Nine out of 10 millennials I meet either aren’t on LinkedIn or aren’t on LinkedIn (they’re on but they don’t use it).

Aren’t millennials all about social media?

Not so much. If they are, they’re looking to be approached. Based on Social Media Week’s post on marketing to millennials, youngsters dig brands and want to see authenticity.

Why not LinkedIn?

For those of us who frequent LinkedIn, we can vouch for the marketing which takes place in the News Feed, Groups, Company Pages, Showcase Pages, and so on.

The big miss for millennials is not realizing the networking power of LinkedIn to land their next gig. Said gig would then fund the same millennials with wages for which they could be free to succumb to marketing. And so the circle of life continues…

Why Millennials Need LinkedIn

1. Your dorm buddy can’t hire you – yet. Once you leave your campus with your shiny scroll and dented-yet-decorated graduation cap, you will hardly see your classmates because chances are you’ll all be pounding the virtual pavement to find your career. It’s unlikely that your first job out of college will depend on getting hired by a classmate, so you need to create ties with more seasoned professionals who are in hiring roles.
2. You’re never too young to network. Graduation Day isn’t a milestone which ends one stage of your life and begins the next. From the moment you are old enough to create your first social media profile, you are a networker creating your own brand.
3. You are the new hope. No, really, you are. Companies are waiting for you to arrive and bring fresh perspective and a new way of working. Help them find you by using the platform most recruiters are looking to for great candidates.

If you need help getting started on LinkedIn, try my simple 5-step Get Started tutorial. Ask any of my former interns how helpful it is to get some LinkedIn 101!