Dartmouth’s LinkedIn alumni group boasts more than 15,000 members. The Center for Professional Development is hoping students will capitalize on these potential connections, hosting a LinkedIn workshop today to discuss crafting profiles and networking through the website’s groups.
Chandlee Bryan, the center’s assistant director, emphasized the importance of a LinkedIn presence, as did headhunters, citing the platform’s user-friendly interface and its ability to facilitate professional connections.
Steve Ritchie, a headhunter at Fieldbrook Advisors in New York City, said that the rise of LinkedIn has surprised him as the site appears to be replacing the traditional paper resume.
“What I find most mind boggling is that you see a lot of young professionals using it as their main resume and essentially copy and pasting what you would see on a normal CV,” he said.
Tom Ragland, C.E.O. of New-York based executive search firm the Harrison-Rush Group, praised the site’s ease of use, especially for recruiters in financial services.
“It’s really the only platform we use,” he said.
Ritchie said LinkedIn benefits both recruiters and clients.
“It hasn’t marginalized our value to clients, it’s just that information is available significantly faster,” he said. “In the past you’d have to look at newspaper articles or hire someone externally.”
Students said they use the network more as a social tool than as a professional one, though those interviewed expressed interest in perhaps using the network professionally in their postgraduate careers.
“I’ve found it very useful, I think it’s a great way to stay in touch with people you’ve worked with, whether it be firms, or teachers from high school, or friends who have moved on from other social media networks,” said Casey Dennis ’15, who has interned at Verizon, on Capitol Hill with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., at Williams & Connolly and at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
He said that though he has never found a job directly through LinkedIn, he knows companies are increasingly marketing and promoting jobs through the site and added that he is open to using LinkedIn in future job searches.
Erik Nordahl ’16, an intern at Nomura Asset Management in New York City, said users share different types of information on LinkedIn.
“You can keep up with what your friends are doing and where they are working. It’s sort of stuff that you wouldn’t post on Facebook,” Nordahl said. “I think now it’s kind of weird to post where you are interning on Facebook, whereas it’s acceptable and encouraged on LinkedIn.”
He added that he would likely use LinkedIn as a professional tool as job recruitment nears.
Katherine Yau ’16, who is also an intern at Nomura, said she uses the platform to learn more about potential employers, particularly to see if Dartmouth alumni work at a company she is interested in.
