Building your career: how to get the most out of LinkedIn

LinkedIn is fast becoming a crucial means of communication and connectivity.

It is an online platform allowing professionals to connect with one another, as well as keep up to date with the latest news from companies, individuals or institutions.

When used to full effect, LinkedIn is a valuable tool for both experienced professionals and recent law graduates.

Here are a few tips for MLS Alumni on what you can get out of LinkedIn.

What do you want out of LinkedIn?

LinkedIn can be used for a number of professional purposes. It is important to identify what you want to use LinkedIn for, tailor your profile and activity accordingly.

LinkedIn is also a valuable tool for engaging and collaborating with your professional network, including your colleagues, peers and clients.  

MLS Professor Tania Voon says she has “contacts coming through [her] LinkedIn profile,” seeking to engage and collaborate. For example, she says she has been invited through LinkedIn to give a presentation, and LinkedIn connections have offered to present at MLS.

Former Australian parliamentarian and Commissioner to the Americas, Victor Perton (LLM, 1994), uses LinkedIn as a key tool for collaboration and making connections.

As Commissioner to the Americas, Mr Perton established "Victoria Connection", a LinkedIn Group connecting Australians living and working in the Americas, as well as Americans who had worked in Australia. The aim of this group was to develop “the strongest prospects for collaboration,” through “a lively conversation.”

Be clear with your aims on LinkedIn to ensure you know what you want to get out of it.

Follow Melbourne Law School on LinkedIn for daily news, events and updates, and become part of an ever-growing network of your fellow alumni, MLS faculty and current students.

By Georgia Westbrook