Students urged to sign up to LinkedIn at the start of college

June 13, 2011

Students in the US are increasingly being urged to set up a LinkedIn profile as soon as they start at college, owing to its indispensable networking value.

First-year students at the University of Vermont (UVm) are now being counselled to create their profiles at the start of their university careers, as its relevance and use has expanded beyond just established professional networking and is now crucial in the early career cultivation stage.

The director of career services at UVm, Pamela Gardner, said it was now being viewed as an integral part of the college careers process. "Being able to manage your relationships with people is very important for career development," she explained. "It's a really good platform to get yourself out there and connect with people."

Of particular use, she said, were the alumni networks that colleges and universities across the world are setting up on the site. These allow students to use common connections to get in touch with people who are perhaps already successful in the fields that they want to get into and ask advice and questions, which may vary depending on what stage of their education they are at.

Management consultant, Mark Gonska, said that the service was, "as essential as any resume has ever been," particularly as the first step anyone takes nowadays when it comes to a new recruit is to Google them for their social media footprint.