Career Corner: Conversation with Fernanda Carcamo ’08, Senior IT Recruiter with Doowings, Belgium

Q: What is key advice about LinkedIn that you feel students need to know and implement?

A: LinkedIn is a powerful platform that can magnify who you are professionally. Growing an audience and a large network takes patience, persistence, skill and hard work. The best skill you will need at first is writing skills: putting ideas in a way that people are engaged and interested. Telling stories that resonate with the reader and bringing insights that are interesting.

Video is also an important aspect about LinkedIn but it takes even more skill: how you create it, lighting, content, and the way you deliver it. At first, when you are starting in an industry, it can be a bit scary: what can I share that people here don’t know? Start with small posts on your insights and point of views from your experiences. Even if you’re new in a company, you still can share how you see and experience the world. For example, sharing a post on what it is like to go to work on your first day as a new employee for your company is something that is interesting. Don’t force yourself or pretend to be an expert. Never pretend because it shows and people can see through it. Be yourself and remember that even if you’re learning and new in your industry, you still have tons of things to share that others are not living nor experiencing.

Q: How can students create a dynamic profile that catches recruiters’ attention, for the right reasons?

A: 1. The first thing is to keep it up to date on your certifications, experiences, and what you have done in general.

     2. Create a solid summary of who you are and what you are looking for in the future. I would avoid the automated summary that LinkedIn suggests.

     3. Your title should also be clear to anyone who reads it. Many times we try to get creative when writing a title and it ends up being confusing for recruiters.

     4. If you are searching for a job, write it on your title and specify what type of job for it to catch recruiters’ attention when browsing. So “Open for new opportunities as a Junior Business Analyst” will be much more effective than “Open for new Opportunities”

     5. Be sure your profile picture is welcoming: smiling with good lighting is best.

Q: How do you connect with people on LinkedIn? How do you find them and how do you know with whom you should connect?

A: There’s not a right or wrong answer, but here are some suggestions that have worked for me: too many people are focusing on the “vanity metrics” instead on the value of the connections. So, what they want is to have a large amount of connections and that should never be the goal. It can be a result of successfully using the platform but having connections for the sake of it won’t translate into direct impact. Too many people are also focusing on building a “personal brand” which is obviously important: how you come across to others online, what insights you have and how you can share your experiences with others. However, we need to remember that a personal brand starts with what you do daily, how you do it, and how people perceive you in real life. Do colleagues trust you? Are you reliable and do you keep your word? Do you have a high work ethic and would other people who have worked with you recommend you? We cannot think that a platform (LinkedIn) will make us better professionals, but rather being a great professional can then be transferred and magnified by the platform.

Q: Once you connect with people on LinkedIn, then what?

A: When connecting with people always think to yourself: what if I were meeting them in real life? Would I sell something to someone from the first minute I met them? Would I ask someone for a professional favor without them knowing who I was? Common sense is lost many times when using LinkedIn as we expect others to do things for us, which is inconsistent with real life human behavior. My suggestion is to be as how you would be in a real life scenario. This has worked really well for me in building my network.

Q: How do you build a LinkedIn presence beyond a good profile, some connections, and liking others’ content?

A: I started growing my network the minute I stopped focusing on myself (what I need, how people can help me) and when I started focusing more on others (what others need, how I can help them). It’s normal if you share achievements that you’re proud of and occasionally share things about your life/professional goals etc. However, instead of viewing LinkedIn as a place to showcase who you are, view it as a place where you can help others and share the world from your view. This will make you grow your network, as others will want to know what you’re thinking, living, and sharing.

Q: How can students use LinkedIn most effectively in their internship/job/graduate school search?

A: Share your experiences! It’s super interesting for people to know what it is like to have an internship in 2020. Show us your journey, your path, your challenges and your opinions on what you live. 🙂 Be natural and genuine.