https://www.linkedin.com/school/holmesglen-institute/
Holmesglen Alumni: 3 simple ways to make the most of your LinkedIn account
by Vincent Ramos
Director, Advancement at the Holmesglen Foundation
Holmesglen recently welcomed over 660 new graduates to our alumni community. As our newest graduates launch in to the next stage of their careers, it's a good time to look at how to maximise the potential reach of your job search.
A key way of extending your network and showcasing your skills is a LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn has been around since 2003, and has over 600 million registered users in 200 countries. That's all well and good, but - really - why should you have a LinkedIn profile?
The main reason, really, is that a LinkedIn account helps you establish a professional online presence. What that means is that when a potential employer or client googles you, you have provided intentionally-presented information for them to find.
Importantly, it's not your Facebook profile (with a thousand drunken photos from a hundred drunken Fridays). It's not your Tumblr (with all those emo poetry posts). It's not that news article about you with the terrible photo (and that's assuming you've never been in the news for doing a terrible thing!).
A LinkedIn profile is one of the easiest ways to establish a professional internet presence, and LinkedIn profiles typically appear at or close to the top of Google search results. Basically, your LinkedIn is the result you want potential employers to find when they search for you.
LinkedIn works alongside your CV, and can help you build a narrative around your career path. You could use it to showcase your expertise and professional passions, and certainly to extend your professional network. Use it to help you land your next job and to see what others in your field are talking about.
Beyond that, however, there are particular ways you can leverage the specific fact of being a Holmesglen graduate as part of maintaining an active, useful LinkedIn profile. So, here are 3 simple ways you can make the most of your LinkedIn account as an alumnus of Holmesglen:
1. Personalise your LinkedIn URL
The first thing you can do is maybe the simplest. When you sign up for a LinkedIn account, you get a profile address that looks a little like this:
www.linkedin.com/in/glen-holmesglen-xy314848
(no, this one's not real ...)
It would look better (and be much easier to share and print on CVs) if it looked like:
www.linkedin.com/in/glenholmesglen
To give yourself a customised URL, do this:
- Go to your Public Profile settings: https://www.linkedin.com/public-profile/settings.
- On the top right of the Edit Settings screen, you should see an 'Edit URL' heading that will allow you to personalise the URL for your profile.
-
Simply click on the pencil to edit the custom portion of the URL. Keep it simple and professional, and preferably something you'd be happy to use for the long term.
What should you use for your custom URL? Using your name is a common practice (and adding your middle initial, if you have one and someone with the same name as you has already 'taken' yours). If your name has already been taken, maybe add something to signal your career goals:
/janejonesdesigner
/taniachengRN
/jimgentrytopbuilder
Once you've selected a name that's unique on LinkedIn, you can click 'Save'. Copy the URL and share it widely!
2. Leverage your Holmesglen alumni network
There are over 16,000 Holmesglen alumni on LinkedIn. That is a powerful (and ever-growing) network of professional resources who share a common experience of Holmesglen Insitute, so make sure you give yourself the chance to benefit from it.
If you have your Holmesglen qualification listed in the Education section of your profile, you can find fellow alumni simply by clicking on the 'Holmesglen Institute' link under your Education. Add it if you haven't!
Otherwise, you can always get to the Holmesglen profile page using this URL: https://www.linkedin.com/school/holmesglen-institute/.
Specifically, take a look at the 'Alumni' section: https://www.linkedin.com/school/holmesglen-institute/people/.
The Alumni section lists your fellow graduates, and can be sorted by Industry, Company, and Country, plus you can specify a range of graduation years (this is handy if you're interested in connecting with people from your graduation year, or want to find alumni who, say, have ten years more experience than you). When you find relevant alumni, send them a Connect request (I recommend you add a personal note).
The Holmesglen profile page https://www.linkedin.com/school/holmesglen-institute/ is also a handy place to check out the latest news and posts from Holmesglen. Click on 'Follow' to see these updates in your Home feed.
3. Use Alumni Groups to Connect
A useful way to connect is to join a Group. The new official Holmesglen Alumni group can be found here. https://www.linkedin.com/groups/10430138/. Joining is easy: simply click on 'Request to Join'.
Once you’re a member, take a look at the Discussions thread and browse through the Members of the group for opportunities to get involved or connected.
For instance, you could join a discussion of fellow alums talking about your industry, or simply comment on an article someone else has posted. You can also start your own discussion, maybe by sharing a link or blog post, along with your own observation or questions.
Post a simple introduction to yourself and your goals: 'Hello fellow Holmesglen alumni: I graduated this year, and I’m new to the group. Excited to connect with other alumni. I’m currently looking for a job in hospitality management and keen to connect with people in the industry or other jobseekers. Happy to help where I can. Thanks!'
Importantly, LinkedIn lets you send messages to people you share a group with (depends a little on their settings), which could help you establish a direct conversation with a key group member. Use this strategically.
Summary: Building your digital presence is worth it
It takes a some effort to build a digital presence, but it's worth the time. Hundreds more people will find you online than will meet you in person. For most potential contacts, and indeed employers, a well-maintained professional profile is where they will gain their first impression of you, or validate the information you provided in a CV.
Remember that your profile is a ‘living’ thing. As your career progresses and your goals shift, you'll need to ensure you keep your profile updated. Update it with each new job, and post fresh, relevant content every so often. Give your professional profile active attention and it will work hard for you.
On LinkedIn, it's easy to find fellow alumni. Your Holmesglen experience is something you have in common with an incredible group of professionals - so list Holmesglen on your profile, and use it actively and often to stay up to date with your industry and build your network.
Best wishes!
- Vincent Ramos
9 April 2019
Do you have any other tips for using LinkedIn that could help your fellow alumni? Has a function I describe above changed since this was published? Add your hints and updates in the Comments - I'd love to hear from you. Also, stay tuned for shorter LinkedIn hacks I'll publish every now and again - these will focus on a single aspect of LinkedIn to help you optimise how you use this valuable network.
I'm always delighted to connect with Holmesglen Alumni on LinkedIn. Find me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincenturamos.