Grace Cavanaugh, Staff Writer~
A representative from LinkedIn visited the University of Lynchburg to give students tips and tricks about using the professional social networking site.
Brian Galicia, who is a worldwide sales director at Microsoft, visited the university on Wednesday, October 17, and was enthused about the student turnout for his talk. He said, “It was fantastic! There was probably sixty plus students that came.”
The university LinkedIn page currently has 14,732 alumni registered with their network and 16,807 followers. Lynchburg encourages students to register for LinkedIn as part of their first year seminar experience.
Since its founding in 2002 LinkedIn has become one of the goto sites for recruitment and professional networking. Galicia said, “Imagine when you get recruited. Of course people think, ‘Oh, I’ll just send in a resume.’ For most recruiters, the first tool they go into is LinkedIn, because they are trying to understand, ‘Okay, who is [this person], how do I get to know them,’ before they even talk to them. Kind of like Yelp.”
“The very first and number one thing that all students at the University of Lynchburg should do: professional picture,” said Galicia. “When you walk into the room, imagine not having a picture. It’s like walking in with a paper bag over your head.”
Lynchburg students can have professional pictures taken at the Career Development Center.
In addition, Galicia noted, “There’s a background that most people don’t realize is there. Personalize it.” He also stressed the importance of keeping the LinkedIn profile updated so it always comes up when employers look up possible employees. In addition, he suggested following employers and influencers that are important to getting a job.
Galicia advised students to “Build your profile as if you’re [a person] tracking it, saying, ‘I want to get to know you better, because I think you’re a great candidate’.” He said, “Having a summary line, people think, ‘What do I put there as a student?’ I would recommend [putting] graduate year, major, and interests that reflect what kind of job you want.”
Students who were unable to attend Galicia’s lecture will be able for viewing on the university’s website soon. In addition, his presentation from the lecture is available at Aka.ms/lynchburgmsft.