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I am sure you are aware you could find a summer internship in China or other internships abroad via LinkedIn. A Summer Internship in China is surely the right approach to discovering China, a new business culture as well as improving your profile. We have already established that you should get a Linkedin profile because it has over 277 million members all over the world, has 77 percent of all jobs, and has become of prominent in China. An insightful Linkedin profile is especially important for Interns, new graduates, budding professionals, and those looking to change careers, as it can help you get found and contacted by the right people. However, in order to fully utilize the benefits of Linkedin, you need to start with a great profile! We outline the top 10 ways to build an all-star Linkedin profile.
STEP #1: Add Your Real Name to your Linkedin Profile
You might have an alias for all your other social media accounts, but Linkedin is the one account where you ought to use your real name as it appears on your ID. Not only will your Linkedin profile pop up in a search of your name (say, after a recruiter views your resume), but it will be difficult to explain why your name doesn’t match your ID when you’re hired on.
STEP #2: Professional Photo
Linkedin is not the same as Facebook, and while there are various ways of determining how good your Linkedin photo is (you can analyze for friendliness and other characteristics), in the beginning it’s good enough if you have a good, clean, photo of yourself. If you have professional photos where you’re wearing a suit (every industry has its own dress code), then great, if not, even a makeshift one you had your mom take is going to be better than a selfie.
STEP #3: Personalized Headline
If you have a job and you enter it under “experience”, Linkedin will automatically make you a headline that reads “John Smith, Professional at So-and-so Company”. If you’re a student, it will generate a similar title: “Jane Doe, Student at Harvard University”. However, it’s important to remember that you do not need to keep this title.
Instead, think about what title you want to have, where you want to work, and what role you’re looking for. Then, update your title to match your expertise. For example, if you’re unemployed or a graduating student, you could make your headline: “John Smith, Finance Grad Seeking New Opportunities in Shanghai, China”. Even if you already have a position, you can still change your headline to reflect who you are and what you do, rather than where you work: “Jane Doe, Accounting Professional with 5 years’ experience as CPA”.
STEP #4: Industry
On Linkedin, you can only choose one industry, so it’s important to choose the one that matches where you function or where you would like to function most. Even if you’re in Education now, but if you want to be in Publishing, you can change your industry to Publishing to attract the right recruiters.
STEP #5: Location
Your location affects geographical searches for potential employees, so think carefully before selecting the largest city or zip code near you. If you live in Xian, but you want to work in Beijing, select Beijing.
STEP #6: Summary
The summary section should be written in the first person, rather than a third person (old trend), and should explain who you are and what you care about. It is not where you list all your skills and work experiences (that’s what the rest of your profile is for), but is your chance to sell your personality and give color to your profile. The summary section can also be enhanced with media, such as a video, image, PPT, or PDF.
STEP #7: Education
Do list your education, specific courses that might relate to your dream job or career, and any awards, scholarships, or grants that you have earned.
STEP #8: Experience
In order to gain All-Star status on Linkedin, you need to list at least two work experiences. If you’re a new grad, list internships, work practices, and volunteer experiences until you have real job experience (at which point you can move the volunteer experience to the correct category). You can also edit the sections and move your job experience lower on the page so as to highlight your skills and education (or other aspects of your profile).
In our experience, experience at companies that are on Linkedin appears more trustworthy than if the company is so small that they don’t have a Linkedin, or if you failed to find their official page.
STEP #9: Personalize URL
Linkedin allows you to personalize your URL for easy access and linking. Try to grab your name if possible, but if not, choose a username/page name with your name in it.
STEP #10: Skills and Expertise
Linkedin allows you to list up to 50 keywords to describe your skills and expertise, which you can then have others endorse and display on your profile.
Recommendations Increase Chances of Securing Internships
As a bonus tip, it is strongly advised that you secure recommendations from your network. It adds extra credibility to your profile and makes it easier to secure a China internship on Linkedin Follow the recommendations below and add an extra level of trust. Ask your professor, previous staff members and teammates to recommend you. Always remember to offer recommendations first before asking for one.
