“… Now some social media experts are advising high school seniors to go even further. They are coaching students to take control of their online personas — by creating elaborate profiles on LinkedIn, the professional network, and bringing them to the attention of college admissions officers.” …
This is an interesting thought. I think setting up a simple LinkedIn profile is probably a good thing for just about everyone, including students. Originally, LinkedIn was conceived as a business networking site. Then, it became a heavily-used recruiting and job search tool. A few years ago, LinkedIn began encouraging college students to set up profiles to be ready for job searching as they complete their degree. Kind of amusing to see it pushed all the way down to high school now, but I get it.
The benefit I see is that your LinkedIn profile is a positive, controlled search result if someone “googles” you. It will probably be one of the top results (depending on how common your name is and other factors). You control the headline and the content. And, once it’s there, it can be updated throughout your college years as your focus shifts to internships, part-time and summer jobs, etc.
I really can’t imagine the vast majority of schools digging deeply into the social profiles of their applicants, but LinkedIn is part of working life these days and it won’t hurt to get started. And, at those selective schools that take a hard look at applicants, I don’t doubt that sometimes they do turn to the Web to build a more complete image of the student.
Once in college, I’d recommend removing all but the most significant high school content. It’s a lot like your resume. When you are applying to college, your high school accomplishments and activities are important. Once you are in college, though, nobody cares about that stuff.
Yup. I did this. It helped a lot with scholarships. Several times I noticed major scholarship directors looking at my profile, and then an acceptance letter shortly thereafter.
Re leaving high school content: depends on what you did in high school. If you were just like editor of the newspaper + other things at your school, sure, no one is going to care when you’re in college. But if you were out winning international awards or doing internships, that’s major, and you should leave it.
Should not be very prevalent - I question the usefulness of the first post and article
what next maybe a tinder profile the college can swipe left or right to accept you?
D1 did get her first big career job from LinkedIn. The employer found her, made contact.
But an article suggesting this based on one kid who got checked by Harvard is incomplete. Maybe that kid had some particular involvements that suggested a verification of some sort.
Even the Kaplan link says 89% of those who said they check cite “rarely” and only 11% “often.” What’s often? Once/week, out of thousands of apps? ?
This makes sense because it’s an online resume. You do not need to used the interactive parts on LinkedIn to have positive presence. Also, knowing who has checked you out is helpful (or at least telling) as Courtney said.
They’ll need it soon enough for job searching anyway!
There’s a website called ZeeMee that is similar to LinkedIn, but it’s specifically for college applicants. A couple of my schools highly suggested to have a profile on it.
I am a fan of ZeeMee. ^
Hello, I’m setting up my LinkedIn account. I’m in high school right now. Do you think I should mention all the societies I’m president/vice president of? Also, how do you mention your awards and stuff? Do you just state it or do you mention the date and specifications?
LinkedIn is the literal worst.
I think having a LinkedIn makes all the sense in the world. Besides the obvious benefits, you can ask for recommendations directly on LinkedIn, so if admissions officers scan your profile, they can see recommendations from your previous experiences. In particular, this idea makes a lot of sense for those with part-time jobs and leadership experiences.
My personal experience last year: for schools that let you upload a resume, I remember doing that, and on my resume, I have a QR code to my LinkedIn.