How can I prevent my LinkedIn profile from being “published”?

“Is there a way to create a profile on LinkedIn but keep it from being “published” until you are finished with it? The reason I ask is that I would like my students to create and account so they can get started with the application process, but I don’t want their profile to “go public” until it is in good shape.” — Helena Rodrigues from Maputo, Mozambique.

Maputo, Mozambique *

You raise a good point! The short answer is that LinkedIn does not have a setting that will allow the students to block another member from viewing their profiles.

Once students create and account and start building their network, there is no way to prevent their connections from seeing their profiles. However, the public profile that appears when people search for their names on Google, Yahoo!, Bing, and others, can be edited from the profile Settings page to:

• Make it visible to everyone or no one in search engine results.
• Show only the basics like your name, industry, location, # of recommendations.
• Add or remove profile elements like a picture, current positions or education.
• Create a customized URL.

So, while you’re working with your students, you may want to keep their profiles more private by following these instructions:

1. Sign in to your LinkedIn account.
2. Click on the “Settings” link located under your name on the top right end corner of your profile home page.
3. Select the “Profile” settings tab.
4. Select “Edit your public profile”
5. Then choose the “Make my public profile visible to no one” radio button.

Make sure the students change their profile settings back to “Make my public profile visible to everyone,” once they complete their profiles. Otherwise, Iduka will not be able to evaluate and consider them for this scholarship challenge.

Good luck, and please don’t hesitate to keep on asking questions.

* Image source: Wikipedia. Image credit: Andrew Moir.

Do you have a question?

Please send your questions with your picture or the picture of your school to iduka.chapters@gmail.com.

If your question is selected, we will feature it on this blog. This will help us create a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions section for our ongoing “LinkedIn® Challenge” Scholarship.

Thanks in advance for your participation!

Warm Holiday Wishes

We wish you all a wonderful Holiday Season and a peaceful New Year filled with meaningful relationships, good health, great ideas, and lots-n-lots of scholarships from Iduka.

Image credit: Haneef Bhatti

Scholarship documentation is now available in French and Portuguese!

“Can Iduka provide the scholarship documentation in our national languages?” — Jean-Claude Kamwenubusa, University of Burundi, Bujumbura

Jean-Claude Kamwenubusa, University of Burundi, Bujumbura

All documentation and technical support is available in English, French, and Portuguese. Unfortunately, we do not have any scholarship documentation available in Arabic or any other local African language. We feel confident that all post-secondary education students applying for our “LinkedIn® Challenge” Scholarship, master at least one of these three major languages spoken throughout the African continent.

Currently, we only have available the Scholarship Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria in English, French, and Portuguese. We are planning to make the FAQ section available in these three languages soon. Please come back regularly for updates and more information on this scholarship initiative.

Documentation in English: Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria

Documentation in French: Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria

Documentation in Portuguese: Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria

Do you have a question?

Please send your questions with your picture or the picture of your school to iduka.chapters@gmail.com.

If your question is selected, we will feature it on this blog. This will help us create a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions section for our ongoing “LinkedIn® Challenge” Scholarship.

Thanks in advance for your participation!

What are the photo requirements?

“Is a photograph required when applying for the “LinkedIn® Challenge” scholarship? If so, what type of photo and how do students send their photos? ” — Olusola Bamidele George, Program Director at African Citizen’s Empowerment Foundation in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

Nigeria Political Map (Source: Wikipedia)

Another good question from Olusola in the Sunshine State, Nigeria. To apply students must create and complete a LinkedIn profile. Part of getting to 100% completion is uploading a photo. Here is what students need to know when uploading a photo to their LinkedIn profile:

1. Upload a professional looking head-shot picture.
2. Preferred file type is a JPG, PNG, or GIF.
3. File size cannot exceed 4MB.
4. A good pixel size to avoid uploading issues should not exceed 500×500 pixels.

Still having problems uploading the photo? Try a different browser.

If students have problems uploading their photos after following the above tips, they should try using a different browser. For example, if using IE, try uploading the photo with Firefox. That seems to resolve this problem.

Very Important:

Please note that LinkedIn has a very rigid and straight forward Photo Policy. Students need to know that their profile photo can be removed by LinkedIn if their profile image is not their “likeness or a head-shot” photo. If LinkedIn removes a profile photo, students still have a chance to upload a different photo to remedy this situation. However, if LinkedIn removes a photo 3 times, students will no longer be able to upload another photo to their profile – and they will not be able to participate in this initiative.

To learn more about LinkedIn Photo Policy and User Agreement, please click here.

Do you have a question?

Please send your questions with your picture or the picture of your school to iduka.chapters@gmail.com.

If your question is selected, we will feature it on this blog. This will help us create a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions section for our ongoing “LinkedIn® Challenge” Scholarship.

Thanks in advance for your participation!

3 Questions About Recommendations

“What is the required format for Letters of Recommendation? Can Iduka provide a template students can use when requesting a Letter of Recommendation? How many Letters of Recommendation are students required to submit with their scholarship application?” — Olusola Bamidele George, Program Director at African Citizen’s Empowerment Foundation in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

Olusola Bamidele George, Ondo State, Nigeria

Answer to question 1:

Students are asked to request Letters of Recommendation via LinkedIn and must follow LinkedIn’s guidelines. Requesting recommendations on LinkedIn is as simple as 1-2-3. For example, students can from their LinkedIn profile:

1. Choose the position under their Experience or Education section that they want to be recommended for.
2. Ask a direct contact on their LinkedIn network to endorse them.
3. Provide specific details to their endorsers.

Answer to question 2:

No. Iduka does not provide a form letter for recommendations. However, since students must submit their letters of recommendation via LinkedIn, they must follow LinkedIn’s guidelines when asking for a recommendation from their teachers, professors, and colleagues.

It is the responsibility of local Iduka Chapters to help their students provide endorsers with samples they can use as guidance. When asking for a recommendation, students should be prepared to provide specific details to their endorsers. Even though these are people they presumably know well, to be mindful of their time, it is a good idea to provide them with a sample they can customize. Unfortunately, at this time endorsers will not be able to recommend any volunteer position you list on your LinkedIn profile under the Volunteer section.

For an overview of how Recommendations work on LinkedIn, please click here.

Answer to question 3:

To be considered for this scholarship initiative, students must have at least 5 recommendations on their LinkedIn profile. However, they can request and post as many recommendations as they would like. An high number of solid recommendation will greatly enhance your chances of getting a scholarship. It is also important to note that LinkedIn recommendations can only be requested from student’s direct contacts on LinkedIn, and that endorsers can only recommend you as a Colleague, Service Provider, Business Partner or Student. Therefore, the number of possible recommendations students can attain is limited to the number of 1st degree connections of their LinkedIn network that can provide an endorsement of their skills and accomplishments at school and work place.

It is the responsibility of local Iduka Chapters to mentor their students on how to request a LinkedIn Recommendation.

To learn more on How to request a recommendation on LinkedIn, please click here.

Even though LinkedIn recommendations are not as formal as the traditional reference letters, we feel that they provide us with a more transparent way to vet our scholarship applicants.

A big thanks to Olusola and his team in Ondo State, Nigeria! We will soon post the other question you’ve sent us.

Do you have a question?

Please send your questions with your picture or the picture of your school to iduka.chapters@gmail.com.

If your question is selected, we will feature it on this blog. This will help us create a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions section for our ongoing “LinkedIn® Challenge” Scholarship.

Thanks in advance for your participation!

What is the role of a local chapter?

“I’ve created a local Iduka Chapter in Tunisia and I’m glad to be part of this project. But now, I don’t know what I should do next. What is the role of my chapter in general, and my role as chapter president in particular? What can I do next?”

Rabeb Aloui, UNESCO Club Iduka Chapter, Tunis, Tunisia

Faculté des Sciences Humaines et Sociales de Tunis, Université de Tunis

What is the role of a local chapter?

Iduka Chapters are instrumental to the success of our program at the local level. The local Iduka Chapter is responsible for our local outreach campaigns and for making sure that all information from Iduka and the National Council is accurately disseminated to all students associated with the chapter.

To be a bit more specific, within the current context of the “LinkedIn® Challenge” Scholarship, the local chapter is responsible for:

• Raising awareness about the scholarship and registering students;
• Providing training and mentorship to students applying for the scholarship.

Note: For a complete list of tasks and activities, please click here.

Chapters with more members will qualify for personalized trained sessions. These training sessions will cover the registration and application process, and will be scheduled according to each chapter overall membership ranking.

What is the role of the chapter’s President?

A chapter’s president serves as a liaison between Iduka and local students, as well as a link between the local chapter and the National Council.

A good chapter president will be proactive in planning and developing chapter activities that are aligned with current scholarship initiatives, awareness campaigns, and other Iduka regional projects.

Leadership training pertaining to the ongoing “LinkedIn® Challenge” Scholarship will be provide to chapter officers. The chapter leadership will in turn be responsible to transfer that knowledge to their chapter’s members, particularly to those students who are applying for a scholarship.

Thank you, Rabeb for these two great questions!

Do you have a question?

Please send your questions with your picture or the picture of your school to iduka.chapters@gmail.com.

If your question is selected, we will feature it on this blog. This will help us create a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions section for our ongoing “LinkedIn® Challenge” Scholarship.

Thanks in advance for your participation!

Scholarship Frequently Asked Questions

Iduka’s “LinkedIn® Challenge” Scholarship are awarded on the basis of need and merit, but rewarding talent in specific areas of study is our primary focus. To help us select promising scholarship recipients we follow a set of rules that we want all applicants to understand as they participate in this ongoing scholarship initiative.

What is the Iduka “LinkedIn® Challenge” Scholarship? Who is eligible for this scholarship initiative? What are the application requirements? These are some of the questions we get on daily basis.

FAQ

Some of these questions are already answered by the scholarship’s application guideline you can find on this blog page, but many more you may have are still unanswered.

To help us clarify all queries students may have, we challenge you to send us your questions with your picture to iduka.chapters@gmail.com.

If your question is selected, we will feature it on this blog. This will help us create a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions section for our ongoing “LinkedIn® Challenge” Scholarship.

Thanks in advance for your participation!

World Bank Report: The Road to University Excellence MUST Include Investment in Post-Secondary Education.

The World Bank has just published a new book entitled ‘The Road to Academic Excellence: The Making of World Class Research Universities’. The report analysed eleven institutions that have been undergoing transformations in order to become world-class universities. Key elements for success (of course) include: attracting top academic talent in terms of staff and students, an innovative research outlook, and significant financial investment.

The World Bank Headquarters in Washington DC

Perhaps the more surprising conclusion in the report (though not for Iduka) is that ‘outstanding research universities do not operate in a vacuum’. Tertiary (post-secondary) education systems in operation in the country (particularly low and middle income countries) can significantly affect the success of university institutions. If the post-secondary education is lacking, then ultimately the developing university will not be up to scratch.

Whilst not shocking for Iduka supporters, these findings do hammer home the need for more investment in post-secondary education. Africa has the potential to house many world-class university institutions – but first it must support its world-class students. Well done Eric Gitta and Martha Chidiso for being the most recient scholarship recipients to champion Iduka’s post-secondary education cause!

 

Photo credit: Shiny Things, Wikipedia

Another Scholarship Contest Winner

Iduka would like to congratulate, Eric Gitta, the recipient of the most recent scholarship contest election.

Eric is post-graduate student in Education Administration and Management at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.

Eric Gitta, Uganda

This scholarship recognizes Eric’s academic achievement as well as his volunteer work as General Secretary for Substance Abuse and Violence Episode Reduction (SAVER UGANDA), where he exercised his leadership skills in managing the organization’s daily operations.

As with all our scholarships, recipients are asked to serve their communities in meaningful ways. Eric was instrumental in promoting Iduka’s programs to local university students in Uganda during the initial phase of our pilot project . He is now actively reaching out to local rural students through his very own Education for Rural Impecunious Children (ERIC). We commend his dedication to providing basic educational opportunities to rural-African students.

Thanks to everyone who applied and made our first scholarship contest a success! We encourage all eligible African students to participate in our “LinkedIn Challenge” scholarships. For more information, please click here.

Iduka “LinkedIn® Challenge” Scholarship

To celebrate President Barack Obama’s visit to LinkedIn Corporation on Monday, Iduka is excited to offer through its African Pilot Project, a number of “LinkedIn® Challenge” Scholarships.

President Barack Obama

Iduka was formed in response to the need to make college more affordable in our communities, our nation, and the world. In early December 2008, a group of Obama For America volunteers from Port St. Lucie, Florida met to organize a program to help students reach their goal of higher education. The group established a financial aid process that can bring meaningful change in our society.

The purpose of these Iduka “LinkedIn® Challenge” Scholarships is to make post-secondary education more affordable for our African Pilot Project students and to give them a chance to pay back by volunteering in their local communities. Scholarship recipients must agree to volunteer at local Iduka Chapters to promote our programs and the value of professional social networking that LinkedIn has to offer to college students around the world.

“LinkedIn is expanding rapidly. We have two new members joining every second.” Said Miguel Martim, Iduka’s volunteer Excutive Director and a LinkedIn employee. “Everyone from top CEO’s to President Barack Obama has a LinkedIn profile. We want our students to learn the basics of LinkedIn and start to develop a strategy for success while they’re still in college.”

We encourage all eligible African students, including our student volunteer interns to participate in this challenge. For more information about eligibility and application instructions, please click here.

MAKE SURE TO USE THE SHARE BUTTONS BELOW TO SPREAD THE WORD AND INVITE STUDENTS TO APPLY!

(Image source: The White House. Author: Pete Souza. LinkedIn is a registered trademark of LinkedIn Corporation.)