Make the most of the largest professional social networking platform, LinkedIn, by engaging with the resources and tips linked below. With over 900 million people on LinkedIn, including 40 million recent graduates and current students, use the tips below to stand out and and highlight your unique skills. Also 87% of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet job candidates (Recruiter Nation Survey, Jobvite).
Use LinkedIn to: Locate & connect with organizations, Stay in touch with contacts, Join groups to expand your network, Explore career paths of UMD alumni, Advertise your professional brand. Get started with the LinkedIn Profile Checklist for BSOS Majors.

LinkedIn Profile Checklist for BSOS Majors
- LinkedIn Learning video- Rock your LinkedIn profile (1 hr.)
- Use a professional photo and enhance it with these tips
- Tips for Building the Perfect LinkedIn Profile
- Customize your profile's URL
- Add background to your profile | 10 LinkedIn background photo examples, Forbes
- Great photo, bad background? Remove it
- How to Create a Professional LinkedIn Banner Using Canva
- Share your status: Open to work

Use LinkedIn's Alumni tool to explore career path options. View a tutorial video for the tool.
- Explore career paths related to your skills
- Search tips for exploring LinkedIn
- Explore skills in demand by industry
Consider your skills & add them to your profile.
- Adding skills, how to
- 8 effective ways to add skills that stand out

- Use LinkedIn's Alumni tool to locate UMD alumni and review their career paths; view a video tutorial
- Tips for who to connect with
- 9 expert-backed ways to use LinkedIn to find a job, Business Insider
- 4 Steps to Joining the Professional Conversation on LinkedIn
- This Is What Recruiters Look For On Your Social Media Accounts, Fast Company
- Join Groups: UMD's College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
- Find exclusive opportunities: Join the UMD BSOS Experiential LinkedIn Group: Connecting Academics, Research, Internships & Career Planning
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UMD students, faculty, and staff have free access to Linkedin Learning, an online learning service that can help professionals learn software, design, and business skills to achieve their personal and professional goals.
Curated LinkedIn Learning videos for BSOS students:
- Create Your Brand
- Tips for applying for Internship/Job Openings?
- Create an Internship/Job Search Plan
Add a new skill (sample topics below):
- Analytics
- Big Data
- Data Analytics
- Data Science Tools
- Finance
- Photoshop & Lightroom
- Python
- R for Data Science
- Web Design
- PLUS MANY MORE
Setting tips to increase your visibility, Business 2 Community
Manage your privacy- read this BEFORE connecting with professionals on LinkedIn
Offer freelance services through LinkedIn