Editor’s Note: This is part of our new series “A New College Grad’s Guide to Your First Job” written by Nikunj Kothari who graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) earlier this year.
“How do you deal with the commute?” “Oh, I’ll never be able to do the commute” “Do you know how bad the traffic is?”
I’ve always been passionate about the power of networking. I’m what you’d describe as an early adopter, immediately seeing the benefits of platforms like LinkedIn since the early dot.com days. I’m currently the head of marketing at Crux Product Design. Crux is a design and engineering consultancy, working with some of the world’s largest companies helping to develop their future products.
What’s been really interesting to witness is the evolution of the way in which companies interact, specifically on LinkedIn; generally there is openness to hearing from other like-minded organisations, and making connections with key decision makers online has replaced the swapping of business cards.
I often get quizzical looks when I tell people my title, Higher Education Evangelist at LinkedIn. It is indeed a unique role within the company, one that I feel incredibly lucky to have. I spend my days speaking to higher education audiences about social media (particularly LinkedIn) while wearing sweater vests (to pay homage to Silicon Valley I’ve added the hoodie). Specifically, I help professionals in higher education understand how to better utilize LinkedIn to communicate, build community, engage alumni, qualify fundraising leads and redefine the job search to students and alumni.
How do I accomplish this? Through lots of travel and countless speaking engagements during which I passionately champion LinkedIn as a “directory of dreams” to everyone I meet. The best part is that I have the opportunity to meet incredible professionals and hear their stories.
Politicians often want to be defined by a single word. Should that be every professional’s goal, too?
This week – to the delight of writers and editors everywhere – LinkedIn’s influencers focused on the power of words. In some of the most widely-shared posts, they described how language can be used to brand politicians and professionals, spark creative change, and, yes, even improve the quality of our lives.
I am a teacher at heart. In 2006, I was asked to develop and launch the first graduate advising program for National Louis University. I created a successful program, enrollment blossomed and I was part of an amazing community of educators. Unfortunately, higher education is currently facing challenging times. Last year, I had to make a decision to move forward due to a vast restructure within the institution. I stepped outside of my comfort zone and started on a new path.
In June 2011, I became very active on LinkedIn. I originally set my sight on landing a new position, but I found much more.
