What is LinkedIn? | Social Media website | Professional Website

LinkedIn is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates through websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career growth, and allows job seekers to post their CVs and employers to post jobs. Since 2015 most of the company’s revenue came. Since Dec 2016, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. As of February 2022, LinkedIn has 830+ million registered members from over 200 countries and areas.

What is LinkedIn?

1. LinkedIn is a social networking site specifically designed for the business community. The goal of the site is to permit registered members to establish and document networks of people they know and trust professionally.
2. A LinkedIn member’s profile page, which emphasizes skills, employment history and education, has a professional network of news feeds and a limited number of customizable modules. Basic subscription for LinkedIn is free. So that network members are called “connections.” Unlike other free social networking sites Such as Facebook or Twitter, LinkedIn requires connections to have a pre-existent relationship.

History of LinkedIn

The company was founded in December 2002 by Reid Hoffman and members of PayPal and SocialNet.com’s founding team (Alan Bleu, Eric Lee, Jean-Luc Vaillant, Lee Havar, Konstantin Guéric, Stéphane Beitzel, David Eves, Ian McNish, Yann Puzante, and Chris Sachari). In late 2003, Sequoia Capital led a Series an investment in the company. In August 2004, LinkedIn achieved 1 million users. In March 2006, LinkedIn accomplished its first month of profitability. In April 2007, LinkedIn reaches 10 million users. In February 2008, LinkedIn introduced a mobile version of the site.

Why use LinkedIn?

When you are talking about LinkedIn then LinkedIn is a social networking site designed specifically for the business community. The goal of the site is to permit registered members to establish and document networks of people they know and trust professionally. A LinkedIn member’s profile page, which emphasizes skills, employment history and education, has a professional network of news feeds and a limited number of customizable modules. Basic subscription for LinkedIn is free.

So that network members are called “connections.” Unlike other free social networking sites Such as Facebook or Twitter, LinkedIn requires connections to have a pre-existent relationship. LinkedIn is a popular social network with a specific objective. Whereas other social networks like Facebook and Twitter focus more on your personal life, LinkedIn is all about professional networking —that is, building a group of contacts to help advance your career.

What are the Key features of LinkedIn?

1. Profile

It is situated to the left side of your homepage. Click on your profile picture, this will show your name, photo, skill, education, location and occupation etc.

2. My Network

This shows your professional network, the list of professionals you are connected with on LinkedIn. This also shows you the invitations (people who want to be added to your network) and a list of people you would like to connect with.

3. Jobs

In this section, you will find the job listings posted by the employers and divided into various categories. It also suggests jobs that you might be interested in, based on the information provided by you like your skills, education, experience, location and job-preferences.

4. Messages

It permits you send messages to another professional. You can also attach a file or picture with your message.

5. Notification

This feature gives you notifications such as who supported you, who invited you to join something, who viewed your profile, and to say happy birthday etc.

How to use LinkedIn effectively

1. That complete your LinkedIn profile

Your profile that can be a powerful part of your personal brand. All registered LinkedIn users will be able to see it (unless you set it to private mode). You can also have a public profile that can be searched by external search engines, so that even people who are not registered with LinkedIn can see it. LinkedIn’s internal search algorithm onlyfinds profiles ranked as “complete” and can be viewed more than 20 times as often as incomplete profiles. There are essential things to remember here.

2. Add a good quality photo of yourself

Preferably a photo taken by a professional photographer. Look smart, smile, and don’t create any distractions in the shot.

3. Make your profile shine by adding a background image

That reflects your personality and your profession. Mention your industry and location in your title. You have a maximum of 120 characters for this. Include a short summary of who you are, what you do and what you have to offer.

4. If you see like Contact and Connect with other LinkedIn Users

 LinkedIn that enables you to network with people and professional organizations in your industry.This is a great way to remain up to date with the latest developments, and to share information with others in your field. You can invite anybody to connect (and accept their invitations to connect with you), but they must have their own LinkedIn account to use the site. When you make a new connection, you gain access not only to that individual’s profile, but to their publicly available connections, too. These become your “second-degree connections”.

5. Start the conversation

The Active Status feature tells you which of your connections are online look for the green dot next to their profile pictures. If you have a premium account, you can use In Mail as well. This allows you to privately message any LinkedIn member without any prior introduction or additional contact information.

6. Give and Receive Recommendations and Approvals

 Your connections can write “recommendations” for your profile, and offer “approvals” of your skills, and you can do so in return.

7. Recommendations are personal testimonials which emphasize your professional abilities

Aim to collect a few of these (between five and 10 is a good “rule of thumb”) by asking people you’ve worked with to write one for you.

8. Use LinkedIn Groups

All LinkedIn members can create or join groups to discuss ideas and share industry news. You can use the search bar at the top of your profile page to find interesting groups to join, or you can find new groups through people you’ve already joined. Once you become a member of the group, you can join group conversations, ask questions and send messages to other members.

Benefits of LinkedIn

1. Employment Opportunities

The biggest advantage of having a LinkedIn profile is that it is a gateway to employment opportunities across the globe. Before the advent of LinkedIn, students used to get jobs through connections.

2. Easier job applications

 The initial stress of job applications is reduced as the recruiter is already aware of your skills and wants to explore them further. This gives you a great opportunity to take advantage of it and use the app to the fullest. The traditional recruitment process has taken a back seat and LinkedIn has become paramount.

3. Skill Assessment

You have to complete a set number of tasks only after completing which, upon completion of which you are allowed to add skills to your profile. This gives you the advantage that your skills are backed and thus employers will not have the opportunity to question it.

4. Start Connections

In addition to getting job offers, the connections you establish on your LinkedIn help you in the long run. For example, you can start by connecting with your school and college friends and eventually move on to your co-workers. Having a great list of connections reveals your strong profile.

5. Endorsements and Connections

Gathering endorsements and connections is a great way to add social backing to your profile. As mentioned earlier, having great connections will add value to your profile. By receiving support for your skills, employers gain additional confidence in your profile.

6. Branding

Having a profile on LinkedIn allows you to build a personal brand. It enables you to show who you are, what your skills are to employers. You create a personal brand for yourself by highlighting your skills, characteristics and interests. Once you have built a brand for yourself, employers know what you stand for and thus the process of getting job offers is streamlined.

7. Receive Job Alerts

If you want to jump into the professional world after completing your overseas education then LinkedIn will be the right place for you. You can set it up in such a way that you will receive alerts about certain positions or job openings in certain companies. By getting these job alerts you will be one step ahead of others.

8. Positive Social Image

 A growing trend among employers lately is the act of doing a social media search. In most cases, students often lag behind in a single department due to multiple innocent social media posts. Having a LinkedIn profile lets employers know how serious you are and thus can build a positive social image.

Conclusion

In conclusion, as a social business network, LinkedIn has a lot to offer small and medium-sized businesses. Whether you want to hire talented individuals or sell a product, your business can benefit from creating a company page and connecting to a network. Some are better for businesses with a marketing budget while others are better for branding, but they are here to help you on your LinkedIn journey.

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