If I was a college student exclusively using LinkedIn to find my next internship, here’s 5 things I would do today to improve my profile and assist me on my search:
⭐ Update my headline to reflect who I am, what I’m looking for
A simple headline formula I’d recommend is major + school + past roles + current roles. Using keywords related to your school, past/incoming positions, programs/fellowships you’re in can be helpful for when recruiters are using the platform to search for talent!
Here’s some examples for you to “steal” and personalize :
Computer Science Student at Howard University | Incoming SWE Intern @ Google | Prev @ Bumble and Tik Tok | Class of 2026
Incoming SWE Intern @ LinkedIn | Third Year CSE Major at The Ohio State University | MLT Career Prep Fellow
1st Year Marketing Student at Boston University | Class of 2027
Role at Company | Previous Roles | 1 liner about what you do*
⭐ Turn on Open to Work
Here’s what I recommend you do when you turn it on:
– enter 5 titles of roles you’re looking for. If you’re looking for a role in your field, just look up [field] + intern. Examples: “marketing intern”, “accounting intern”, “digital marketing intern”, “human resources intern”, etc”
– set your desired location type (remote/hybrid) and your top 3-5 locations you’d like to work in
⭐ Use the “search” feature to the best of it’s ability
Use search terms on LinkedIn such as “hiring [insert major/field] interns” to find roles posted by recruiters and hiring managers as soon as they’re live. Follow these same recruiters to learn more about the roles they’re hiring for, any recruitment events they’ll be at to network with them, etc
Some search terms include:
– “intern”
– #internships, #summer2024internship, #spring2024internships (look through these hashtags for posts)
– “hiring intern summer 2024”
– “hiring summer interns 2024”
– “hiring [enter season] interns [enter year]”
(These can also be modified for entry level roles and rotational programs)
⭐ Fully complete your profile
The more detailed, the better. Here’s a checklist to go off of:
✅ Clear Headshot added?
✅ Detailed Headline added?
✅ Short bio of yourself about who you are, what you do, fun fact(s) about you, past academic and professional accomplishments, etc
✅ Added your work and volunteer experiences, attaching any presentations or visuals if possible
✅ Grow your network following classmates, past colleagues, etc
⭐ Follow Linkedin creators who share early career opportunities
Several creators share early career opportunities and tips on Linkedin (like me!), here are a few that you should follow:
Taylor Falls
Aminah Aliu
Morgan Young
Kevin Shim
Khadyajah Jenkins, M.A.T
Diana Vicezar
What questions do you have about using Linkedin as a student? Comment them down below 🙂
