LinkedIn Profile & Alumni Tool

LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network with more than 950 million members in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

LinkedIn Profile

See the 8-minute video below for an overview of creating a great LinkedIn profile.

Choose the right profile picture for LinkedIn

• Be the only person in your photo
• Smile and crop around your head and shoulders
• Ask someone to take your photo (Career Success has a photo booth that you can use for free)

Start with an impactful headline

• Keywords of perspective job
• Mirror desired job title
• Does not have to be your current job title if you are looking to transition
  

Turn your About section into your story

• Include keywords from your desired job position to make it easier for recruiters to find you
  
• Highlight key accomplishments to make it easier for recruiters to choose you
  

Add skills and accomplishments to your Experience section

• Use bullet points or sentences from your resume
• Add relevant skills for each experience

LinkedIn Alumni Tool

Go to the UCSC LinkedIn page (this link will take you to the alumni tab)

• Use to explore career paths by seeing jobs and companies of UCSC alumni
• Use to connect with alumni with interesting career paths
• Use to set up informational interviews (coffee chats) with alumni

UCSC Alumni Tool Dashboard

Use the dashboard options to narrow alumni by your career interest. You will see the following options:

• Where they work*
• Where they live
• What they do (industries)
• What are they skilled at
• What they studied (majors)
• How are you connected (degrees of connection between you and the alumni)

*You may notice many alumni who work at "University of California, Santa Cruz" because this tool includes alumni and current students who have at least one experience listed from UCSC (e.g., student employees, interns, researchers, etc.).

Searching for UCSC Alumni

Here are a couple of ideas to consider for narrowing your search:

Are you still trying to select a major or unsure what others with a similar major have done?

1. Use the "What they studied" filter and select the major you are considering
2. Look at the "What they do" filter to see if you want to narrow down by industry
3. See the "Where they work" filter to see alumni from companies of interest
4. Scroll down below the dashboard to see the alumni that match and click on their profiles
5. Within each profile, you can see their job titles to get ideas for careers

1. Use the keyword search field to search for your interested career or job title
2. See the "Where they work" filter to see alumni from companies of interest
3. Scroll down below the dashboard to see the alumni that match and click on their profiles
4. Within each profile, you can see their job titles and see their career paths