A week or so ago, mostly so I could educate myself for interviews, I created a LinkedIn. A week later I still have absolutely no idea what I'm doing (admittedly I haven't really put too much into it yet). Today, I have tried to browse around a get a better sense of how the website works and it is actually extremely helpful. I was able to find the woman I will be interviewing with tomorrow which has given me a few talking points or possible questions for her. It showed me that she did her internship where I am interviewing. I know very little about the specifics of what I would theoretically be doing there so it'll be nice to be able to ask her about her experience.
Overall I think its a cool profile to have. It strikes me as a professional facebook. I even see that there's an HMP Alumni group. One of the things that really drew me to tranferring into this major was the sense of community and how alumni stay connected even after graduating. I think is something pretty unique at UNH to HMP. It'll be nice to graduate, be able to join the group, and give back to the program. Anyway, if you don't have one I would totally suggest making one even just to do a little "professional stalking" as you can't see profiles without making one (pretty much the sole reason I made it). Hopefully at some point I will actually get the hang of it.
When I first made my LinkedIn a couple years ago it wasn't of much use to me and I was confused about what all the fuss around the website was about. However as I've grown in HMP and as I have gotten closer to the time of finding internships and jobs it has been super helpful. I've used it to look up preceptors as well which is great for preparing for interviews as you said. I also follow hospitals in the region and they often post job listings on LinkedIn. I've found it to be a great tool the more I've learned to maneuver it. Good luck in your interview!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are in it. I offered extra credit to my 401 class if they would set one up, even if they weren't in HMP, just to get them started.
ReplyDeleteOne thing you should know is when you hit someone's profile, they get a message that you were there. So if you know you are going to interview with someone, for example, I would recommend copying their information into a Word document for future reference rather than going back to their profile many times. Will make you look less creepy. ;)