job search strategies, or even good advice practices for working with students. These insights can further inform your guidance at school, ensuring it’s as current and effective as possible.
Connecting with professionals from various sectors can also offer a broader perspective on career pathways and opportunities. These insights can then be passed on to your students, providing them with a wider view of potential career routes.
And don’t forget collaboration. Need to put together a Careers Evening? A Jobs or Pathways Day? LinkedIn makes it super easy to find the right people, connect with them, and organise an event, talk, or even a careers excursion. The options are limitless (and made so much easier by using this tool).
The time to get started is today.
I know from my own professional experience that LinkedIn is an indispensable resource. I’ve managed to connect with people who would be almost impossible to get on the phone, and have had advice, information, and collaborations with people from all over the world.
If you haven't yet, now is the time to embrace LinkedIn and tap into the wealth of opportunities it offers.
Oh, and one more tip: I think it’s somewhat uncool to just click ‘Connect’. Click the ‘More’ button and send a personalised invite instead, it’ll be a lot more warmly received.
I hope that helps with getting started?
If you'd like a way of sharing this article with colleagues who aren't on LinkedIn, just share this link to the article on our new GoPonder website.
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And if you'd like to connect with me - please feel free to reach out (I'll quickly see who has followed my connection tips above ;-).
Student Wellbeing | Careers & Partnerships | VCE, VM & Vocational Specialist | Performing Arts
1yRob Sattler I completely agree that LinkedIn is a fabulous tool provided it’s used ethically and with caution. When I meet someone in a professional context I value connecting with them but am surprised that many do not have a profile. I encourage my students to also create an account but they have to do this at home as often school servers block all forms of social media. IT managers in schools need to understand that LinkedIn, whilst a social media platform, is a useful tool. Networking, keeping abreast of career market information and professional associations and organisations is so so important as a Career Educator.
Program Co-designer and Networking Facilitator
1yRight on point Rob Sattler #teachersonlinkedin
Career Development Professional (RCDP) / Careers Writer / Podcaster / AI x Careers Trainer, Presenter and Consultant
1yGreat post, Rob Sattler - I'm often amazed by how many educators and careers professionals I've met in the UK that don't use LinkedIn or maintain a fairly limited view of the platform (e.g. 'only for corporate types', 'not really relevant in my sector for jobs' etc.), when in reality there are so many benefits you can get from being active on there (not least the opportunities to learn from and collaborate with professionals in your own country and globally!), as you've rightly noted! I think particularly for anyone working in the career development sector, there's an important element of practicing what we preach and being confident in explaining the value of why an individual might benefit from engaging with LinkedIn - as you say, very difficult to do this if you've got no frame of reference to base it on!
Foundation Manager - Social Impact - Volunteering - SDGs
1yGreat read! This is so true!
National Careers Education Manager, myfuture.edu.au | Adjunct Research Fellow, UniSQ
1yFantastic post Rob Sattler. I've definitely noted some apathy or skepticism among the community about LinkedIn, and social media more generally. As you note, some caution is warranted but the value far outweighs the risks, in my opinion.