“I’ve been on LinkedIn since June 2010, but I didn’t realize what it could do for me until attending a Primp your Profile event last summer as an intern with Dell. As an overachieving business student, I took building my professional reputation seriously which meant a lot of time spent at Career Services and workshops. But, having an outstanding LinkedIn profile along with a manicured online presence has done the most for my career.”
Those are some thoughts from Sheila de Guzman, a summer 2013 marketing intern, and now full-time Marketing Development Program participant, on how attending a Primp your Profile (PYP) on Campus session as an intern shaped her online personal brand and network.
What is Primp your Profile on Campus? PYP on Campus is geared towards university students and helps differentiate Dell from our competitors while building our campus brand and strengthening our relationship with candidates.
Since the launch in May of 2013, we have hosted over 75 sessions at universities around the globe and several sessions with our very own Dell interns. PYP on Campus has made a tremendous impact on thousands of students' views on LinkedIn and the importance of an online personal brand. Here is more from Sheila on how PYP helped her:
“During recruiting season, my resume was reviewed and updated multiple times, but I neglected my LinkedIn profile thinking it did nothing for me. After attending a PYP session during my internship at Dell, I learned it did nothing for me because my profile was incomplete and lackluster; I only had myself to blame, not the platform.
"I overhauled my profile with the advice from PYP: I put a strategic title, added links to projects, got a recommendation and more. It didn’t take long before I saw more engagement. I got about 3 times more profile views per week plus more requests to connect. It took me about 3.5 years (which included two graduations and four different jobs) to get 400 connections, but only a few months to get over 100 to put me in the illustrious '500+' club. On top of that, I’ve received many inquiries for consulting work as well as job offers, but no worries, I’m quite content working at Dell.”
Not only has it helped Dell establish relationships on campus; it has also strengthened our internship experience and the developmental offerings we provide as a company. Universum surveyed over 46,000 undergraduate students in 2013 and 2014 and they ranked "professional training and development" as the fourth (out of ten) most important thing they look for in a company, only falling behind "respect for its people," "secure employment," and ''a creative and dynamic work environment." It is part of our mission in University Relations to provide training and development as well as a positive and rewarding intern experience.
“I get so excited talking about my experience at Dell because it’s not what I expected, but everything I wanted. I thought I hit the jackpot after a great internship experience last summer, but now I can’t believe I actually have my dream job working for the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network.”
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