Southeast Missouri State University's Office of Career Services provided students with a presentation of 10 tips that can be used to enhance their LinkedIn accounts on Thursday, April 16.

With graduation being less than a month away for current seniors, making sure to keep components such as professional profile pictures, matching a user's preferred area of interest and developing a headline that displays a user's personality were just a few of the many aspects covered during the presentation.

Katie Crawford, career counselor at the Center for Academic and Career Advising, said that many LinkedIn users have made profiles, due to suggestions from advisers or hearing from family and friends about the benefits of having an account, but give limited attention to it.

"Hopefully by the end of today, if you walk away with nothing else I want you to know, first of all, what LinkedIn is and why is it important to college students to be used as soon as their freshman year," Crawford said.

Crawford provided those in attendance with a two-and-half minute video displaying the overall purpose of creating a LinkedIn profile as well as giving some tips to help students get attention from businesses offering internships and jobs.

In contrast to other social media sites ranging from Facebook to Snapchat, the content provided through an individual's LinkedIn account should be solely affiliated with their area of interest or field of study.

"LinkedIn is by far the largest job search network of employers, recruiters and job seekers in the world," Crawford added. "The summary part of a person's profile is an awesome, awesome opportunity to introduce yourself to an employer, a recruiter, a co-worker or someone you're trying to network with."

"The present, past and future" aspect suggested by Crawford is to be used when listing recent accomplishments or a brief overview on the homepage of a member's account.

A printout of how to write a summary was provided to those in attendance, as well as essential information on how a well-written summary can bring additional attention to someone's profile through referrals or the sharing of profile links.

According to Crawford, creating a network early and on a consistent basis with individuals that share a wide variety of interests in the same academic background, organizational affiliations, personal hobbies or overall aspirations can lead to opportunities prior to graduation.

The Office of Career Services at Southeast has been providing the campus with weekly programs to introduce strategies ranging from landing an initial internship to assistance on selecting a major.

The Office of Career Services will host more events on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. for the next three weeks.

The "Career Thing at 3:30 on Thursday" this week will be focused on making sure individuals are dressed to impress when it comes to work opportunities and is titled "What NOT to Wear: Getting your Wardrobe Work Ready."

It is scheduled to take place Thursday in the Program Lounge of the University Center. Students can contact the Office of Career Services at careerservices@semo.edu or (573) 651-2583 for any additional information or with questions.