Avoiding Post-Graduation Inertia with LinkedIn Groups
Avoiding Post-Graduation Inertia with LinkedIn Groups
Vincent L. Cyboran, Ed.D.
Finally finishing your master’s degree brings with it several emotions, including much-deserved pride and a sense of relief. You can finally enjoy your weekends again. You can devote more time to long-neglected hobbies and interests, or just do nothing; at least for a while. Your resume is updated to reflect your new graduate degree. You possess solid, marketable skills and a deep knowledge of current and classic T&D theories and models. You’ve completed a career plan with short- and long-term goals. You’ve even subscribed to a few blogs and promised yourself to read them now and then. Do take the time to relax: You’ve earned it. But when you’re ready to jump back into the game, consider the advantages offered by LinkedIn groups.
LinkedIn groups are free to join, and can be used for a variety of purposes, including the following:
- Joining a learning community
- Keeping current with fads and trends
- Making contacts
- Searching for a new job.
My Groups
Here are just a few of the groups to which I belong. Another advantage of groups is that you can often join a professional association’s group—such as ATD—without actually being a member.
Career Changers
LinkedIn groups are especially useful those changing careers. You can “join” the conversation of professionals already working in the field, participating at whatever level makes you comfortable. At first, you may just want to read what others are posting. Soon, you’ll want to respond to items that pique your interest. And when you feel confident enough, you may even want to lead a conversation by posting a topic of your own: this will help you to get noticed and to shape your thinking on the topic.
Proceed with Caution, but do Proceed!
Remember that LinkedIn groups are just one more tool in your career toolkit. LinkedIn groups-like all online communities—have norms and rules. For example, members cannot directly sell services and products. And, there are thousands of groups, many with overlapping purposes; so you’ll need to be selective about which groups to join and which to actively participate in. Like all social media platforms, LinkedIn groups can become a burden and a time-waster.
Getting Started with Groups
Like all software applications, LinkedIn does provide online help. Like some software applications, the online help leaves something to be desired. So, the fastest to get started is to view recent YouTube videos, such as these:
If you do choose to jump right in and explore groups on your own from within LinkedIn, here’s the key to accessing them:
- What groups do you currently belong to?
- What groups do you recommend to your peers?
RU Training @ Roosevelt University in Chicago 
Great tips and promotion for Linkedin; Linkedin should cut you a check. I’m just kidding. One question, besides Linkedin, would you recommend other none-Linkedin-groups that are as supportive and engaging like what implied here? Also, would you recommend the regular LinkedIn or the premium subscription if one decides to form part of Linkedin? As a former regular/premium member of Linkedin, I did not understand why I was paying a monthly subscription. Besides the benefits of having access to recruiters or having your resume or cv viewed first, I felt like the monthly subscription was not worth it. I say this because, after a job search or career change, there is no use of the premium subscription. For that, I decided to remove myself off Linkedin altogether. However, after reading this post, I am considering rejoining Linkedin. I will make the right group selections this time around and find groups that share my views.
Thank you for providing some information about LinkedIn! I have never used LinkedIn so I do not have any experience with it, but I would like to join in the future as it seems beneficial. Joining and becoming a part of certain groups seems like a great way to make advancements in a new career. The ATD website is one that I have really been into lately, and it allows you to join free live webcasts. There are webinars coming up that I am excited to listen to and engage in such as “Improving Multidisciplinary Healthcare Teams”, “Creating a Mindset for Change”, and “Leadership Behavior in Times of Change: The Impact on Workforce Engagement”. I think engaging yourself in groups such as these can be really beneficial in learning new ways to be successful as an individual and in a career. I have already recommended joining these groups to some of my peers and will continue to do so. Thinking about completing my MSHRM degree is really exciting and I can’t wait to continue gaining knowledge and experience during the program. I think using sites such as ATD and LinkedIn will be really helpful in preparing for graduation and for what is to come after graduation!
I have been on linkedin FOREVER! I’ve connected with a lot of people and helped with endorsements etc. Unfortunately I’ve never really found it useful until this summer now that I’ll be looking for a job more toward the corporate side. I’m always getting recruiting emails that lead to no where so I found this article extremely helpful with sorting out the groups that I follow. I’m following at T&D group that doesn’t post much of anything so I will be searching youtube to find groups that are more useful!
Thank you for sharing! I’ve been on LinkedIn for years but I’ve never maximized my experience with LinkedIn groups although I’ve joined a few. I’ve wondered how to best use them in a purposeful way without feeling like I’m wasting time. However, I liked the different purposes that you mentioned as to why they are beneficial as it will determine your approach in how to best use it. In my experience, I’ve benefited the most from recruiters contacting me on a regular basis about opportunities in the industry that I’ve built my expertise in. Now, I’m at the point where I am seeking a career change so I need to find ways to get noticed by recruiters and potential employers as I’ve done in my previous career. I think joining the right LinkedIn group could potentially help with this.
Thank you for this very informative post. LinkedIn is a great tool for all. I myself have been on LinkedIn for years but have yet to maximize everything that it has to offer. I have joined various groups which is great for networking with those in my field and also helps to me learn about various events and seminars that are being offered. LinkedIn is a great tool and I am glad this post is helping to point out some of its great features.
While I nearly passed over this post I am glad I stopped in for a visit. It feels like I have been on LinkedIn forever and frankly much of my interaction there has been one-way; someone who wanted something from me. I have, since its inception and my use, worked for highly recognizable technology companies; the kind of companies in which many people would like to find jobs and many of whom have reached out to me via LinkedIn. Moreover, as time has passed I found the user interface overwhelming, and I simply did not have the time to devote to figuring it out. As I am nearing graduation with my MATD however and (gratefully) gainfully employed in a long-term job, this article has served to re-awaken the many benefits of using LinkedIn. As importantly, after devoting the better part of 8 years to completing my undergrad and graduate work I will most certainly find that I have time on my hands come January. With the urging of this article, and a renewed curiosity about Linked In, I plan to re-evaluate the ways in which it can serve my ongoing learning and growth. Thank you Dr. Cyboran for the compelling article.
This was awesome. I have not utilized LinkedIn groups to their full potential. Thank you.
Here’s another great tip I recently learned. https://bizemillenial.wordpress.com/2018/09/21/coolest-networker/
Pingback: Be the Coolest Networker in the Room – bizemillenial
I think that using LinkedIn is a great way to really market yourself as a recent graduate student and not only that but the connections you can make are really cool from all over the world. Being apart of certain groups can even help people get jobs and make connections from different parts of the world. You can also learn a lot from people working in the field and learn more about what people working in your field can do.
This post has been very helping seeing as though I gradute with my masters next semester. I have brain storming when would it be acceptable to begin applying to new career jobs. In addition to how to make my job search easier, suggesting joint groups via LinkedIn is a great idea !
Linkedin groups can provide an audience for your original content and posts as well. By contributing to group conversation, you can grow your network and promote your skills, as well as request endorsements (after connecting and proving your expertise). Linkedin groups often share events and newsletters that can help you explore interests and meet up in person with people that you would otherwise would not run into. Adding groups to your Linkedin page also lets potential employers see your specializations and interests as well as take note that you are staying in-the-know in your industry.
If you are looking for the largest LinkedIn groups, here’s a 2019 list: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedins-35-largest-groups-drew-schmitz/
I actually took this time to leave a few groups! It is helpful to use these groups as a way to concentrate your professional focus and my focus has changed in the last few years. I also left some groups that were inactive. The benefit is that I have a concentrated list in my sidebar. I can now think of these when I see them instead of subconsciously filtering them out as I have been. The functional screen reality is nice!
I cannot wait to complete this program as rest is certainly needed. I belong to LinkedIn, Facebook and I also read several blogs. I have learned so much from this program thus far and I am looking forward to my continued growth in learning.
I love this article. I think sometimes we don’t know what steps to take after completing a Master’s program and this guide helps with a start.
So many times it’s easy to just apply everywhere with no answers, and it will help so much to be able to make connections and have conversations about opportunities and what could work.
I found this article to be a great reminder to to remain active and engaged with the eLearning community. I have joined several groups on LinkedIn and follow some of these same groups on their own websites, blogs, YouTube, and Instagram. I also listen to podcasts by elearning community members which I find informative content and there are networking opportunities. The LinkedIn groups that I belong to are the following: ATD, eLearning Industry, Instructional Design Central, The eLearning Guild, Rapid e-Learning, Artificial Intelligence in Education, and Freelance in Instructional Design and E-Learning Industry. I am a career changer and I am trying to immerse myself in the industry as much as possible to keep up with trends, gain knowledge and skills, and interact with members of the community.
We have all worked tremendously hard with vigor and passion to achieve our MATD educational journey and milestone. To move forward and stay the course of the direction we’ve set out to attain, albeit our next educational milestone (another master’s or Ph.D.), career change, promotion, or just applying what we learned to enhance our own workplace performance, we must stay actively engaged post-graduation.
LinkedIn is a great social media platform to use for networking with classmates, professors, and creating outreach to fellow colleagues within the training and development industry.
I have found that connecting with groups is no different than connecting with peers at an in-person social or industry event. That said, the results of establishing relationships are all about the input and effort you put into it in the first place. For example, if you just join a group and passively read posts, that is not engaging. As a matter of fact, you become invisible to the rest of the group members who are actively sharing and exchanging ideas. Same holds true if you were to attend an in-person social or industry event. If you wait for others to approach and initiate a conversation, the chances of that happening are slim to none. Whatever your preferred method of staying connected with peers and industry professionals, you must take the first step and initiative to communicate. LinkedIn is no different.
When joining groups, be selective with those you join. Ask yourself how will I benefit from other members who have joined this group? Will you be using it primarily to build a resource of new contacts to use as relationship currency, or just want to learn new ideas and best practices? The groups I have joined have an affiliation with the training and development industry, or the financial services industry so I can benchmark best practices with other members who have similar interests in those business communities.
According to a Huffing Post article, “The trajectory on which our life inertia carries us may also be as arbitrary as that of the asteroid because when we are young we have no more influence over the direction of our life inertia than does an asteroid over its course. Neither asteroids nor people choose their initial path. And, like the asteroid, we are often unaware of the course we are on or what propels us down that path.” This is a true statement for me and now I am on a course correction. At first, I thought Linkedin was a professional FaceBook if you will, not realizing the networking capabilities it could have and once we know how to best use it, we will be able to seek out new possibilities and hopefully new career connections.
I am so glad I came across this article, simply because I’ll be graduating in December. LinkedIn, is a very resourceful tool when your in the market of finding new employment or to network with people that are in the field that you wish to gain future in employment in. I’ll be updating my LinkedIn very soon, because I am one of those students who will be looking for a position relatively closer to the Training and Development field. Thank you for this article.
LinkedIn is an amazing tool to use post graduate school. It helps you connect with other professionals that could also help you in your future. I feel that it opens up endless opportunities for an individual
This article is beneficial for me because I am graduating in December. I often log into LinkedIn, but I am not very active. Joining more groups will help me to stay up to date within my field. It will also help to network. I like that we can join professional association groups without being an actual member. That is something I did not know before reading this article. Very helpful!
I think that the LinkedIn page is not only communicate professionals from all over the globe to connect based on job opportunities and business productivity but LinkedIn shows an identification without you presenting yourself it has all your credentials and what you do for a living and also as a good way of organizing what you need to put out as your best qualities that people would look for so I think it’s a great way to use it especially Postgraduate School
Thank you for this great article. I am currently in a PharmD program and soon will be graduation. A have not yet set up my Linkedin, but it is on my to do list before graduation.I will definitely will be looking into the groups too.
I have learned a lot after reading this post. I do believed that career changes have a big impact to post-graduate students
This article sheds light on how to properly connect with people especially in your career. Currently, I belong to the American Pharmacists Association, Drugs/Toxicology/ Analytical Chemistry, Research Minds, etc. I would recommend joining groups that pertain to your career choice or pathway.
I enjoyed this article as it shares the perspective of LinkedIn groups and it will be a useful tool to help with professional networking and advancing your career. When I graduated from college there were professional groups on campus that we were encouraged to join to help launch our careers after graduation. LinkedIn groups use that same method.
One of the things I found most interesting about this article was the sheer volume of groups available through LinkedIn. I have been a member for many years, but do not take advantage of this opportunity to network and grow. I appreciate their learning tools and free trainings through Lynda.com. LinkedIn groups offer us the opportunity to connect with individuals who are just beginning and those that are experience in the areas that we have interest in. I think this truly highlights one of the lesser known areas of LinkedIn – so thank you.
Wow! There is a multitude of groups out there to belong to. I think the challenge is finding which one/s to devote energy to. It is also helpful to remember that as we progress through our learning journey, it is okay to see our groups as fluid and not fixed. A group that we joined two years ago may not be where we need to stay for the next two years.
I’m glad I read this as it reminds me that I need to update some of the groups that I’m in and look for some new LinkedIn groups. I am in several groups for when I had a career in the hotel industry. I am also in a Roosevelt Connect and a Roosevelt University Alumni group. I just sent out requests to join a couple of SHRM groups and a ATD group.
Joining a LinkedIn group has benefits as many organizations charge yearly membership fees and the LinkedIn groups are free. This is a great way to make some connections and learn about new things going on with new trends. I will need to look for some more groups and also to look over these groups once I am a member of them.
I really appreciate this post. I use LinkedIn a lot but have found the groups a challenge. I’m part of a few but they’re not as active as I would think. Im hoping to use these tips post graduation to continue to network and build my career.