LinkedIn is a wonderful resource for finding professional opportunities and making connections. But how exactly can you get the most out of this platform as a psychology student?
Below are some tips and tricks for navigating LinkedIn. Whether you are just making an account, or if you are a seasoned pro with 500+ connections, these strategies are extremely useful for all!
Keep scrolling for examples, tutorials, and templates that you can actually apply :)
Setting up Your Profile
The core sections
About
Summary of your professional experience: what you do, what you've done, what you're interested in, how you've added value
Education
Experience
Volunteer work
Leadership roles
Research positions
Independent projects
Work experience
Skills
Other stuff (go to your profile --> "add profile section" --> choose "additional" or "recommended" and explore options!)
Awards and honors
Courses
Publications
Languages
etc.
Make your profile “headline” stand out
Place your most important or recent experience here
Building Connections
Connect with former TAs, professors, or classmates
Don’t be intimidated to send an invitation to someone who you’ve worked or studied with before, even if you weren't that close!
Search for an industry or field that interests you, and then as a filter select “people.” Finally, you can select a specific company, school, location, degree of connectedness, and more as a further filter.
Let's say you're looking for I/O Psychologists at Amazon in NYC. You would search “industrial organizational psychology,” then select “people” as the filter of what you are looking for. Then, under “company” you can select “Amazon” and under "location" select "New York" to find people!
See below:
How do I reach out to people I'm not already connected with?
Message the person normally by clicking on “Message” under their name
If the message option isn’t available, you can click “connect,” and then a window will pop up that says “You can add a note to personalize your invitation.” Click “Add a note,” and it’ll allow you to write a 300 character (not word) note.
Wait. If neither of these are options, you can try to connect and wait until they accept your invitation to message them normally. If you don’t want to wait, see if you can find their email online or on their website and email them instead :)
At Psych Mic, we love templates...
When you message someone new through technique #2 (above), there's a character limit. Here are some short templates to help you out.
Reaching out for an opportunity:
Dear X, I am currently a role at institution, and I came across your research on topic. I am so intrigued by the work that you do, and I would love to become involved in some capacity. Would it be possible to arrange a phone call so I could learn more about area of work?
Reaching out for a mentor (someone in an industry you are interested in learning more about):
Dear X, I am currently a role at institution, and I came across your work through place/person/book. I am so intrigued by the work that you do, and I would love to learn more about it! Would you be open to a phone call with me so I could learn more about area of work?
Reaching out to current grad students at a program of interest to learn more about their experience:
Dear X, I am currently applying to name of program, and I know that you are doing work under advisor. I would love to hear about your experiences as I am similarly interested in area of research. Would you be open to a brief phone call so I can learn more about your work?
If you don’t hear back, don’t be discouraged. Don’t take a non-response as a “no”—keep following up. It’s perfectly acceptable to follow up several times (just wait a few days or a week). Their not responding is usually not personal.
Finding Jobs & Opportunities
Follow pages that are of interest to you to learn about conferences, opportunities, and professionals doing work you might want to become involved in.
Make sure that your bio reflects the work that you are open to do.
On your profile, you should see a button that says "open to." Click it, and then “finding a new job.”
Next, you can be more specific about what roles you are looking to fill
I.e. remote vs. in-person vs. hybrid work
Research assistant position, clinical research coordinator role, etc.
Watch this under 2-minute tutorial Maya (Psych Mic founder) made on how to find jobs through LinkedIn!:
Example used: Finding entry-level clinical experiences! (But you can use this for any kind of job.)
Join Psych Mic's LinkedIn community to find & share grad school/career resources, industry-specific news, conferences, networking, and more! Ask for guidance, build connections with each other, and share resources!