Student engagement with LinkedIn to enhance employability

Social networking sites are an increasingly important tool for career development: LinkedIn particularly, is a site for business professionals, focusing on business connections and industry contacts for employers and professionals. Often however students do not engage with LinkedIn as they consider it too ‘profession focussed.’ There is a lack of awareness also about how they can use the platform to enhance their employability. Whilst recognising previous works on social media for teaching and learning in HE, this chapter examines the challenges facing students in respect of engaging with LinkedIn for career progression. It identifies the efforts that students make in building and maintaining networks, in becoming part of professional networks, via willing engagement. This chapter contributes to knowledge about LinkedIn, from a professional development point of view, offering suggestions to help students and tutors make the best use of LinkedIn, to improve both student engagement and subsequent employability (3882)