I have seen the other questions on linkedin on the Academia stack exchange page but had a slightly different one.
For a PhD student who is looking to becomes a professor post grad school, is a linkedin helpful? From what I see, the interview process for academia is the following:
- The student gives a job talk at the universities they are interviewing for.
- They interview 1-1 with the professors in the department, especially those in the same research field
- Their publication record, existing fundings, and CV are reviewed.
- Lastly, their recommendations from their own advisor and collaborators are weighed in.
Although point #4 might not be explicitly done, at the end of the day that seems like one of the primary implicit ways a student gets their foot in the door - the student's PhD advisor connects the student to another professor in another university who will vouch/champion them in the interview process.
With all this being said, I see that the academic review board goes directly to the students CV, publication record, and their academic website/page to get a sense of who they are as a academic professional and whether they are involved in the proper outreach activities and support diversity, etc.
In this whole pipeline, I can't imagine linkedin being helpful anywhere along the way. So is it helpful? Or is it only helpful for PhD students seeking opportunities in the private sector? Does having a linkedin affect how I am perceived in Academia?