Just how important is an online presence? For most professional recruiters, social media is the first step in finding new employees fresh out of college.

Facebook and Twitter can potentially ruin your chances, but a properly set-up LinkedIn account can easily put you at the front of the line.

Career Services is sponsoring an upcoming event called “Senior Celebration,” which gives seniors a chance to get a free, professional photo taken for LinkedIn.

“If LinkedIn in this competitive market can increase your opportunities to get a job. Why wouldn’t you do this?” said Karen Hagans, Executive Director of Career Services. “Students will fill out a brief information form. Then, they’ll get their picture taken, we’ll have some refreshments, and they’ll be set.”

The event is also designed for students to meet and interact with the career specialists.

“It’ll be very brief, said David Kokandy, career specialist for the College of Nursing and the College of Arts and Sciences. “It won’t take a lot of their time. We just really want to meet students individually and figure out what resources we can connect them with. We want to see as many students as we possibly can at this.”

Kokandy believes that LinkedIn is crucial in today’s job market. He said that whenever he Googles somebody, LinkedIn almost always pops up first.

“LinkedIn is one of the biggest missed opportunities,” he said. “[Students] either don’t have a photo or have an unprofessional photo on there and just with a few tweaks, LinkedIn can be a great advertisement for them.”

Hagans believes that Career Services is a great resource for student opportunities, and it’s easier to give specific students these opportunities if personal relationships are formed.

“My hope is that [students] can learn from us even from this brief encounter and will want to come back and use Career Services more,” she said. “Bottom line is that we just want students to know we are here for them. But first, we need to know what the students need.”

“Senior Celebration” will be held in the Hawkins-Conard Student Center conference rooms on Sept. 26 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Career Specialists are available by appointment Monday through Friday in the Career Services Center.