How This University is Using LinkedIn Learning to Make Their Students More Employable
One of the philosophies at the department of management at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTMM) – a 1,200-student department composed largely of commuters – is that, yes, we expect you to have strong academics.
But, as former UTMM Professional Development & Career Strategist Linnet Kocheril put it, “your academics should be the least interesting thing about you.” Instead, he wants students at UTMM to have a portfolio of unique skills and experiences to bring to each job interview.
“There are many students who get good grades,” Kocheril said. “It’s what you do beyond the classroom that can really help you stand out.”
That was the thinking behind the collaboration between the Professional Skills Development Program (PSDP) program and LinkedIn Learning in fall of 2019. The goal – equip students with key skills needed to build a lasting and successful career.
When COVID-19 struck this March and all students were learning remotely, participation in the program actually jumped 86%. That’s particularly impressive considering that PSDP previously relied on in-person courses, adding LinkedIn Learning content in the fall of 2019 and then relying exclusively on online content in March, during the pandemic.
How has the student reaction been to PSDP, despite the switch from in-person to online via LinkedIn Learning?
“I got so much out of it,” student Jesica Kuruvilla said. “It’s really cool that you equip yourself with skills that are trending, so when you go to an interview you can credibly speak to those.”
“Given the uncertainty due to COVID, it left me feeling very anxious about how I will continue developing myself in the midst of this climate,” UTMM student Aavaiz Raza said. “Thankfully, LinkedIn has enhanced my professional development.”
What is the Professional Skills Development Program (PSDP)?
The goal of PSDP is to complement UTMM’s academic curriculum with trending, in-demand hard and soft skills that’ll make students more marketable. Specifically, it focuses on six skills, including job searching, industry research and knowing yourself. PSDP is voluntary and, while students do not receive a university credit for completing it, they do get a certification at the end they can add to their transcript.
The PSDP started with students coming to an in-person session, learning about a topic and then completing an assignment or writing a reflection to demonstrate they understood the subject. In the fall of 2019, UTMM decided to extend it beyond an in-person session and empower students to watch a LinkedIn Learning course on the topic instead and then complete the assignment.
This proved serendipitous as, after March 16 of 2020, all students were sent home due to COVID-19 and in-person sessions were no longer possible. Seeing this as an opportunity, Kocheril used this moment to further promote PSDP and LinkedIn Learning.
“The big mandate on my side after COVID-19 was, how do I continue to support students on the professional side, but virtually,” Kocheril said. “We wanted to show that, yes, school is closed, but there are still ways to get involved.”
It worked. Enrollment skyrocketed, as students interviewed said they appreciated the opportunity to grow their brand and become more marketable to employers, particularly in a time when the job market was becoming significantly more competitive.
The results – a successful first run of PSDP & LinkedIn, with a motivation to bring LinkedIn Learning into the classroom as well.
The addition of LinkedIn Learning helped drastically increase the popularity of PSDP. Kocheril sees that as a lesson – and is looking to incorporate it more and more into the classroom as well.
For example, he’s working with one finance professor to do a bootcamp on careers in finance, accounting and management. It’ll be a flipped classroom approach, where students take LinkedIn Learning courses on Excel and other software ahead of time, with sessions focused on applying what they learned.
“One of my focuses now is, how do we integrate this more with our faculty,” Kocheril said. “The long-term goal is to embed it into every curriculum.”
Not only does Kocheril believe adding LinkedIn Learning into the curriculum will help classes feel more dynamic, there’s an additional benefit – the certification that comes with completing a LinkedIn course. “This is a way for students to validate to employers what they’ve learned,” he said. “The fact that they can build this brand and build a connection, get a job and help support this whole lifecycle of student development has been the most transformative.”
Building off of that, one thing the students who completed PSDP consistently said is, through it, they saw the value of building out their brand on LinkedIn. This is something many have said they will continue to focus on, not just to get hired; but also to connect with others and continue to develop.
“The way I see LinkedIn is more of a social media channel where I can become a thought leader in a specific area,” UTMM student Cesar Lozano Hernandez said. “I want to be vulnerable with my ideas and my opinions on LinkedIn and hear from others because I think that is how you can help develop your views. That’s how you grow as a professional.”