Curate your online self

The big picture

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok cater to different demographics – and it's not uncommon for someone to use only one. The platform LinkedIn Links to an external site., however, caters to all the professional working world – and it's not about personal use.

In this assignment, you will create (or update) your basic digital presence with the career networking tool, LinkedIn. 

Option 1: Profile

For students who are willing to have a LinkedIn profile (which we strongly recommend)

Sign up for a profile on LinkedIn Links to an external site., if you haven't already. Click "Join now" and follow the prompts. Try to complete as much information as possible – look back at all the assignments you've done so far, for ideas. (Review this profile guide Download profile guide used by SuccessWorks.)

Then add some people to your network: TAs, professors, bosses, coworkers, classmates, extracurriculars contacts, anyone. But only add people you've actually talked to in real life!

Next, join the LinkedIn group UW-Madison L&S Career Course Links to an external site..

Finally, sign up for Handshake Links to an external site.. UW uses this service to allow more than 200,000 employers across the country to make their internship and job openings visible to our students. If you aren't on Handshake, you're missing easy access to work opportunities!

To get credit for this option, enter your LinkedIn page as a Website URL (instead of uploading a file). 

Option 2: Audit

For students who are not willing to have a LinkedIn profile (which is your prerogative)

Do a Google Links to an external site. search of your name (including nicknames) and audit where your identity appears. Write two pages, reflecting on the following ideas – no need for exactly one paragraph per bullet point.

• What kind of information is easily discoverable through Google?
• What kind of impression might a job recruiter have, based on your online self?
• How might a recruiter learn about you, given your online self?
• What are the trade-offs you make by not having a LinkedIn, career-wise? 
• How do you curate your online self? What goals and strategies do you adopt?

After your write-up is done, we still encourage you to sign up for Handshake because of the access it offers to work opportunities (see above).

To get credit for this option, upload your write-up like normal.

Supplemental material

Notes & advice

• SuccessWorks
  • Refer to the L&S SuccessWorks handout "Building a Great Student Profile" Download "Building a Great Student Profile"
    .
  • Read through the L&S SuccessWorks web page "Networking Links to an external site.".
  • Consider how LinkedIn different from Facebook, X, and other platforms using this (now dated) SuccessWorks handout "How to Use Twitter in Your Job Search Download How to Use Twitter in Your Job Search
    ".
• Where to from here?
  • Like your initial resume, the main point here is to get this profile up and running. Feel free to modify it little by little all semester long, not just when we assign it.
  • The best way to learn what an effective LinkedIn profile looks like is to view lots and lots of other LinkedIn profiles!
• Reflection questions
  • How did you choose which photo to include?
  • How will your online persona be different in this more job-oriented space, compared to other social media spaces?
  • What kinds of conversations might you engage in through our LinkedIn group (above)?
  • What is the biggest shortcoming or silence on your LinkedIn page right now?

Examples

You can find countless examples of LinkedIn profiles by UW-Madison students and alumni by going to the Alumni tab of the UW–Madison LinkedIn page Links to an external site.. From this page you can search for fellow students in similar majors or who have similar career goals to yours.

To learn more 

• Natasha Singer, "New item on the college admission checklist: LinkedIn profile," New York Times (11-05-2016). Download Natasha Singer, "New item on the college admission checklist: LinkedIn profile," New York Times (11-05-2016).
  • A snapshot of career development as it was taught about a decade ago.
• danah m. boyd and Nicole B. Ellison, "Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship," Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13 (2008), 210-230. Download danah m. boyd and Nicole B. Ellison, "Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship," Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13 (2008), 210-230.
  • Early scholarly article on the rise of social network platforms on the world wide web.
• Zizi Papacharissi, "The virtual geographies of social networks: A comparative analysis of Facebook, LinkedIn and ASmallWorld," New Media & Society 11:1 (2009). Download Zizi Papacharissi, "The virtual geographies of social networks: A comparative analysis of Facebook, LinkedIn and ASmallWorld," New Media & Society 11:1 (2009).
  • A scholarly article on how various social networking platforms differ in their scope and meaning.
• Katharine Brooks, You Majored in What? chapter 7, "Working as a Krackel Bar." Download Katharine Brooks, You Majored in What? chapter 7, "Working as a Krackel Bar."