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Online Presence

Building Your ONLINE PRESENCE can be a key component to a strategic job search. Leveraging technology in a variety of ways can help in finding and securing best-fit career opportunities by researching people, employers, and positions while showcasing your expertise and qualifications. Overall, which online tools and strategies best align with the career paths you are pursuing and your unique values, interests, personality, skills, and goals?

Professional Website

Comprehensive and Consistent: Bring all of your profiles, experiences, and qualifications together on a professional website. Choose from a variety of tools:

ND Alumni Association Overall Personal Branding Checklist

Overall Professional Profiles (Handshake, Irish Compass, LinkedIn)

Handshake - Notre Dame's new career management system that allows you to connect with Center for Career Development (CCD) staff, employers, students, alumni, and postdocs across the country. Schedule appointments with the CCD team, find jobs and internships, attend events, and more! 

Irish Compass - Connect and build your LinkedIn profile into this system that serves as Notre Dame's official online community driving powerful professional connections within the Notre Dame Network!

LinkedIn - Develop a comprehensive career search both inside and outside of academia by utilizing the many tools available:

  • LinkedIn Help Guide
  • Maximize your Profile: Even if you already have a profile, make sure it's complete and that you've tailored it to your goals. Use this Profile Checklist to make sure you've included all of the basic elements. The information on your profile should frame your experience in terms of your career objectives. Also, make sure that your profile picture is effective (ex. The Perfect Profile Photo), you avoid the default tagline/headine, and your About section grabs a reader's attention.
  • Establish a Network: "10 times your age" is the standard formula for determining the minimum size of your professional network on LinkedIn. It takes time to build your network, so start this process sooner rather than later!
  • Join Relevant Groups: LinkedIn groups are a valuable resource for networking activities. Participating in discussions with industry and discipline-specific experts helps establish your professional relevance. Not sure which groups to join? Here are a few ideas to get you started:
    • Join the alumni group for your current institution and your alma mater (Notre Dame)
    • If you're part of any professional associations, they may have a LinkedIn group you can join
    • Look through these LinkedIn Groups for Academics and find a few that match your interests
    • Joining groups also allows you to communicate directly with other members. This is a big perk, since you otherwise cannot send InMail to someone you're not connected to. 
  • Connect with Alumni: Use the LinkedIn Alumni tool to search for connections in particular fields, positions, and geographical locations. If you're interested in exploring a few different industries, searching for alumni can be an excellent way to identify contacts for informational interviews. 
  • Explore Jobs: Use the Job Search tool to harness the power of your network. LinkedIn can give you an edge in your job search and allow you to identify people you know at a company.
  • Compare Salaries: The new LinkedIn Salary tool allows you to explore salary range by position, industry, and geographic location. This resource comes in handy when exploring potential careers or when negotiating your salary.

Personal Profiles (Facebook and Twitter)

Research and Reach Out: Utilize personal social media to research employers and organizations of interest to better prepare for developing application materials, preparing for interviews, and more.

  • Facebook - Join groups of interest, "like" employers and their career pages (if available), and apply to jobs through the "Explore" feature
  • Twitter - "Follow" employer and organization main pages as well as their career pages if available

Career Path-Specific (Academic/Research, Technical/Project-Based, Arts & Design)

  • Academia.edu: Share and follow research
  • ORCiD: Connecting research and researchers
  • Google Scholar
  • GitHub: Millions of developers and companies build, ship, and maintain their software on GitHub—the largest and most advanced development platform in the world
  • Instagram - "Follow" employers and people of interest and showcase your work (ex. art and design, writing, photography, music...)