Maybe I’m jaded. Maybe, as a recent college grad in this testy economic climate, I’ve just spent so much time job searching, that every Internet webinar, career placement center and workshop seems to be a waste of time. And while some information sessions and job fairs are certainly credible and can lead to interviews, some websites and Q&A’s seem hollow, reporting information that is obvious and insider tips that are well known. LinkedIn.com’s new Career Explorer tool is intended to help college students and recent college graduates build hypothetical career paths online, to show how a career might progress based on which positions the student chooses. LinkedIn.com invites users to, “Come find a career path that’s right for you,” by exploring “your options and learn about the people, places and companies in the industries that interest you,” but does this tool really reveal as much as a user might be looking for?
Learning the Ropes
First of all, how does it work? Start by logging into your LinkedIn account (or create a new one if you don’t already have one), and then follow the step-by-step instructions accordingly on your Career Explorer dashboard. It’s simple, but maybe too simple. Step one: Use drop-down arrows to answer, “What is your major? Expected degree? Expected Industry?” Now by step one, I had already encountered a problem, as “Public Relations” is not an option under, “What is your major?” In order to get a feel for the tool, I chose the next best option, “Communication,” as I felt that “Marketing” would be too narrow for what I was looking for. “Public Relations and Communications,” while not under the college major option, was under the “Expected Industry” drop down, so my answers, in order, were: Communication, Bachelor’s, Public Relations and Communication.
Secondly, after finishing step one, I was able to click, “Start your path” to see the next two, where I was offered another set of choices. These choices included assistant positions, internships and entry-level career options that were closely related to my step one answers. Each chose also revealed the time you would spend working at that job, the “forecast” of how likely you would obtain that position, the education requirements and the salary, if there was one. The choices I was given were: Account Coordinator, Assistant Account Executive, Intern and Public Relations Intern. In an attempt to keep up with Public Relations, I chose “Public Relations Intern.”
Step three offered a set of new mid-level choices based on my last answer, none of which included Public Relations at all. Similar to step two, the choices included: Account Executive, Account Coordinator, Marketing Coordinator and Assistant Account Executive. I chose the “Marketing Coordinator” position to stay closer to PR. There were two more steps to get closer and closer to a senior level position, which I filled out accordingly, and then, reviewed the results that the CareerExplorer summarized for me. Rolling your mouse over each career step also revealed a number of “Top Companies” for each title that you chose or “People with this title,” in case you were interested in attempting to network by contacting strangers who shared the job title you were looking for.
Reading the Results
The CareerExplorer first displayed a Public Relations Internship that was posted on September 16th in the Washington D.C. area, then included a link to “Search for jobs” and find more Public Relations Internships if they were available on LinkedIn.com’s job board. While I liked that fact that the CareerExplorer searched for and included the internship to jump-start a career path, considering that I don’t live any where near the D.C. area, it wasn’t an option for me and didn’t hold any promise because of the location. Scrolling down, the Career Explorer included a map of the United States titled “Job Statistics,” that highlighted different states to show age distribution around the country for a Public Relations Intern. Realistically, I would imagine that most students or recent grads are not going to have the means to travel around the country to get an internship, regardless of where the map indicates the most Public Relations internships are located. This breakdown becomes just as meaningless as the D.C. internship, as I’ve never known any college grads that can to fund their relocation to a different state for an unpaid internship.
Scrolling down to the last window shows “Career Exploration Group Discussions” with tips on several different subjects from headlines that include, “Five Questions to Ask a Résumé Writer” to “Ditch Your Laptop, Dump Your Boyfriend.” These discussions are like forums that users can engage in if they join the group that started the discussion, but keep in mind that users cannot view any of discussions unless they do become part of the founding group.
The Final Verdict
To me, the biggest problem with this tool is that things change. While you might graduate with a degree in advertising or education, you could just find that you have a passion in something completely different later on down the line. The CareerExplorer builds its conclusions based on the idea that you will follow a career in the field that you majored in, or at least something close to it. Not to mention, while the intentions are good and services based on helping grads find jobs to start their careers should have a greater web presence, the CareerExplorer really offers no extra insight or benefits to college grads. And, keep in mind that if you do intend to use this tool, you’re essentially trying to think out how you would realistically progress and which position you should research, which takes time. A lot of time. Most of the information- salary, education requirements, time spent in the position- that the tool presents is already either known or can be found else where. Popular sites such as CNN Money, Salary.com and even CareerBuilder propose the same information with less hassle. Monster.com also has a similar Career Path building option to anyone that has an account that shows a “Recommended Career Path.” Similarly, the Monster Career Path can be edited as the user chooses, so even the concept of LinkedIn.com’s CareerExplorer is nothing new. What’s the final verdict on LinkedIn.com’s CareerExplorer tool in the opinion of one recent grad? Spend your time polishing your cover letter and updated your resume instead.
