LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 800 million members. As a platform built to connect professionals, LinkedIn offers various tools and features that enable users to grow their networks, find jobs, connect with business partners, and increase their professional profiles. One of the key features on LinkedIn is its extensive library of applications that provide additional functionality and value for users.
What are LinkedIn Applications?
LinkedIn applications, also known as apps, are third-party programs that integrate with a LinkedIn profile to provide extra services and features. These apps allow users to showcase more information, highlight special skills and talents, and generally enhance their professional presence on the platform. There are currently thousands of apps available on LinkedIn that serve purposes like:
- Displaying portfolios and projects
- Highlighting credentials and awards
- Showcasing volunteer work and causes
- Featuring publications and writing samples
- Displaying professional slide presentations
- Promoting special events and conferences
- Recommending services and products
- And much more
Apps on LinkedIn run the gamut from simple, one-purpose tools to complex applications with many robust features. But in all cases, their goal is to help professionals stand out, share more information, and expand the value of their LinkedIn profiles.
How Do You Add LinkedIn Apps?
Adding apps to your LinkedIn profile is a simple process. Here are the steps:
- Go to your LinkedIn profile page and click on the “More” dropdown menu near the top right. Select “Add profile section”.
- This will bring up a menu of possible sections you can add to your profile, including apps. Click on the “Apps” option.
- You will be taken to the LinkedIn Apps marketplace. Browse the various available apps or search for specific apps using the search bar.
- When you find an app you want to add, click on it and then select the “Add” button.
- Most apps will ask for permission to connect with your profile. Click “Allow” to authorize the app.
- Follow any additional instructions from the app to finish installing it on your profile.
- The app will now appear as a new section on your profile for other users to see.
It only takes a minute or two to add most apps. You can repeat the process to add as many apps as you want to your profile. LinkedIn does not place any limits on how many apps a single account can use.
What Kinds of LinkedIn Apps Are There?
The LinkedIn app marketplace includes a diverse range of app categories and types. Some of the major categories include:
Media Apps
These apps allow you to showcase media content like images, videos, and slide presentations. They are great for displaying portfolios, creative works, and visual content.
Content Apps
Content apps let you embed published articles, blog posts, books, and other writings into your profile. They help demonstrate your expertise and thought leadership.
Recognition Apps
Recognition apps highlight awards, honors, certifications, volunteer work, and other forms of recognition. They help convey your accomplishments.
Skills and Interests Apps
These apps emphasize specific skill sets, hobbies, causes, and interests. They show what you care about and are passionate about.
Company Apps
Company apps come from specific brands, organizations, and corporations. They often promote job opportunities, products, and events.
Utility Apps
Utility apps provide useful tools and services, like scheduling meetings or collecting feedback. They add functional value to your profile.
And many more…
Several other app categories exist, like campus apps for university students, travel apps for frequent fliers, and industry-specific apps for sectors like retail, healthcare, or technology. There are even apps for displaying real estate listings, auctioning products, promoting crowdfunding campaigns, and more.
Examples of Popular LinkedIn Apps
To give a better idea of the range of LinkedIn apps available, here are some examples of popular apps on the platform:
Behance
Behance is a leading social media platform for creative professionals. The Behance app lets you showcase your best design projects directly on your LinkedIn profile.
Trello
Trello is a popular project management tool. The Trello app integrates your boards and productivity features with LinkedIn.
Amazon Kindle
Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform helps authors self-publish books. The Kindle app displays your published books on LinkedIn.
VolunteerMatch
VolunteerMatch allows you to search for volunteer opportunities. The app highlights volunteer work on your profile.
SlideShare
SlideShare is the world’s largest slide hosting service. The app lets you embed slide decks on LinkedIn.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social media management platform. The app integrates features like scheduling posts and analyzing metrics.
Benefits of LinkedIn Apps
Integrating apps into your LinkedIn presence provides many potential benefits:
- Showcase breadth and depth – Apps allow you to reveal more details, dimensions, and examples that demonstrate your full professional capabilities.
- Highlight achievements – Apps make it easy to flaunt various awards, publications, volunteer work, courses, and anything else worth publicizing.
- Express creativity – Media-focused apps let you exhibit your creative chops through portfolios, videos, images, presentations, and more.
- Share knowledge – Content-based apps let you share articles, papers, books, and other intellectual property that displays your thought leadership.
- Promote skills – Apps can dig into specific skills, languages, talents, and specialties that might not otherwise be featured on your profile.
- Personalize profile – Apps help customize your profile by revealing hobbies, causes, affiliations, and passions that show your personality.
- Stay updated – Apps can automatically sync with other services to keep your profile up-to-date across multiple platforms.
Apps essentially act as plugins that provide more nuanced detail about who you are and what you do as a professional. This added depth and customization can help attract more profile views, connections, and recruitment interest.
Tips for Using LinkedIn Apps
To maximize the impact of LinkedIn apps, keep these tips in mind:
- Carefully evaluate apps – Only use relevant, high-quality apps that serve a clear purpose.
- Feature prominently – Display apps in profile sections that visitors will notice quickly.
- Limit app overload – Having too many apps can be distracting. Pick a few stellar options.
- Refresh content – Occasionally update app content to keep things fresh and engaging.
- Highlight achievements – Configure apps like VolunteerMatch to feature your most impressive accomplishments.
- Promote media – Use multimedia apps to showcase your best creative work in a portfolio format.
- Link content – If you have a website, blog, or other content channels, link to them via content apps.
- Use company apps – Employer apps can be a great way to align with current or prospective companies.
Conclusion
Applications provide LinkedIn users with tremendous opportunities to amplify their professional profiles and stand out from the crowd. The platform makes it simple to add various apps that showcase media, content, skills, achievements, and more. Professionals looking to get the most out of LinkedIn should explore the app ecosystem to discover impactful and creative ways to put their best foot forward.
