By Faizah Jimmy and Haekal Adha Al Giffari
GOMBAK, 20 November 2021: “If you don’t brand and ‘sell’ yourself, how would recruiters know what you are capable of and the things that you can offer?”
Miss Raden Ayu Sofia Nuraini, the Assistant Talent Acquisition Expert (APAC) at TDCX Malaysia, asked the participants this question during the two-hour webinar session on LinkedIn Branding.
Many still don’t realise the effectiveness of LinkedIn as a platform to ‘brand yourself’ professionally, as many students still do not have a LinkedIn account.
Ms. Sofia emphasised the importance of LinkedIn as an effective platform to boost personal branding.
She emphasised that LinkedIn is an all-in-one platform to look for a job, share your thoughts, build new connections and even communicate with others. “What makes LinkedIn different from other social media is that it is considered a professional platform,” she said.
Among the key points mentioned during the session were tips on building a good profile on LinkedIn and maintaining our professional behaviour in communicating via social media.
Ms. Sofia stated that they should understand themselves in building their LinkedIn account. “We should be aware of our own professional experiences, volunteering activities, achievements, and other essential details that can be shared on LinkedIn to impress recruiters and future employers.”
She emphasised the importance of the “Recommendations” and “Skills Endorsement” features on LinkedIn. She told the participants that they should not be shy to ask for recommendations and skill endorsements from their lecturers or leaders in organisations to improve their personal branding.
Ms Sofia also explained the ways to maintain their professional behaviour on social media.
“We should be mindful of anything we post on social media, especially LinkedIn, as many people including recruiters could see and respond to it, affecting our image,” she added.
She highlighted that even though there is a private chat on LinkedIn, she suggested using it for professional purposes only.
They should know the minimum requirements, job description, and specific role before sending a job application on LinkedIn or any other job-seeking platform, she advised.
Held on Friday (19 November) via ZOOM Cloud Meetings, the webinar was attended by 63 participants, including future interns from the Communication department.
This webinar was conducted by Group 1 from Section 1 of COMM 4995: Practical Training Class, moderated by final year Communication student, Nafisa Mayukh.***