Project : Design Your Professional Presence

In this project, you will create a professional presence on LinkedIn (a professional social media network that is widely used by professionals and employers in most industries).

If your profession or personal beliefs prevent you from establishing a LinkedIn site, ask about an alternative to building a live LinkedIn profile. As part of this project, you will conduct research into your present or desired industry; you will create a branding statement, and finally, create or revise an existing LinkedIn profile, using what you have learned about the industry and yourself.

There are four steps in this project that will lead you through each deliverable. Most steps of this project should take no more than two hours to complete. Begin by watching the video above, which introduces the project as it might occur in the workplace, and then continue with Step 1: Engage in Analysis and Reflection.

When you submit your project, your work will be evaluated using the competencies listed below. You can use the list below to self-check your work before submission.

• 1.1: Organize document or presentation clearly in a manner that promotes understanding and meets the requirements of the assignment.

• 1.4: Tailor communications to the audience.

• 1.5: Use sentence structure appropriate to the task, message and audience.

• 1.6: Follow conventions of Standard Written English.

• 2.2: Locate and access sufficient information to investigate the issue or problem.

Step 1: Engage in Analysis and Reflection

You know your assignment, so here's where you get started.

1. For background information, read Cybersecurity Profession and LinkedIn. You may also want to read Professional Use of Social Media and LinkedIn on the Using LinkedIn resource page.

2. Now, reflect on your career: Where are you right now in your career? Where do you want to be? What are your goals and objectives? What particular positions do you want, and what is your time frame for obtaining them? It's a good idea to have some steps along the way. For example, you could ask yourself "Why am I pursuing a degree in cybersecurity?"

3. Next, answer the question: What's the market like in your cybersecurity field? Is the demand for employees increasing, decreasing, or remaining steady? Is it better in some areas than others? Use the UMUC library to locate journal articles, books, and other sources that will enable you to identify information about your industry. You can refer to the Project 2 information on Business Research.

4. Finally, you need to think about what the competition is like. Who are the other competitors seeking positions in your cybersecurity field? Who are the primary competitors for employment and upward mobility? Can you identify particular individuals who are your main competition (which will be the case if you are competing internally). How do you compare to these competitors? Look at Competitor Analysis for some guidance on these issues.

Next, you will work on your branding statement.

Step 2: Create a Positive Personal Branding Statement

Now that you've analyzed the situation, you can start on your branding statement.

See Branding Statements for some resources and tips to create your statement. Draft a personal branding statement of 200 words or less. Edit for clarity and conciseness. It should be error-free as the representation of you!

Next, you will create or revise a LinkedIn page. If you have an issue with this assignment, consult with your instructor.

Step 3: Create or Revise a LinkedIn Page

You can use your results from the last step, your branding statement, to help you create your LinkedIn profile summary. Employ any aspects of the research and exploration performed in the prior two steps to develop your page. See Using LinkedIn for more information.
Once you have created your LinkedIn page, go through the LinkedIn Checklist available on the LinkedIn site and make revisions as needed.

Next, you will submit your project.

Step 4: Submit the Deliverables

Once you've completed the prior step, submit the following deliverables to the assignment folder:

• Personal Branding Statement in a Word document

• URL link to your LinkedIn Profile

• PDF of your LinkedIn Profile

• Share your link and summary in the discussion area. Discuss your experience with LinkedIn and what you learned from this activity.