As a student, it’s always a good idea to do what you can at university to make your life a little easier when you graduate. One of the best things you can do is set yourself up on LinkedIn and start building your personal portfolio.

You may think that you don’t need it right now or maybe you’re not even sure what you’ll use it for. But, as a recent graduate myself, I believe it’s a good idea to start planning for your career as early as you can. Fields like marketing, PR and digital content creation are very competitive and having an online professional profile can help you get ahead in the job hunting game.

Here are a few reasons why you should have LinkedIn as a student:

YOU CAN SHARE YOUR WORK AND ACHIEVEMENTS AND DEVELOP YOUR PERSONAL BRAND

When you’re on the job hunt, you’re essentially trying to market yourself, and LinkedIn is a great platform to share your work and achievements and be vocal about what you do and before you know it you would have built up an online portfolio of your best work.

CONNECT WITH INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS

LinkedIn gives you the chance to connect with people that you wouldn’t be able to in real life. Connecting with people who you admire or companies you would love to work at is a great way to get started. You can also drop them a message and ask to pick their brain about the industry and you never know what kind of opportunities this could lead to.

IT HELPS WITH JOB HUNTING

The app also has a job searching section – you can put in what role you’re looking for and the location you want to work in and you’ll receive notifications when these jobs get advertised. A lot of companies promote their job openings on LinkedIn and spending as little as 10 minutes a day scrolling through this section will definitely help you break into the career you really want.

KEEPS YOU UP TO DATE WITH YOUR INDUSTRY

Connecting with professionals and engaging with their posts will keep you up to date with your industry which is something employers want to see. It will also benefit you – a lot of people share tips, inspiration and what they look for in employees.

COMPANIES CAN FIND YOU

On LinkedIn you can advertise if you’re on the lookout for work or an internship – if someone is impressed with your account and your work they may reach out to you. You can also see who views your profile which is great for seeing which kind of industry professionals you attract.

IT SHOWS YOU’RE DEDICATING TO PURSUING A CAREER

Being a student, having an active LinkedIn account shows that you are willing to go out of your way to put time into developing the career you want.

YOU CAN SET YOUR ACCOUNT ON PRIVATE UNTIL YOU BUILD IT UP

If you’re worried about having limited information or achievements to share don’t worry. You can actually set up an account and have it on private while you slowly build your profile up.

Remember, LinkedIn is a tool that’s designed to help us. Don’t worry too much about posting yourself in the beginning. Create an account and the rest will follow, you’ll start to see how other people use the app and this will give you more of an idea.

© MOTIVE