education

Greek Hacks for LinkedIn: How to Leverage your Black Greek Experience in Undergrad to get a J.O.B.

In undergrad it can be difficult to apply for jobs and internships with limited or no experience—but not for Black greeks because Black greeks have a secret weapon up their sleeves and that’s Black greekdom. Black greekdom teaches you everything from how to collaborate to how to stay calm under pressure, how to plan events and manage projects to how to write a great grant letter. Black greekdom teaches you flexibility, time management, leadership and budgeting, branding, team work, decision making and marketing. Yes, greekdom teaches you and gives you many opportunities to not only learn but apply many transferable skills that will add value to employers low and high. In this Greek Hack series, undergrads will learn tips, tricks and tidbits to leverage their greekness to get a J.O.B. starting with LinkedIn.

Greek Hacks for LinkedIn: Most undergrads use every social media platform but LinkedIn—they think it’s something us old folks use not knowing that it’s a much-used recruitment tool. That’s right. More than 80% of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet candidates for jobs and some research states that more than 90% do! So the moral of today is to get on so you can play.

An all-star LinkedIn profile needs to have the following things: a professional headshot, education, experiences, endorsements and volunteering but most importantly it needs to have a compelling summary. So what is a compelling summary? Well, a compelling summary should have four crucial parts: a hook, value, personality and an invitation to speak. And with a few twists and tweaks, you can have a LinkedIn profile that recruiters seek.

Step 1: Do not start your LinkedIn profile with as a sophomore studying ABC at XYZ University I blah blah blah. I repeat…please do not start your LinkedIn summary this way. Start your LinkedIn summary with a hook, an attention grabber and something that is going to make a recruiter want to stop and read.

Step 2: Add value. The summary is not a space for you to regurgitate your resume. The summary is a space for you to show value. How are you different, what makes you unique, what value can you bring to the table and how are you capable?

Step 3: Show personality. Personality is the new professionalism and personality is something recruiters seek. It’s all about the fit and your LinkedIn summary can show a recruiter that you’re a good fit if you add some personality to it.

Step 4: invite recruiters to speak. Every LinkedIn summary should close with an invitation to speak, an invitation to have coffee or an invitation to be reached.

Bonus: use keywords. The more keywords you use in your LinkedIn summary the more searchable you become. So use half a dozen and have some search engine fun. Note: if you have more than two paragraphs in your LinkedIn summary, which I highly encourage you not to do but if you choose, place your keywords in the middle paragraph because most recruiters will only skim your first and last paragraphs.

Get it, got it, good…piece of cake, piece of pie and here are a few examples to get you flying high.

Example #1 | As the youngest chapter president in the history of my sorority, I have learned the art of personality and people management—an art that will prove valuable in the management trainee internship that I seek. My sorority has also provided me with ample opportunities to create and manage budgets, get results with limited resources, work on teams and make decisions during ambiguity. All of which are much used job functions of any management trainee position.

In addition, the network of sorority sisters that I know and have access to can become a talent pipeline for you (my future employer). In short, I say all of this to say, if you are interested in a results-driven collaborator that wants to see her team, her company and her community succeed—let’s grab coffee.

My Skills and Expertise:

- Management
- Staff Training
- Strong Communication
- Interpersonal Skills
- Innovative Thinking

Example #2 | My fraternity taught me many life-lessons but one comes to mind and that one lesson is, “excuses build monuments of nothingness.” As a sophomore in engineering, I seek an engineering fellowship that will allow me to build monuments of greatness. Monuments that I have been doodling, drawing and creating since childhood and monuments that my fraternity has prepared me to build.

SKILLS: STEM/Strong Analytical Mind/Grant Writing/Attention to Detail/Project Management Experience/Desire to Learn/Communication and Collaboration

Engineers need creativity, they need entrepreneurial spirts and they need project management skills and I have all three. In my fraternity, I oversee our marketing efforts, events and community service and have raised more than $20,000 from grants, $15,000 from event entry fees and $10,000 from donations for my community. This requires effective time-management, a solutions-oriented mindset, innovation, persuasion, and flexibility to pursue plan C when A and B are no longer options. Thanks for reading and if you are looking for a driven problem-solver that works well under pressure—let’s speak.

Be on the lookout for more Greek Hack articles coming soon to a Watch The Yard post near you. Everything from Greek Hacks for Cover Letters to Greek Hacks for Interviewing, Greek Hacks for Networking and everything in between.

About Keisha Mabry: Keisha Mabry is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She is also an author, speaker and socialentrepreneur who has been featured on NPR, the Nine Network, Fox 2, Next Step U, The Business Journal, TED, Blavity and HuffPost for her work in personal branding and networking. In addition, Keisha is a lecturer at Washington University and her new book Hey Friend: 100 Ways to Connect with 100 People in 100 Days is a movement to make the world friendly again—or at the very least friendlier than it’s ever been. Learn more about this fearlessly free human being at www.keishamabry.com