Wake up, smell the coffee, check LinkedIn for job offers

By Danielle Ruckert | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Daily routine: wake up, brushteeth, pour cereal, check emails, check Facebook, check LinkedIn, get job offer? This is what happened to Ryan Chenney, 2012 Flagler College graduate, with a request for his resume and salary bid.

With graduation right around the corner, many students’ first and foremost is finding a job. LinkedIn is a social media forum that encourages users to create an online resume, post and read articles/projects relating to the users career path, and connects users seeking employment with employers searching to hire.

“I think LinkedIn and other sites like it will be the new connection between employees and employers,” said Chenney of the professional social media forum.

While he didn’t take the job he was offered, Chenney believes the source works well as a middleman. The site’s search engine allows the user to specify a location, a desired job function, a desired salary, an industry level, a company and the type of connections they have in common with the posted job.

Many college-aged students are hesitant to use LinkedIn because they are unsure of how to use it or what type of material to include in their resume. Chelsea Harris, another 2012 Flagler College graduate, finds the website to be an excellent resource, but not for education majors like her.

“We [as teachers] already have another resource we use to find out who is hiring and what job openings exist. A lot of schools hire from within and most teaching jobs require proof of a physical portfolio. I just don’t think LinkedIn is the right tool for someone on my career path,” Harris mentioned at a focus group regarding LinkedIn.

Tara Stevenson, director of career services at Flagler College, is a huge advocate of LinkedIn as both her brother and father-in-law have found job positions through the site. Her brother was between career moves, and her father was searching to change jobs within the consulting business. Both of Stevenson’s relatives used the sidebar “job advertisements” or the job tab on LinkedIn during their job hunt.

“After filling out your resume, LinkedIn pulls from the information you post to find job listings similar towhat you write in your profile,” Stevenson said, “which makes it easier for you to find something tailored to the type of job you are looking for.”

The most obvious difference between LinkedIn and other online job hunting sites lies in the fact that users can virtually “connect” with future employers or colleagues via LinkedIn. This feature allows for the user to foster a professional network through the career opportunities that may arise.

For those not lucky enough to find job offers in their LinkedIn inbox, career services also promotes the use of an online forum called Career Shift. Similar to LinkedIn, Career Shift allows job hunters to sift through the many job openings online in order to find ones tailored to the interests and qualifications of the user.