Research MBA Careers Using LinkedIn

1. Conduct People Research via LinkedIn

Use LinkedIn’s Advanced Search feature to find People that are engaged in the work you’re interested in doing.

To maximize your results, uncheck the buttons in the ‘Relationship’ section.
Search using any combination of keywords, job title, industry, company, etc. Doing so will generate a list of anyone on LinkedIn who meets that criteria. (This feature is free.)
Click on the profiles that interest you. Review the person’s career path/positions held.

What was their career trajectory?
How do they describe their roles?
Note any LinkedIn Groups to which they belong and consider joining them yourself.
Do additional research if you don’t understand the content of their jobs.

In the Search Results list, click on the word ‘Similar’ (in green below the person’s name) to see other people on LinkedIn who are similar to the individual listed. Review a selection of profiles.
Important Note: DO NOT CONNECT with people whom you do not already know. This is an education exercise; an opportunity to learn more about potential MBA career paths and companies. Feel free, however, to write down their names for future outreach. We’ll talk more about the right (and wrong!) ways to network in a Career Lab in the fall.

2. Conduct Industry Research via LinkedIn

Read as much as you can about the industries and/or function you want to join. Be aware of which firms are in the news and current trends in their markets. Being well-informed will help you ask better questions and give you an edge when you start attending company presentations and networking in the fall.

Use LinkedIn Pulse to customize news to your areas of interest. Follow Channels related to topics of interest.

3. Review MBA Job Descriptions via LinkedIn

Use LinkedIn’s Advanced Search feature to find MBA Jobs in your areas of interest.

To maximize your results, uncheck the buttons in the ‘Relationship’ section.
Search using any combination of keywords, job function, job title, industry, company, etc. Doing so will generate a list of jobs that meet your criteria. (This feature is free.) We recommend using MBA as a keyword in your searches to better filter your results.
Click on the jobs that interest you. Read the details of the position and essential skills, duties, and responsibilities. Note any minimum or preferred requirements.

Add these to the list you created in the Research MBA Careers Using Job Search Engines exercise .
Add the company name to the list of firms to explore later.

Look at the list of jobs ‘People Also Viewed’ (right side of job posting page) for more options to investigate.
On the original Search Results page, click on the word ‘Similar’ (in green below the position title) to see other jobs on LinkedIn that are similar to the one listed. Review a selection of these positions.