Tips for CS students to use LinkedIn as your resume

LinkedIn is a very popular professional networking site. Almost every professional person is on LinkedIn, and so are the recruiters! For those, who have certain working experience, LinkedIn is pretty useful. Few students also using this service, but are very rarely active. While going through such a dead profile, I just thought how the students – especially the CS students can make use of this service to build their own resume, and to turn it into your complete timeline later. Lets see, as a CS student, how you can use LinkedIn to make most out of it.

Summary

If you think you have thorough understanding of some subject(s), for example, java programming, DBMS, software engineering practices, design patterns etc., mention it under this section. You can also mention your favorite subject or work area, like system programming, database administration etc. This way, any visitor to your profile will come to know your potential, favorite subject, and can think about where you can be a good match.

Education

Mention all the courses you took – Include your graduation, post-graduation, any other certificate courses you took. Describe your project work, but keep the description short and sweet. The text should be short, but enough to give clear idea of what role you played in the project and what exactly you did to accomplish it.

If you participated in any project or presentation competition, list those activities.

Experience

If you have done any summer job in corresponding field, list it! That can certainly be a plus point for you.

Recommendations

During your academics if you have ever done project(s) under guidance of any industrial person, request them to recommend you! If they were really happy with your work, they would write a really good recommendation for you!!

Additional Information

If you run any blog, particularly related to your field of education, do not forget to list it here. Though not all visitors will tend to visit your link, but few of them may read it. If your blog is speaking loudly about your interest and your learnings and findings, the reader may get fascinated. Who knows what can help you out at which instance of time?!

Also list out your interests. One important point I would like to tell you here is, be diplomatic while listing your interests. I have seen many resumes and LinkedIn profiles which say “interested in drawing”, “likes reading” etc. but failing to turn them into a plus point. If you are really interested in drawings, then instead of merely listing it, why not to make it say like “interest in drawing leads me to explain the concepts via diagrams” OR if you are a reading freak, why not to make it read like “reads a lot, including technical white papers and related documents” ?

Include your contact details! Include your mobile number (if you have any); if you have regular Internet access include your mail ID and some IM (Google Talk/Yahoo messenger/Skype etc.), so that if your profile sounds interesting to some recruiter, (s)he can contact you directly.

There is one more useful thing available with LinkedIn – export profile as a PDF. You can quickly convert the LinkedIn profile into a PDF document, which you can send quickly via email as your resume. Perhaps, you might like to edit it slightly, especially the LinkedIn logo

Any other suggestions? Write them in comments! That will be really great!!

Listen, and then Communicate

Listening is really underrated, most of the times. Try to hear what the client is saying. Ask them for details, thoughts on design, copy, layout, and then ask for more! Listen to what they say. Sometimes, listening between the lines is necessary too!

Then, after you listen completely, communicate to the client. Keep them updated through the process. Reply to emails as quickly as possible. Send them progress updates. Then, after you launch their site/write their piece, contact them a week or so later to touch the base and see if they need anything else.

Clients love this.