Linkedin is considered the least fun social network, a website with a lower profile than Facebook and Twitter, which is talked about much less but which has many subscribers all over the world, including Italians. Linkedin is the serious social network, where people do not publish nonsense or trivial things and where we talk above all about work so much that the professional nature of Linkedin increases the interest of those seeking employment, recruiters and companies.
Founded by Reid Hoffman in 2002, LinkedIn has grown to 161 million members in over 200 countries, making it the world's largest professional network on the Internet (for comparison, Twitter has 500 million registered users while Facebook has has 900 million).
It is currently available in 17 languages, including Italian.
Having said that, I doubt very much that there are people who spend those 20 minutes a day on average on LinkedIn, as is the case on Facebook.
Many sign up, fill in a very pumped resume and never return.
I don't think a guide to Linkedin is therefore out of place to see what it offers, to discover its most important characteristics for those who are preparing to enter the labor market, today terribly daunting.
1) Profile
Like most social networks, LinkedIn opens with a personal profile, a page on which to list information such as work experience and professional skills.
However, unlike many other social networks, here it is very important and decisive to complete the profile to the best of your ability, without neglecting personal information and information to be contacted, especially if you are using LinkedIn for job search.
LinkedIn measures "profile completeness" with a percentage from 0 to 100%.
The more complete a profile, the more likely it is that you can appear in search results to be found by potential employers.
To make sure the profile is 100% complete, LinkedIn recommends including the following information:
- Professional title and postal code;
- Current job position with description;
- Two or more past experiences;
- Instruction;
- At least five skills;
- Photography;
- 50 Connections;
- Summary.
It is useless to write information that does not concern one's professional activity and education, therefore avoid writing invitations to be recommended and writing one's own hobbies or interests that have nothing to do with work.
You can also create a copy of your profile in a different language (therefore it is useless to write your job position in English in the Italian profile).
You can also convert your LinkedIn profile into a resume for printing .
READ ALSO: How to create a professional profile online on Linkedin
2) Connections
To get those "50 connections" I mentioned above, you need to expand your network on LinkedIn .
You can then perform basic searches to find people you know (from the search box at the top of each LinkedIn page) and "connect" to them. The connection is a bit like Facebook's friendship, therefore it must be confirmed on the other side and you must not send requests for connections at random, to strangers with whom you have no relationship. After making several connections, Linkedin suggests other people to connect to based on the place where you work or where you worked and based on the university or school you attended.
The people added to the list of connections are "1st degree" connections, all people not added to their network but connected to the 1st degree connected, are 2nd degree connections, and so on.
A blue icon tells you how well connected you are with each person. You can also link your email contact list by adding all LinkedIn members to find more connections.
3) Groups
LinkedIn Groups are spaces where professionals and experts from every sector can share content, ask for advice, publish updates or search for jobs and networking with others.
Groups are often linked to brands, associations and companies, support groups, causes, publications and production activities in general. LinkedIn should not confuse "groups" with "companies".
Coca-Cola has an employee group but also has a company page. With over 1.3 million groups to choose from, it's easy to find the one that suits your interests. You can also choose to create your own group and appoint the moderator or supervisor.
4) Companies
As the personal profile page exists, many companies choose to represent themselves on LinkedIn, with pages very similar to those of Facebook, of which you can choose to follow the activity and updates. The Company pages contain general information, an overview of company activities and a list of employees. Many companies can also choose to list open job positions on their pages and encourage interested parties to apply by submitting their resume. Once you follow a company, its updates will appear on the LinkedIn home page next to those of the connections. To add your company to the network, LinkedIn recommends taking the following steps:
- Be at least an employee of the company and mark your position on the profile.
- Have a confirmed corporate email address (eg ).
- Associate the profile with the company.
- Have a profile at least 50% complete.
- Having multiple connections.
Every company should now have a page on Linkedin rather than on Facebook.
5) Job offers
Job search and recruitment tools are among LinkedIn's most important features.
More and more companies are encouraging applicants to apply for jobs through LinkedIn, thanks to the credibility of the social network and ease of use. From the top menu, go to the "Job" section to search for open positions. The research can be saved to be consulted daily and to see if there is any news. Employers can post advertisements on LinkedIn by paying 140 Euros for a period of 30 days.
Once the ad is published, these jobs appear in our search results and on the "Job Opportunities" tab on the company page.
With a premium membership, recruiters can "find talent" on LinkedIn.
6) Updates
Unlike sharing on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn updates tend to be sectoral and professional. You can write updates by writing on the LinkedIn.com home page that will be shared on your profile, in the activity flow. In addition, when participating in discussions in LinkedIn groups, each intervention counts as updating the activities. In Linkedin, however, you must be disciplined, avoiding to publish 100 updates a day and without getting lost in trivial things.
it is possible to disable the display of certain connections by hovering the mouse over a user update to hide it.
7) Reports or Recommendations
Each member of Linkedin can receive reports from the people he is connected to.
By Recommendation or Reporting is meant a short presentation letter that describes the person and highlights his qualities. For example, you can ask a colleague with whom you have worked to write a comment about your experience together on your profile. You can ask specific recommendations to other people also because nobody will write one spontaneously. However, do not ask everyone, but only people with whom you are on good terms and always thank them. Conversely, requests to write recommendations to others should not be ignored. Recommendations can add value to your curriculum vitae.
8) Applications
The applications allow LinkedIn users to customize their profile and share content in different ways. For example, you can choose to add the WordPress app to publish the title of each post of your WordPress blog sharing with the LinkedIn network. Other great apps are SlideShare for sharing Powerpoint presentations online and Box.net for sharing business documents. Most applications require access to some profile information, such as name or job title. However, all applications must comply with LinkedIn's privacy policy.
9) 10) Account upgrade options
LinkedIn is free but you can switch to a premium account with multiple functions.
Starting from 15 Euros per month LinkedIn offers a premium subscription program for companies, unemployed, recruiters and more. One of the distinctive features of premium accounts is the ability to send InMails. the InMail is an internal LinkedIn message sent to a person with whom you are not connected (while you can send messages for free to your connections). With the premium account you can have access to the results of the profile search, save and organize the profiles and view the complete list of people who have visited their LinkedIn profile.
10) LinkedIn Mobile
To access LinkedIn from a mobile phone, you can install the mobile application for iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows and Palm. The application is useful for publishing status updates and checking group updates. You can find new connections on Linkedin Mobile and exchange information with people who, for example, participate in the same event or the same conference or convention. LinkedIn thus becomes a way to stay in touch with new people without the need to exchange business cards. You can also choose to connect the phonebook contacts to your LinkedIn network.
11) Linkedin apps for Android and for iPhone
Linkedin has several applications published in the Google Play and Apple stores.
The main one is certainly the Linkedin app, for Android and for iPhone, which allows you to use all the functions of the social network as it happens on the site.
Linkedin Job Search really works in a simple way and allows you to search which companies are looking for new employees by filtering the results based on the city and / or based on the role sought. Each offer can be seen in detail by touching it, so that you know well what job it is and in which company. The app allows you to find work very quickly and to apply for a position with two touches on your smartphone.
Obviously it is necessary not only to have an account on Linkedin, but also to have taken care of the profile and curriculum in all its aspects, so that the recruiters and the human resources managers of the companies take us into consideration and call us for an interview.
In another article, what is allowed and what is prohibited on Linkedin.
READ ALSO: How to look for work on Linkedin and find or change jobs
