Benefits of Using LinkedIn for Job Search and Professional Networking

If you are a business person and you are online, you have surely heard of LinkedIn. In fact, with 19 million users worldwide, chances are you’ve already created your own LinkedIn account.

What exactly is LinkedIn? It is an online network of people from all over the world. Although technically one of the many social networking sites on the web, LinkedIn is probably the best known and most widely used business networking site. Also, while it has similarities to well-known social networking sites like MySpace, there are also fundamental differences that make it much more useful for business purposes.

So the next question of course could reasonably be: “What exactly is an enterprise networking site?” And more precisely, “Why should I care and how can it benefit me?” If you are asking these questions, you are definitely not alone! While there are a large number of people who create LinkedIn accounts and build their networks, relatively few get the optimal benefit from their effort.

According to LinkedIn’s own explanation, LinkedIn’s mission is “to help you be more effective in your daily work and open doors to opportunities using the professional relationships you already have.”

Even if you are not conducting a current job search, for ongoing career management and personal branding efforts, any tools that can help you network more effectively and efficiently should be of great interest. Again, in LinkedIn’s own words:

“When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional achievements. Your profile helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners. You can add more connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect with you.

Your network consists of your connections, the connections of your connections, and the people they meet, linking you to thousands of qualified professionals. “

Through LinkedIn, then, you can search for work, you can easily establish personal “internal” connections regarding job opportunities, you can promote your personal brand and qualifications and be found and pursued for job opportunities, and you can establish relationships that are critical. for your success and career progression.

But remember, effective networking requires reciprocity by developing and nurturing win-win relationships. Through LinkedIn, you’ll also have the opportunity to help those in your own network, answering questions, providing relevant leads, and helping them make connections to further your goals.

In the Ultimate Guide to Using LinkedIn for Business and Professional Management Purposes, “I’m on LinkedIn – Now What?” Jason Alba explains that there are six main benefits of using LinkedIn:

1) The ability to make yourself known and enhance your personal brand

2) The ability to be found by recruiters or other hiring authorities

3) The ability to meet others and make important connections.

4) The opportunity to learn and share

5) The ability to connect with group members.

6) The opportunity to show that you are connected to current technology.

If you already have a LinkedIn account and have an established network. Let me urge you to take a closer look at how you are using it. Have you fully explored the features and benefits? Have you improved your profile? Have you joined any group? Did you participate by answering questions from those in your network? LinkedIn is a great and very effective networking tool, but only if you use it!

If you’ve established a LinkedIn account but left it unused, now is the time to log in and learn how to get the most out of it. Now, before actively looking for work, is the best time to work on building and cultivating your network. And if you’re new to LinkedIn and haven’t created an account yet, there’s no better time than now! The more professionals that use LinkedIn, the more effective it will be.

Happy networking!