At the LUISS Career Day 2014, one of the key concepts promoted by experts and professionals in the business world was personal branding. Personal branding is a set of practices used for self-promotion that highlight personal skills, rendering them more visible. Making the most of your strengths and experiences can be a real job, but thanks to social networks every student or recent graduate can easily create a network of contacts with whom to share information and skills. However, this needs to be done with care.
As pointed out by Emanuela Zaccone, a social media analyst who held a Career Day workshop entitled: From Social to personal (branding): enhancing your skills online, every social network has its own specific rules regarding sharing: "On Facebook, for example, you can publish content that is visible only to your friends, while keeping work-related content public. Twitter is the king of news sharing, where you can bypass the famous 'six degrees of separation' and interact directly with professionals and influencers. But the main site for those who are looking for work is LinkedIn, the principal 'meeting place' where you can show off your skills."
At its most basic level, LinkedIn functions as a sort of online CV. Therefore, the first thing you must do is create a detailed profile, focusing on the specifics of your education and experience. This should be done in both Italian and English, as LinkedIn offers the possibility of building international networks, thanks to its over 300 million registered users around the world (seven million of whom are in Italy).
As with any self-respecting social network, part of the daily work of self-promotion consists of actively taking part in the discussions related to your field of expertise and staying updated on the activities of companies that most interest you. The "social" nature of the network provides the opportunity not only to share news and links in your area of interest, but also recommendations and endorsements. LinkedIn makes it possible to endorse the skills of your contacts and to ask colleagues and managers for specific feedback. In this way, says Emanuela Zaccone, "you can get messages from colleagues and associates ready to vouch for your worth. And you have to do the same."
Right now there are 39 million students registered with social networks worldwide and more and more large universities have decided to rely on LinkedIn to provide guidance regarding education and training. LUISS is also contributing to the building of a network of future professionals through its LUISS corporate page, focused on career opportunities, with nearly 5,000 followers (for the most part, professionals in economics and communication). There is also a LUISS Guido Carli University page (over 11,000 followers, both alumni and others who just want to know more about the university, that highlights the work of students, graduates and the University’s professors.
From LinkedIn, students who are ready to enter the world of work and new graduates looking for a more expanded professional network of contacts can begin their work of self-promotion.