Masters Level : professional presence Project

Project 3: In this project, you will create a professional presence on LinkedIn, a professional social media network that is widely used by professionals and employers in most industries.  You will conduct research into your present or desired industry to see how your professional attributes, goals, and objectives align with the industry, helping you to assess your position and make any adjustment to your professional “game plan”.  You will also create a “branding statement”, create or revise an existing LinkedIn profile, using what you have learned about the industry and yourself to create a professional profile. If your profession or personal beliefs prevent you from establishing a LinkedIn site, you can still learn much about your industry. 

I already opened a linked In account and the information is as follows:

Email: [email protected]

Password: chrissy17

Step 1: Engage in Analysis and Reflection

In this project, you will create a professional presence on LinkedIn (a professional social media network that is widely used by professionals and employers in most industries). If your profession or personal beliefs prevent you from establishing a LinkedIn site, ask about an alternative to building a live LinkedIn profile. As part of this project, you will conduct research into your present or desired industry, you will create a branding statement, and finally, create or revise an existing LinkedIn profile, using what you have learned about the industry and yourself.

There are four steps in this project that will lead you through each deliverable. Most steps of this project should take no more than two hours to complete. Begin by watching the video above, which introduces the project as it might occur in the workplace, and then continue with Step 1: Engage in Analysis and Reflection.

Competencies

Your work will be evaluated using the competencies listed below.

· 1.1: Organize document or presentation clearly in a manner that promotes understanding and meets the requirements of the assignment.

· 1.4: Tailor communications to the audience.

· 1.6: Follow conventions of Standard Written English.

· 2.2: Locate and access sufficient information to investigate the issue or problem.

· 2.4: Consider and analyze information in context to the issue or problem.

Step 2: Create a Positive Personal Branding Statement

Learning Topic

Print

Branding Statements

Individuals, like companies, can benefit from establishing a branding statement that captures their unique qualities. Your personal brand statement is a representation of your stated value to a future employer. Rather than creating a long list of your expertise in various functional areas, a brand statement should instead outline the skills, strengths, attributes, and other defining characteristics that distinguish you from others.

Think of the branding statement as a statement about who you are and what you want to be known for. You might find this exercise difficult, because it requires you to be bold and focus on your own personal attributes and strengths—and learning what is exceptional about you. Still, this is an important task to complete, because doing so will allow you to more clearly define and communicate to others what you do, how you do it, and for whom.

To get started consider creating a short list of your one-of-a-kind attributes. Ask yourself questions like these:

· What problems do I know how to solve?

· What is unique about my approach?

· Who is the target audience for my particular skill set?

Focus on keeping your statements short and sharp. Use your authentic voice and know that you will likely revise your statement at least once or twice a year as you continue to build and develop expertise and refine the scope of your work.

Resources

· Examples of Personal Branding Statements

Step 3: Create or Revise a LinkedIn Page

You can use your results from the last step, your branding statement, to help you create your LinkedIn profile summary. Employ any aspects of the research and exploration performed in the prior two steps to develop your page. See  Using LinkedIn  for more information.

Once you have created your LinkedIn page, go through the LinkedIn Checklist available on the LinkedIn site and make revisions as needed.

Using LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social networking site designed for professional networking. When you join LinkedIn, you get access to people, jobs, news, updates, and other resources. LinkedIn reports a membership of over 433 million users in 200 countries and territories. More than 90 percent of recruiters reportedly use it to search, contact, vet, and hire candidates. When someone searches for your name on Google, the link to your LinkedIn profile shows up in the top results because the company pays for top search engine optimization.

LinkedIn is useful for networking, keeping up with your industry, building and maintaining an online presence, and searching for a job. Use the resources below to learn more about the offerings of this tool and how to use it.

Resources

· How to Sign Up for LinkedIn

· Creating a LinkedIn Profile + Adding a Photo

· 8 Ways to Use LinkedIn to Develop Your Career and Find the Job You Want

· Professional Use of Social Media and LinkedIn

Next, you will submit your project.

Step 4: Submit the Deliverables

Once you’ve completed the prior step, submit the following deliverables to the assignment folder:

· Personal Branding Statement in a Word document

· URL link to your LinkedIn Profile

· PDF of your LinkedIn Profile

· Share your link and summary in the discussion area. Discuss your experience with LinkedIn and what you learned from this activity.

Action Item

Follow these steps to access the discussion:

· Click My Tools in the top navigation bar.

· Click Discussions.

· Select the relevant discussion.

Once in the discussion, you can Start a New Thread, as well as respond to threads others have created. Use the discussion to develop awareness, share your thoughts, ask questions, and reflect. Remember that everyone brings a valuable and unique perspective, and treat everyone with respect.

Submission Notes:

1. How to create a PDF of your LinkedIn Profile Page Create a PDF of your LinkedIn profile page by right clicking and choosing "print". When your printer selections come up, select the Destination as "Save to pdf" and your profile should save to a pdf document. Submit that doc to your assignment folder.

2. If you revise your existing LinkedIn page, submit a copy of the original LinkedIn page to show a comparison with the newly revised page.

Check Your Evaluation Criteria

Before you submit your assignment, review the competencies below, which your instructor will use to evaluate your work. A good practice would be to use each competency as a self-check to confirm you have incorporated all of them. To view the complete grading rubric, click My Tools, select Assignments from the drop-down menu, and then click the project title.

· 1.1: Organize document or presentation clearly in a manner that promotes understanding and meets the requirements of the assignment.

· 1.4: Tailor communications to the audience.

· 1.6: Follow conventions of Standard Written English.

· 2.2: Locate and access sufficient information to investigate the issue or problem.

· 2.4: Consider and analyze information in context to the issue or problem.