Linking up opportunities for youth to 'rock' their profiles

Singapore

FOR many youths such as 18-year-old Abigail Chloe Chew, preparing for the working world is more often than not one of their top priorities - and building up a credible CV and professional profile serve as important starting points in that process.

"After attending a career workshop with LinkedIn, I have been able to pick up practical skills such as tips on how to build up my professional profile and also learnt good practices on how best to bring out my strong points," says Ms Chew.

The LinkedIn Career Roundtable Event attended by Ms Chew is part of a collaboration between LinkedIn and Halogen Foundation, a not-for-profit Institution of Public Character (IPC) dedicated to youth leadership and entrepreneurship development.

"In the past 12 months, these sessions, which gather up to 50 tertiary students, have been organised three times. LinkedIn employees teach the youths the importance of creating their online professional profiles, mentor them as they chart out their career paths, and in the process, inspire them as they make their first foray into the workplace," says Olivier Legrand, managing director of LinkedIn Asia Pacific.

Synonymous with business and employee-oriented social networks, LinkedIn has focused on youth empowerment in its corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts to bring about new opportunities to grow their careers and to connect with other professionals the world over.

"Our global focus for this year has been around youth empowerment with more than 100,000 youths across 19 countries having been impacted by our programmes," says Mr Legrand.

"In Singapore, LinkedIn takes part in such CSR efforts through the global employee-led initiative, LinkedIn for Good (LIFG)," he adds.

Founded in 2010, LIFG was established to connect underserved communities around the world with economic opportunities. In 2016, LIFG reached one million underserved youth, military veterans, refugees, employees and non-profits globally.

"The mentorship programme provided me with insights on working life. We had many opportunities to network with different staff and gain perspectives on corporate life," says Ms Chew.

"Helping to organise the partnership programme we have with Halogen Foundation was a really memorable experience for me, especially mentoring tertiary students in Singapore on how they can utilise LinkedIn for career planning and personal branding," says Jacelyn Tan, an enterprise relationship manager at LinkedIn.

While the global focus is on youth empowerment, LinkedIn and its employees continue to participate in other initiatives geared towards serving the community, through other employee-led initiatives.

In the same vein as its career roundtable event, "LinkedIn also organised Rock Your Profile sessions with the People's Association where employees share advice with the elderly on how to spruce up their online professional profiles," says Mr Legrand.

In the past year, LinkedIn staff based in Singapore have also worked with the Association of People with Special Needs (APSN) on conducting a terrarium workshop and the Children's Wishing Well, where employees packed and distributed groceries to low-income families.

In addition to these efforts, LinkedIn staff also contribute to the community once a year through a LinkedIn corporate tradition, Investment Day (InDay).

"Some of the activities on InDay included conducting charity auctions with the proceeds going to Singapore Cancer Foundation and inviting non-profit organisations to participate in our Farmers' Market," says Mr Legrand.

Looking forward, Mr Legrand is keen to build on his two-year partnership with Halogen Foundation and is also open to working with new partners in LinkedIn's efforts to support the community in Singapore.