The Faculty of Philosophy at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) held a workshop titled “LinkedIn for Career Success: Build Your Professional Personal Branding Now!” via Zoom Meeting on Friday, May 16. The event, attended by undergraduate students, especially the classes of 2022 and 2023, aimed to equip them with practical skills to build a strong and credible personal brand on professional social media, in collaboration with representatives from LinkedIn Indonesia.
In her opening remarks, the Vice Dean for Research, Community Service, Cooperation, and Alumni, Dr. Iva Ariani, S.S., M.Hum., emphasized the importance of student readiness to enter the workforce early. “With the competitive nature of the job market and industry, professional platforms like LinkedIn have become important for all of us. Not only for job searching, but also for building personal branding, professional networking, and leveraging it for long-term career development,” she explained.
She added that this initiative reflects the Faculty of Philosophy’s commitment not only to provide students with academic insights but also with practical skills needed in the professional world.
Marsel Mauricius, Account Director of LinkedIn Talent Solutions, explained how to optimize various LinkedIn features and current trends in platform usage. He also spoke to the students about the reality of increasing competition in the digital job market. “Competition is very high nowadays. Expectations keep rising. There are many entry-level positions, but employers look for candidates who already have experience,” he said.
Marsel also stressed the importance of starting early. “Job searching takes time and effort. You can’t wait until graduation. There are 28 thousand open jobs on LinkedIn, but 20 million users. We need to present ourselves as professional brands worthy of recruiters’ consideration.”
The workshop not only delivered material but also included an interactive Q&A session and a LinkedIn profile-building simulation. Students had the opportunity to create and improve their profiles and receive feedback from Marsel. Through this activity, the Faculty of Philosophy UGM hopes students will not only be active and present in academic spaces but also be ready to stand out as competitive young professionals in the job market.