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Innovative Case Study
LinkedIn Employability Strategy and e.module
Dr Rebecca Voisey - Project Manager (Strategic Planning), Office of the DVC (Academic)
Troy Dobinson, Manager Careers and Employment
Context
As a Deputy Vice-Chancellor led initiative, one key area of Griffith University's Employability Strategy is nurturing industry and workplace connections. These are essential skills for graduates to learn about their industry and the possibility of forming connections with potential employers is invaluable. The strategy forms part of an ambitious program launched in 2016 to enable all final year undergraduate students the opportunity to develop a customised LinkedIn profile upon graduation.
An in-depth online training module was developed by the Careers and Employment Service to enable practical training and guidance regarding the development of an optimised LinkedIn profile, available to all graduands prior to the completion of their degree. The module consisted of the following topics: Personal Branding; How to be found; Profile essentials; Education; Experience; Writing a Headline; Developing a Summary; Skills and Expertise as well as Making Connections.
Rationale
A key aspect of the Learning and Teaching Strategy at Griffith University is fostering in the undergraduate student body the skills necessary to successfully transition into the working world. Providing students with guidance and appropriate resources when developing employability skills is the reasoning underpinning the development of the LinkedIn e.module.
All final year, undergraduate students were batch enrolled into this extra-curricular module to ensure all students were able to engage with this resource. The module appears in the Student Portal (under Courses and Organisations) via the blackboard system. A university-wide promotional campaign as well as specific communications across the university on campus screens, social media, and direct emails ensured that both the staff and students were aware of the program.
Description
The batch-enrolment approach in the place of an opt-in model, enabled students to engage with the module on their own terms. The marketing campaign was intended to communicate to students the importance of having an accessible LinkedIn profile when leaving university. Once enrolled, students were invited to develop a LinkedIn profile and submit the link, in order to go into the running to win a prize. Promotion from the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and via various social media platforms on the value of an optimised LinkedIn profile for graduands, was employed to encourage student engagement. The university also employed the example of a recent graduate, Elliot Nash, who used LinkedIn to find his dream job at Amazon Promoting. Elliot’s story was key to inspiring students to use the LinkedIn Module.
Impact
In 2016, 8,290 final year graduands were enrolled into the module. Of this number 1,156 individual students have accessed the module more than once. In addition to this, 610 students not in their final year, self-enrolled into the module along with 1,226 staff members.
Media
Contributed by
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IRU: Griffith University
Dr Rebecca Voisey
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IRU: Griffith University
Troy Dobinson
Licence
© 2024 Griffith University.
The Griffith material on this web page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). This licence does not extend to any underlying software, nor any non-Griffith images used under permission or commercial licence (as indicated). Materials linked to from this web page are subject to separate copyright conditions.
Preferred Citation
(2017). LinkedIn Employability Strategy and e.module. Retrieved from https://app.secure.griffith.edu.au/exlnt/entry/4367/view