It’s a valuable social media tool to use. It has hundreds of millions of members - more than 660 million according to its website in more than 200 countries.
When I initially signed up for my account, after receiving an invite from a friend, I didn’t fully grasp the benefit of it. Because of my lack of understanding it, I didn’t utilize LinkedIn. I’d check in from time to time, connected with people, mainly those I already knew, such as former classmates from Camosun College or Thompson River University. Making connections like that made me feel as though I was on another Facebook. Did you feel that way too?
While working in the newspaper industry I decided to post my resume there for the digital world to see. Who knows, maybe a door would open to a new career I didn’t know existed. I ramped up my usage shortly before and after I lost my sports editor position. I used it to seek new employment opportunities, but also form connections.
Many businesses use LinkedIn to recruit employers. I have been told this more than once. I get a weekly email telling me how many businesses or people viewed my profile. It’s pretty cool seeing the variety of businesses or business people that are interested. Being a Vancouver Canucks fan, I had a moment of excitement when I saw they viewed mine. This happened not long after I accepted my position as the communications manager for the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.
I read an article that discussed how you can quickly convert your LinkedIn profile into a PDF document so that you could quickly submit your resume for a job application. I had made tweaks to mine to keep the length of it to two pages. The fact you can make a PDF version is handy.
I have learned more about the positive impact that LinkedIn can make based on the posts of other people. An example of that is the interesting content people choose to share, such as this one - If you want to be successful, don’t network - do this instead. Businesses use it to promote themselves - their products - or other information that relates to them. You may also come across stories you may not see from traditional media outlets or your community newspaper.
It is a great tool to sell yourself or your business. A recent blog post by Hootsuite reports that 30 million companies are on LinkedIn and an ad on there can reach 12 per cent of the world’s population. Kinsta.com wrote this detailed blog about LinkedIn and its mind-blowing stats and facts.
LinkedIn’s vision is to “create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.”
They do this by helping you connect with others.
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