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LinkedIn, GrownUp

Diving into adulthood, one profile at a time

Last week, I spent a thrilling Saturday night making a LinkedIn profile under the guidance of a friend of mine who has maintained an “Expert Level” profile since high school. My mother, who begged me to make a profile for most of this academic year, was thrilled when I told her I finally caved. But long after I added my last credential to the page, I was left feeling confused.

As a college student, most of my social media experience is limited to un-tagging myself in Snapchat screenshots and posting super specific Buzzfeed listicles on people’s walls. Needless to say, a “professional social network” is completely uncharted territory.

The rules are very different. First of all, I had no idea what was considered relevant information. On Facebook, you are advised to add as little personal information as possible, both for reasons of safety and because no one has the time to read the “about you.” On LinkedIn, it seems the more information about you, the better.

I wondered how deeply I had to be involved in an organization to add a line to my digital resume. Did my semester-long role as a Monroe Society student host counts toward my credibility as an employee? Could I still reference my high school accolades without sounding too silly? When advised to include a list of causes I support, I was, once again, unsure how to proceed. Did buying pancakes from Pancakes for Parkinson’s before the homecoming football game count as supporting a cause? Could I put down my sorority’s national philanthropy and service project?

The questions I had about content paled in comparison to those about the site’s main purpose — networking. My friend had taken off for her own apartment, leaving me to make connections on my own.

My mother instructed me to comb through her connections and add any adults I knew through family circles or former jobs. I should connect with classmates and people my age, but at the end of the day, it was the older generation who would make the profile worthwhile. However, something about pushing that little blue “connect” button felt so much more serious than sending a Facebook friend request.

This wasn’t a collection of click-bait and candid Lawn photos. This was a list of reasons I thought I was qualified to be a hirable, experienced adult. When adding friends from the University, I was acutely aware they would see right through the laundry list of accomplishments and remember the girl who eats cereal for dinner at least two nights a week. But when adding adults — who had no way of knowing my psych notebook still smelled faintly of the coffee I spilled the other night — I couldn’t shake the feeling I was a little kid trying to find a place at the grown-up’s table.

As my friends and peers begin applying for summer internships, preparing for life outside the University bubble and otherwise hurtling towards adulthood, it’s becoming more and more apparent I need to do something to keep pace. Making a profile on a website seemed like an easy first step and the least I can do to stay up to date. While at the moment it feels like I’m fooling myself, hopefully all I need is practice. The more I expose myself to the adult world, the more comfortable I’ll become in it.

Maybe I’ll waste some time endorsing my friends for skills I know for a fact they don’t have, or maybe I’ll send them silly personalized messages when I request to join their networks, but at the end of the day, it’s a resource which just might come in handy. While I may not have all the answers now — like whether or not I should assume the unknown middle-aged man requesting to connect is a recruiter and accept — as I continue to grow my network, I’ll grow up a little bit in the process.

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