Nowadays, networking and professional connections are paramount for the growth and success of businesses and individual brands. And LinkedIn has proven to be the ultimate social media platform for career growth and opportunities while doubling as a learning platform.
With several millions of members across the globe, this platform has enhanced the way professionals collaborate, connect, display their expertise, and seek opportunities. Overall, LinkedIn is a gold mine of numerous opportunities and there are several reasons you should use it.
In this guide, we’ll explore the various ways LinkedIn can transform your career, expose you to opportunities, etc. You’ll also learn about LinkedIn Learning, how to create a profile, and login to your account.
Table of Contents
What is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is the largest professional social network in the world. You can use it for internship or job search, building solid professional relationships, and learning relevant skills to thrive in your career. Also, you can access this social network from the mobile app, desktop, or mobile web.
Irrespective of your career field, LinkedIn is for anyone who’s intentional about their professional life and seeking better opportunities for career growth and connecting with fellow professionals.
Furthermore, LinkedIn can be likened to a tech networking event where you meet other experts, discuss what you do, and exchange contacts/business cards. But in this case, it is virtual.
Networking with people on this social platform requires adding them as “Connections,” following them, and engaging in their posts. You can also discuss with them through private DMs or their provided contact information.
What Are Its Main Features?
LinkedIn and Facebook have similar layouts. However, LinkedIn’s features are more tailored to professionals. If you know how to use other social media platforms like Facebook, then you should be able to use this professional social network.
We’ll show you the major features that’ll greet you once you get on LinkedIn as a basic account user. But you can still explore deeper into more specialized aspects of the platform.
Home: This is the welcome screen you see immediately after you log in to this business network. It is your Feed that contains recent posts from your followers, connections, and Ads.
Profile: Your LinkedIn profile displays your photo, name, bio, occupation, location, and more at the top. Below, you have several customizable sections like Professional Summary, Experience, Education, Organization, Licenses, Recommendations, etc. Your profile can serve as a resume or CV in some cases.
My Network: This area covers a list of everyone you’re connected with on the platform. If you hover your mouse around this option, you’ll find other options to enable you to add contacts and discover people you may know, or alumni.
Jobs: Recruiters frequently post jobs on LinkedIn and you’ll often find them in the jobs section. Additionally, LinkedIn will recommend some jobs for you based on your available information and (optional) job preferences.
Interests: Besides connecting with professionals, you can follow your desired interests on this business social network. These could be groups, pages, etc.
Search bar: LinkedIn features a search bar that enables you to filter your results according to your desire. You can get more specific with your search by clicking Advanced beside the search bar.
Notifications: This business social network has a notification feature that allows you to see posts from profiles you follow when invited to join an event, and so on.
Messages: With this, you can converse with fellow professionals through private messages. It also lets you include attachments like documents, photos, etc.
Pending invitations: In this section, you’ll see a list of people who have previously invited you to connect with them. And you can choose to approve or decline any request.
How Can You Use LinkedIn?
Now that you know about this professional social media platform and its major features, it doesn’t mean you understand how to use it. The truth is that many users create a profile and abandon it due to frustration from not knowing how to use it.
However, we’ll give you a brief rundown of how you can use this social media platform.
- Create a strong professional LinkedIn profile.
- Leverage LinkedIn Publishing.
- Engage with other people’s content.
- Join and participate in groups that interest you.
- Build quality relationships and networks.
- Leverage LinkedIn analytics tools to gain insights about your content’s performance.
- Optimize your profile like your resume.
- Connect with old colleagues.
- Find and apply to jobs relevant to you.
- Share content about what you know to establish yourself as a thought leader in that niche.
Why Should You Be On LinkedIn?
There are many reasons you should be on this professional social network. However, these reasons are grouped into threefolds since it is primarily used by three categories of people (individuals, recruiters, and salespeople):
Individuals: LinkedIn is an excellent tool for this set of people; it helps them to find jobs, manage their careers, connect & network with professionals, search companies, and stay up-to-date on the news in their industry.
Recruiters: This platform is helpful to employers for candidate search when hiring, to network with potential employees, and research different companies.
Salespeople: This group of individuals use this business social network to build relationships with potential customers as well as generate leads.
How To Create a LinkedIn Profile
Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating a LinkedIn profile for yourself:
- Visit linkedin.com and click Join now.
- You’ll be asked to provide your first name, last name, and email address, and create a password. So, follow the instructions and select your country/region, and primary language.
- After filling out all the required details, click Join LinkedIn. Then you’ll be redirected to a page where you’ll have to provide more information to complete your profile. Such information includes Bio, profile photo & banner, professional summary, experience, skills, etc.
- Upon completion of your profile, you can begin connecting with other users on the platform.
Best Practices For Creating Your LinkedIn Profile
Creating a LinkedIn profile involves a straightforward process but there are some practices you should follow for your account to become effective.
- Ensure you use a professional photo as your profile picture. This will give your potential connections and employers a first good impression.
- Now, go to the About section and add a summary of your skills and experience. Doing this gives your profile visitors a rundown of who you are and what you do.
- For the Experience section of your profile, add your relevant work experience with employment dates, and job titles, and describe your responsibilities.
- Afterward, move to the Education section and include all your educational experiences, coursework, and degrees.
- For the Skills section, mention all your skills and qualifications. They could include soft skills too.
- Connect and network with other LinkedIn users you know, trust, and that interest you. By doing this, you’re building and expanding your network & reach.
- Bonus tip: Remember to always update your LinkedIn profile as you advance and grow your skills and experiences. You can also ask your colleagues, previous employers, or clients to give you a professional endorsement or recommendation. This boosts your credibility.
How To Login To Your LinkedIn Account
Before attempting to login to your LinkedIn account, be sure that you have already created an account on the platform. If you have already done this, then follow these steps to login to your LinkedIn account:
- Visit the LinkedIn login page.
- Input the email address you used to open your account alongside your account’s password.
- Click Sign In.
Remember that if you already created an account, don’t click Join Now when you visit LinkedIn’s official website. Doing this may create a duplicate account, which is against LinkedIn’s policies.
Since you’ve known how to login to your LinkedIn account, it’s important you know how to log out/sign out too. Here’s how:
- Click the Me icon at the top of your Homepage.
- Then choose Sign out. This will log you out of the platform immediately.
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What is LinkedIn Learning?
LinkedIn Learning is an online educational platform where you can learn creative, technology-related, and business skills through video courses from industry experts. Further, it has over 5,000 courses you can take. It also enables you to complete, track, and find courses that interest you.
Upon completion of these courses, you can decide to incorporate them into your LinkedIn profile. Meanwhile, LinkedIn Learning is both free and subscription-based. If you subscribe to the paid version, you can access the whole library, share the completed courses to your profile, and obtain recommendations depending on your skills of interest.
Is LinkedIn Free?
Its basic membership is free; however, you’ll have some limitations. You can message only individuals in your network and you can only see the last five people that viewed your profile.
In addition, your searches are limited to 100 results and your advanced search is limited. Despite these limitations, free membership allows you to connect with professionals, create a portfolio, create & join groups, and write blog posts.
Ultimately, it gives you exposure to a wide professional audience. The platform also has a premium membership.
Conclusion
LinkedIn opens you up to boundless and borderless opportunities. Beyond connecting you with fellow professionals and potential business partners, this platform gives your professional life an entire turnaround.
So, if you’re serious about taking your career to the next level, consider joining this online professional network and make LinkedIn Learning your number one study app.