The Career Explorer tool on LinkedIn guides students in creating a career path starting with their role as a college student to their first job and beyond. It will allow you to create a career path out to four or five positions in the future. It estimates the amount of time you will spend in that position before moving up to the next, education/credentials needed and salary range. LinkedIn will then pull current job openings in your field of interests and people in your network who are affiliated with the company who posted it.
The really cool part is that this tool will suggest individuals with whom to connect on LinkedIn who already hold positions in your stated field of interest. It also suggests student oriented groups to join that focus on your area(s) of interest.
I will be working with high school-aged Girl Scouts in the fall to help them prepare their resumes (if they’re going directly into the workforce) and college application essays. LinkedIn and its Career Explorer feature will be great tools to help them focus on what their next educational/ career steps should be and how to put their application materials together. This tool will also help emphasize the importance of creating a professional online presence as well as give them networking experience.
