Let’s get social
Yes, you should probably be on LinkedIn
Hi there, I’m Emily! 👋 Welcome to Hired Humanities, a biweekly newsletter devoted to helping humanities students build careers on their own terms.
Hey, readers! Long time no see. How have you been doing?
Thanks for sticking with me while I took a few weeks off from writing to spend time with family and get some much-needed R&R in. I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely one of those people who find it hard to disconnect. Coming back refreshed from a holiday was a good reminder that we all need— and deserve— rest. Let this be a nudge for you to take some time off if you can and honor what you really need.
This week, I’m tackling a subject I’ve been putting off for a while: LinkedIn.
I know, I know. It’s not the most exciting thing in the world, but this tweet made me realize that the time has come to address the elephant in the room:
I too have been floored at how much resistance there is to LinkedIn among graduate students. Nearly every alt-ac event Q&A session I’ve participated in has featured some permutation of the question “Do I really have to set up a LinkedIn?” and the answer “Yes, you really should.”
I’m not sure what the block is. One guess is that putting together a resume is already so hard/loathsome that setting up a LinkedIn profile feels next to impossible. Maybe it’s scary to publicly share your (lack of) experience as a graduate student. Or some students may think that searching for jobs on social media is beneath them.
I can tell you from experience that social media, including LinkedIn, is an amazing tool for building alt-academic careers. I found my first full-time role on Twitter and connected with people on LinkedIn who helped me find my way into tech. Could I have found my way into a job without social media? Probably. But would it have taken more time and energy to do so? Most definitely.
So yes, I do think you should create a LinkedIn profile if you haven’t already. But, like pretty much everything else, simply having a profile isn’t going to get you a job. I don’t care how many listicles say employers will come flocking if you just “hack” your profile. Especially for those of you who are at the beginning of your career search, the real benefit of LinkedIn isn’t having a professional public profile— it’s being able to explore the options that are out there.
Let’s talk about how to get started with LinkedIn and how to use it to your advantage. Think of this as your quick-start guide to the site if you’ve been hesitant to create a profile, and if you already have one, I hope that you’ll discover a few new tips along the way.
Photo by inlytics | LinkedIn Analytics Tool on Unsplash
Make room for all your experience
If you’re going to create a LinkedIn account, you should fill in your profile so you look like an actual human. As tempting as it may be to leave it empty and just use your account to surf job postings, you’ll be doing yourself a disservice if your profile is searchable but blank. At best you’ll look unpolished, and at worst you’ll look like a bot.
As I mentioned above, I suspect that a lot of students blanch at creating a LinkedIn profile because they feel like they don’t have a ton of experience to share on it. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re in a panic that you don’t really have much to add to your profile.
But here’s the thing: you have more experience to share than you realize. We tend to think of everything from research to teaching as responsibilities that belong under the heading “graduate student,” but on LinkedIn and resumes, those can be listed as specific roles.
For example, I put my teaching experience and my workshop coordinator role as separate roles on LinkedIn when I first built my profile. Not only did giving each role designated space help bulk up my page, but it also gave me enough room to highlight the diversity of the responsibilities each entailed. If I had crammed them all under “graduate student,” all of that experience could have easily faded into the background.
Treat it like research
I will be honest with you: recruiters probably won't be beating down your digital door when you first get started on LinkedIn. That doesn’t mean that creating an account is useless, though. In fact, one of the most compelling reasons to join LinkedIn isn’t to get your profile in the hands of hiring managers— it’s to use it as a research tool.
LinkedIn is one of the best tools for exploring what careers are out there when you’re trying to figure out a career pivot. If there’s a particular field you’re curious about, try searching for it and seeing what comes up in your area. As you're searching, save all the job descriptions and the responsibilities you find intriguing in a Google doc or file. Review this file periodically and look for any patterns or overlap as they may indicate the types of roles or responsibilities that you’d be interested in pursuing.
If you already have a target role in mind, you can use LinkedIn to figure out what skill gaps you need to address to secure that job. Look for people who hold the job you want, and examine their profiles. Are there specific skills you keep seeing on every profile and do you already have them? If not, see if you can take on responsibilities that align with those skills or explore other ways of closing the gap like workshops or auditing classes. (Side note: just be cautious of spending a ton of money or time on certificates or other programs!)
Ease into networking
Obviously, a big advantage to being on LinkedIn is the networking opportunities. When you first sign up, you’ll get recommendations for who to connect with based on your email contacts and profile information, but you’ll need some elbow grease to broaden your network.
If you’re uncomfortable networking, ease yourself into it by connecting with people you know from real life. Having a pre-established connection can make the whole process feel more authentic and less schmoozy while still pushing you a little bit beyond your comfort zone. Then, take it to the next level by joining alumni groups and your professional association’s network. These are great places to look for others who share your professional interests and experiences, which in turn will make connecting a lot less awkward.
When you’re ready to get advanced, check out who people know within your network and see if they’d be willing to make an introduction. If you go the mutual connection route or cold email someone for career advice, be sure to respect everyone’s time and energy. I love these suggestions from the New York Times on how to ask someone to “pick their brain” without coming off as entitled or aggressive.
A parting note
Thanks for tuning in this week! Please don't hesitate to drop me a line if you have questions or feedback. And, if you think someone else in your life would love to receive this newsletter in their inbox, feel free to spread the word.
Cheers,
Emily
Reading List
A few of my favorite links
🔥More on the burnout phenomenon from the New Yorker.
🤝 A fascinating look at the DEIB industrial complex from the Cut.
❌ A good reminder to say no if you mean no from HBR.