By Sebastian Meraz ‘19

Brother Rice is utilizing LinkedIn to take our Crusaders’ networking game to a whole new level inside the classroom and out.

Mr. Matt Prunckle and Mr. Dan Mostyn have recently been going around to classes explaining how our current seniors can take initiative with LinkedIn by networking with alumni.

Mr. Prunckle said, “Our main goal with LinkedIn is to engage our previous alumni with Brother Rice, we also want to help build our seniors network for the future.”

I also spoke with him about how younger Crusaders can get involved with LinkedIn. Mr. Prunckle said, “Freshmen, sophomores and juniors all have the opportunity to create a LinkedIn. At first they might not know what to do with it, but they should use it to build their network, list their academic achievements and any volunteer work they have done this way they have head start once they go into the real world.”

During Mr.Mostyn’s presentation, he expressed the value LinkedIn could have for us if used correctly. To clarify, LinkedIn is not a social media platform like Facebook or Instagram. LinkedIn is to help promote your self-brand. In the future, at whatever job you look forward to pursuing, LinkedIn can be used to make connections.

Whether you’re looking towards the trades or going into the medical field, LinkedIn can be used to help establish a name for yourself and meet professionals in your field. In addition, LinkedIn can be extremely helpful with finding internships and jobs with companies or fields you are interested in.

Recently, there have been a multitude of guest speakers on Career Day and in classes such as Entrepreneurship. Most speakers from Career Day are now connected with the Brother Rice LinkedIn page.

If you enjoyed your speaker and want to reach out, a great way to do so is by using LinkedIn. You should use LinkedIn because you can send them an invitation to connect, and they also view your profile which will contain your  profile photo and a summary so they can remember who you are.

Current Crusaders, if you are looking to make a LinkedIn and have a few questions, do not hesitate to ask Mr. Prunckle or Mr. Mostyn. There are plenty of people who want to help you succeed, especially inside the Brother Rice Network.

If you are looking for a certain opportunity, reach out to alumni and build relationships with them because they were once where you are at now. This is why being a Crusader is much more than just being a student, you are now a part of a huge family.

Below are links to Mr. Prunckle and Mr. Mostyn’s emails and their Prezi dealing with LinkedIn.

dmostyn@brrice.org

mprunckle@brrice.org

tinyurl.com/LinkedInBR