Faculty Development Session: Leveraging LinkedIn

On March 25, 2021, we hosted Leveraging LinkedIn, a panel discussion about how faculty can use the platform to share their work and build their professional networks.  

Our panel consisted of Orin Herskowitz, Senior Vice President for Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer, Executive Director of Columbia Technology Ventures (CTV), and Adjunct Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research and Ramon Vinluan, Senior Manager, Client Solutions (Education Vertical) at LinkedIn. Acacia O'Connor, Director of Social Media, led the discussion, and Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement Dennis Mitchell gave opening remarks.

Key takeaways:

  • LinkedIn has a more engaging and polite overall tone than other platforms; imagine that you are at a conference to guide your interactions with others.
  • Be intentional about your overall goals for using LinkedIn.
  • Find your "sweet spot" between personal and professional posts. 
  • Engage with those in your feed; share what you have written or something that you have read and tag others; positive engagements can lead to opportunities.
  • Include photos in posts whenever possible.
  • Many hiring managers look at LinkedIn before reading a CV, so it is important to keep your profile current.

 

    Learn more

    Engage with others. Read your feed, 'like' and comment on others’ posts. Follow hashtags that are of interest. Share a resource, link, or article.

    Build your network. Look through your contacts; who is on LinkedIn? Look at My Company to find colleagues and connect with them. Look at the connections of a colleague. Join groups, alumni networks, or professional organizations.

    Write a recommendation for a colleague.

    Promote your work (or that of a peer). Share events, book publication dates, published papers, and grants.