Cornell enables students to apply using LinkedIn profiles

With a single click, LinkedIn users can apply for numerous job applications just by sharing their LinkedIn profiles with hiring employers.

Like LinkedIn’s simplified job application, the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University has recently streamlined its own admissions application by utilizing LinkedIn.

Cornell’s business school has announced the launch of its newly redesigned application for its one-year and two-year master of business administration programs in Ithaca, N.Y. The new application process allows applicants to prefill parts of their applications — such as employment, educational, demographic and contact information — from their LinkedIn profiles, according to the university.

Ann Richards, the Johnson School’s interim director of admissions and director of financial aid, says that the school hopes the redesigned application will make applying simpler.

“There will be less duplication of information,” Richards says. “This will make it a lot easier and a lot less cumbersome for students to apply and still give … students the opportunity to present a very well rounded and robust picture of themselves.”

According to Richards, applicants who choose to connect their application with their LinkedIn profiles grant the university access to their full LinkedIn profiles. However, Richards says that connecting their application with LinkedIn is not mandatory.

We would Google someone or check LinkedIn if something did not seem to add up,” she says. “The problem with Googling and just searching LinkedIn for someone with the same name is that you are not really sure you are getting the information on the applicant. By the applicant connecting their LinkedIn application to us, we are confident that the information we are seeing there is for our candidate

“Not everybody uses LinkedIn. And I am not even sure that everybody in the world has access to LinkedIn,” she says.

Richards also says that while the business school’s admissions officers occasionally searched for applicants’ LinkedIn profiles in previous years, it was never a matter of normal procedure.

“We would Google someone or check LinkedIn if something did not seem to add up,” she says. “The problem with Googling and just searching LinkedIn for someone with the same name is that you are not really sure you are getting the information on the applicant. By the applicant connecting their LinkedIn application to us, we are confident that the information we are seeing there is for our candidate.”

Johnson’s new application for its Ithaca-based programs was inspired by the unique application process for the Johnson Cornell Tech MBA program in New York City, which enrolled its first class in May 2014.

“The part about the whole (application) process that was most striking was that Johnson was actually practicing what they preach,” says Michael Karp, a current MBA student at Cornell Tech. “They’re launching a new technology-focused MBA program and using more modern-day tools to make it a reality.”

Sneva, who originally came up with the idea to integrate LinkedIn for Cornell Tech’s MBA application, says she wanted to create an application that would give prospective students the opportunity to express themselves freely and creatively.

“I did not want to insert a regular essay question type of process that … was happening throughout other MBA programs,” Sneva says. “We created a new application last year because we wanted a blank slate … and completely challenged what an actual (MBA) application really was.”

The way that employers utilize LinkedIn to search for employees was similar to the way Cornell Tech looked for the right applicants for its programs, said Christine Sneva, Cornell Tech’s director of enrollment management and student services and former director of admissions and financial aid at the Johnson School.

“Using LinkedIn seemed right,” she says. “(Cornell Tech’s MBA program) was an extremely creative and technology-driven type of program. So (using LinkedIn) made sense and really spoke to the core competencies of what the program was and also the kind of people we were looking for.”

Josephine Lee, a current MBA candidate at Cornell Tech, says that she was “surprised and excited” to discover that she could use her LinkedIn profile to fill out her application instantaneously.

“I was able to spend more time focusing on the creative part of the application, which is where I believe most candidates should be dedicating their time,” Lee says. “The LinkedIn feature was a smart move for a program dedicated to business in the digital world. It felt like a signal that this program was trying to do things differently in every way, including how potential candidates apply.”

Adam Pruett, also a current MBA candidate at Cornell Tech, says that being “able to upload his LinkedIn profile for the application was a major relief.”

“My girlfriend, who was applying to other MBA programs, would spend quite a few hours typing the same information on each application,” he says. “She was definitely a bit jealous when she saw me finish my entire application in about half the time she was finishing.”

By connecting their LinkedIn profiles with their applications, prospective Johnson MBA students will need to make sure that their LinkedIn profile is up-to-date and continues to stay as up-to-date as possible, Richards says.

“The resources of LinkedIn — the opportunity for employers to look at them, to connect with other professionals, to develop mentorships …  is one of the things, as MBA students, that we want our students to take advantage of,” she says.

Richards also says that she believes that the trend of integrating LinkedIn into the application process will begin to catch on at other business schools.

“This is an easy way for candidates and schools to have access to somebody’s work history. In MBA admissions and MBA applications that is an integral part in the assessment,” she says. “In law school it may not make a difference, in medical school it may not make a difference, but in business school (LinkedIn) is really fantastic — it is a great tool for schools and for candidates to take advantage of.”

Echoing Richards, Amanda Emmanuel, a current MBA candidate at Cornell Tech, says she sees LinkedIn as a rich resource that provides so much more information about a person than just their education and work experience.

“With the additional value that a LinkedIn profile showcases a top tier admissions team, why wouldn’t they want to see a candidate’s LinkedIn profile?” Emmanuel says.

With inputs from USA Today and Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management