How to Use LinkedIn During Your Internship (Get More Job Offers)

0:00Two interns can do the exact same work. One gets the job offer, the other one gets a thank you email. Here's the difference. One of them treated the internship like 10 weeks of work, and the other treated it like 10 weeks of building relationships that could [music] shape their entire career. Same desk, same task, completely different outcome. In this video, I'm going to walk you through exactly how to use LinkedIn before, during, and after your internship so that when it ends, you're the one walking away with the offer, the mentors, the connections, the recommendations, the open doors. And to make this easy, I put together a free

0:32checklist with every single step from this video down below. This is the exact list of what to do before, during, and after your internship on LinkedIn. And I would love for you to download it and follow along because we're going to work through it together today on this video. And real quick, if you haven't landed

0:46your internship yet, I have got you. Every week, our team curates a free database of verified internships, scholarships, and global opportunities for college students. And we send it straight to your inbox. There are over a 100 internships in there right now. The link is below. So, sign up, look around the database, and then come right back. So, the first thing I recommend people to do before your internship starts on LinkedIn is to connect with alumni. And there are two groups of alumni you want to find. First group is people who attend your school. So I want you to go to LinkedIn, type in the name of your

1:17university, toggle to the alumni section. You know, I always write in Texas A&M and see who's there. Then I want you to add the name of the company you are about to intern with. Now you can see if anyone from your school already works where you're going, and if they are, you can send them a message to

1:35have anformational interview with them. The second group is alumni you're connected with through your parents, a mentor, or a close family friend. So, you want to go to their school's alumni page, put in [music] that same company, and see who comes up. So, maybe your mom or your dad, your really good family friend or your mentor goes to a different university than you, you can still go to that page, see who's at that company, and then say, "Hey, I am the daughter of I am the son of X, Y, and Z or the very good mentee of, and I would

2:05love to learn more about this company." So, I'm I'm telling you, work it every single angle you can before you get to the job because they can give you a heads up on who to talk to, how to succeed in the internship, all of that, which a lot of your peers, because they haven't watched this video, are not going to be able to do. And actually, you know what? Let me do this. I'm going to give you some sample messages that you can use. So, if they're connected through your school, your message should

2:26sound like this. Hi, my name is Soandso. I'm a current student at university and I see you're working at company. I'm going to be interning there this summer and I'd love to hear about your experience and any advice you have for getting started as an intern. And if they're connected through a parent or a family friend, here's something you could say. Hi, I'm the daughter of someone who attended your school. My parents suggested I reach out because I'm about to intern at your organization. I'd love to set up a time to hear about your experience and

2:52anything that would help me succeed. Super easy. The key part is as soon as someone says yes, you start preparing, right? develop thoughtful questions about the role and their experience at the company. This one move, I'm telling you, [music] connecting with alumni before day one already sets you apart. It shows initiative. It builds relationship before you've even walked in the door and then those people can become your insider perspective and they can actually turn into mentors. I've

3:17seen that too, the moment you start. Okay, so we've already done the pre-work. This is the things you do before you are actually at the internship. Another thing I would do too, I'm just going to throw this in there, is just make sure your profile is up to date. You have a profile picture, you have a background, you have some experiences, all of that because people are going to be landing on that page as you're going throughout the internship and you want to make sure it shows you off in the best light. We have a checklist for LinkedIn that you can grab down below to help walk you through

3:40that. Okay, [music] now that you're at the internship, congrats. It's time to build. So, what I want you to do is to start with your fellow interns. Walk up to interns you click with and say, "Hey, I'm trying to grow my LinkedIn. Would you want to connect?" Most of the time, they'll say yes. And honestly, you might be seen as a leader because a lot of college students aren't doing this, right? You're quietly building a peer network of future professionals in your field. I want you to hear this. Like, a lot of times the opportunities, the job opportunities you'll get in the future are simply from connections you've made

4:10earlier in life and it could be from an internship. I've seen this over and over and over again. So, [music] take time. These are all people that have said, "Hey, I'm interested in the same field that you're in." You want to connect with all of them, right? [music] Of course, within reason. Next, connect with team members. As you work alongside people, full-time role people, [music] right? You'll find yourself clicking with someone. Ask, "Hey, I'm trying to develop my LinkedIn as a college student. Would you be open to connecting?" Another thing you can ask is, "Is there anybody you think I should be connected with?" Again, you're trying

4:39to open up the field of connections and opportunities that you have during this moment while everything is fresh in people's minds because you know, you come in for an internship fall, spring, summer, and very quickly afterwards you could be forgotten. But this is a way to stay top of mind with people. Okay. Then you want to connect with department leaders. This is where you make yourself known after a meeting, presentation, or an introduction. You say, "Hi, my name is so andso and I'm an intern here and I love to connect with you on LinkedIn as

5:06I learn about this field and grow." Right? So peers, co-workers, and leaders, that's your network forming during your internship in real time. And while you're there, I always say engage with the company's content that's on LinkedIn. So be the intern who's liking, commenting, sharing company posts. [music] It signals enthusiasm and it really keeps you visible as job opportunities come about within the company. So, this is the piece of advice I got early on in my internship career and it paid off big time. The advice is this. Have as many informational interviews as possible. Now, of course, this is within reason because you don't want to be one of those students that

5:40has so many informational interviews that they don't function in their job at all and that's useless, right? So, within reason, right? But in between lunches and breaks, talk to as many people as you can because in that process, you're going to find mentors, you'll find advice, you'll find people who will help you for years. So set a goal something like by the end of this internship I'll complete four informational interviews with professionals at the company right and then again you want to prepare thoughtful questions around their career path their daily responsibilities industry insights and advice for interns right after each one of these informational interviews always follow

6:14up with a thank you message and and keep the relationship alive by sharing relevant articles or updates and you can do that very easily on LinkedIn like hey I saw this article thought you might find it interesting this post looks interesting. Super easy, but it keeps you top of mind when opportunities come later on while you're a college student. One thing I would say that's really important, honestly, is to document your

6:34insights while you're at the internship. So, I always encourage students to keep a notebook. Write down things that struck you, what you learned, how you feel about an idea that you heard that day. Processing it now really does help you figure out how you want to move through this career field later and who you might want to ask to speak to. that might be at that particular job. A lot of times people reflect about the internship a little bit too late and by that time it's really hard to go back and meet people that could help answer some of those questions that might have come up in in in your reflection. So try

7:07to reflect at least once a week so that if you have an interest in a particular area of the job, you can find a person that's actually doing the job to talk to and that can help clarify, hey, this is something I want to do or no, this is something I don't want to do. Okay. The next thing I would say, capture evidence as you go. So take photos of your projects, presentations, and team collaborations. Write detailed descriptions of your work. You can use the STAR method, right? You probably know about that, right? The situation, task, action, result. You can use that to clearly articulate your impact while

7:39you were at the internship. And do this while it's happening, right? Because a lot [music] of students wait until their internship is over to make one post summarizing everything. That is just a wasted opportunity. You want to take pictures and post about things as you're going through the internship because the company might retweet it. You also could get more connections that way and that can lead to more opportunities in the future. Not only just post about it, but update your LinkedIn profile with those specific projects, the skills you gained, and your quantifiable achievements. Okay. As you're nearing the end of your internship, you're

8:14getting to the end. It's happening. You're getting to the end. This is the part that a lot of students forget, and it really does matter. As you're nearing the end of your internship, I want you to ask for recommendations. You want to do this when your contributions are fresh in your supervisor's mind or right after a big project wraps up. That's when you get the detailed, impactful version. And to make it easy for them,

8:35we work with a lot of college students. We just recommend you offer to write a draft that they can edit because some bosses are really open to that because they are very busy. or if they say no, you can give them some key points that you'd love them to highlight and then ask if they'll publish all of it or part of it publicly on your LinkedIn. So, it's there showcasing the work that you did all season, right? That's really amazing. A lot of students, again, they only get one recommendation. We recommend three. They just missed opportunity. [music] And here's a bonus,

9:05right? We have LinkedIn Learning. LinkedIn Learning has courses that can directly level up your internship [music] performance. Before you start, check it out. Take a course that builds your foundational knowledge for the role and then during the internship find courses that sharpen the exact skills that you're using. And if there's a certification you can finish, a certification in any type of topic that's related to your career, go and get it. Sometimes internships actually offer free training during your internship. So take that opportunity to be able to add that to your resume to show real world experience. Okay. So we've talked about a lot of things to do

9:40during your internship. The other thing I want you to really keep in mind is the importance of posting about your experiences. And I encourage students to do three posts during their internship at a minimum. First is the beginning post. So that post is sharing your excitement about starting the internship, what you hope to learn and contribute and how that connects back to your career. Right? We're sending signals out to LinkedIn to let them know this is the career I'm trying to go into. I want to see opportunities and people around this career. Second is the midway post to highlight what you're learning, the interesting moments, and

10:12the skills you're developing. And again, connecting that back to your career. Super important as you're trying to find opportunities later. And then third, a reflection post, summary of the experience, expressing gratitude to the company, and sharing how the internship shaped your career goals. So again, this is very not just, hey, I finished my internship, I'm done. Like, no, you want to get a little bit deeper. tag people that you worked with, mentors along the way, all of that. It's just going to make things way easier down the line for recruiters and hiring managers to look at your page and see that, hey, this person did really meaningful and

10:49substantive work during their internship. And a lot of college students miss this opportunity completely. Okay, you finished your internship. Congratulations, you're completely done. What do you do with all of those connections? [music] In phase three, you want to keep your connections alive. How does that work? Couple ways. Schedule follow-ups. Set a calendar reminder to check in with key contacts quarterly. Enough to stay present without being intrusive. Something like you can send them a message. I've really enjoyed our time at the internship. How are things on your end? Or I'm taking a class and [music] learning X. Any ideas on how I can keep excelling in this

11:22field? Right? You just simply just very easily engaging with them as someone that you've worked with before. Just staying top of [music] mind. You can share relevant content. So forward an article or resource that might interest them. You can do it through LinkedIn or just a quick email. Either way, it keeps the [music] connections warm. And then finally, celebrate their wins. Like if you see someone that you've worked with in the past, they got a promotion, work anniversary, achievements, a simple congratulations as a direct message or on the page itself goes a long way. And near the end of the year, I always love this, doing like happy holidays. Here's

11:56what I've [music] been up to. Hope all is well, and I'm looking for opportunities for next year. Super effortless and it keeps you on the radar. Now, the other thing I would say if you can is to arrange in-person connections, too. I find that that does move the needle quite faster. And again, that could be a meeting once a year just catching up on all the things that you're working through as a college student. So, let me make this really simple for you. I'm going to give you a challenge. If you're at an internship right now, here is what I want you to do. I want you to connect with three

12:24fellow interns on LinkedIn, three employees from the company on LinkedIn, and by the end, secure two recommendations on the profile. I know you can do it. I'm reading for you. Let me know if you have any questions about that. Okay. All this works even better if your LinkedIn profile is actually optimized before you start adding these connections because a strong network pointing at a weak profile, which we talked about a little bit earlier, doesn't convert. And so, I have a full video on how to optimize your LinkedIn profile as a college student. I also have a LinkedIn checklist that you can use that's down in the description

12:54below. Over a thousand students have said it's really helpful for them as they are trying to create their LinkedIn profile. So, let me leave you with this. Your internship is so much more than the work you do between 9 and 5. It's a window to build relationships that can carry your career for years, but only if you're intentional about it. So, don't just clock in, clock out. I want you to connect, document, follow up. Be the intern that they remember. And if you need to run this video back a couple of times to help you really get this in your mind about how to use LinkedIn, how

13:26to be successful as an intern, please do it because it's so important nowadays. Drop a comment and tell me when your internship starts [music] and subscribe for more career strategy content for college students. As always, the world needs who you were made to be. I will see you on the next episode. Bye. [music]