How exactly does LinkedIn work?

LinkedIn is a professional social networking platform that allows users to connect with other professionals, find jobs, follow companies, and more. With over 810 million members worldwide, LinkedIn is the largest professional network on the internet. But how exactly does LinkedIn work and what makes it different from other social networks?

The Basics of LinkedIn

At its core, LinkedIn functions similarly to other social networks. Users create a profile with information about their professional background, including work experience, education, skills, and accomplishments. You can connect with other users by sending connection requests, which must be accepted to form a connection.

Once connected, you can see updates from your connections in your LinkedIn feed. You can also interact with connections by commenting on or liking their posts. A key difference from platforms like Facebook is that LinkedIn is focused specifically on professional networking rather than personal connections.

Profiles

LinkedIn profiles are centered around resume-like sections summarizing your professional background. Here are some of the key sections of a LinkedIn profile:

• Headline – A short tagline summarizing your professional identity, similar to a resume objective.
• Summary – A brief overview of your professional experience, skills, and goals.
• Experience – A list of your work history including companies, titles, dates, and descriptions of responsibilities.
• Education – Your academic credentials and degrees obtained.
• Skills – Keywords summarizing your areas of expertise.
• Accomplishments – Honors, certifications, publications, courses, projects, etc.
• Interests – Topics and organizations you follow.
• Recommendations – Positive endorsements from your connections.

Profiles also display profile pictures, contact info, websites, and links to social media. There are also additional sections like volunteer experience, publications, courses, projects, and more. Fleshing out your profile fully is important, as more complete profiles are more likely to appear in searches.

Making Connections

The true power of LinkedIn comes from the professional connections you accumulate. Here are some ways to connect with other users:

• Send connection invitations to colleagues, classmates, clients, etc. that you know and trust.
• Import contacts from your email provider.
• Follow companies to get updates on new jobs and be viewable to recruiters.
• Join groups related to your industry or interests to connect with like-minded professionals.
• Search profiles using keywords to find connections with similar skills or experience.
• Accept invitations thoughtfully – only connect with those you know and trust.

As your network grows, you gain access to connections of your connections, expanding your reach. A robust, well-curated network boosts your visibility and provides insider access to opportunities.

Feed & Interactions

Your LinkedIn feed displays recent activity from your connections and groups. You can interact with connections by:

• Commenting on or liking their posts.
• Sharing their content with your own network.
• Congratulating them on work anniversaries and new jobs.
• Engaging in group discussions by asking and answering questions.

You can also publish your own posts and articles to share content, ideas, and news with your network. Posting regularly is a great way to stay top of mind with connections and boost engagement.

Jobs & Hiring

With extensive directories of companies and job listings, LinkedIn is a go-to platform for recruitment. Job seekers can:

• Search millions of job postings by title, company, location, etc.
• Get alerted to recommended jobs that may be a good match.
• Apply directly through LinkedIn with your profile.
• Follow specific companies to get notified of new openings.

For recruiters and hiring managers, LinkedIn enables:

• Posting job listings targeted to relevant candidates based on their profiles.
• Searching profiles with advanced filters to find candidates.
• Contacting passive candidates who aren’t actively job seeking.

With its access to extensive professional data, LinkedIn serves as a powerful recruiting platform.

Company Pages

LinkedIn Company Pages showcase brands, products, services, culture, news, and job openings. Users can follow Company Pages to:

• Learn about a company and keep up with news and updates.
• Research a company they may be interested in working for.
• Get notified when relevant new jobs are posted.

Companies manage their Pages to attract candidates, distribute content, advertise openings, and build their brand.

Premium Subscriptions

While the core LinkedIn platform is free, they offer several premium subscriptions with additional features:

These packages provide additional capabilities for more dedicated users, recruiters, and businesses.

Use Cases

Here are some of the most popular use cases for LinkedIn:

• Networking – Connect with colleagues, mentors, clients, and other professionals to build relationships, share ideas, and access opportunities.
• Job Search – Look for new job openings, get headhunted by recruiters, or listen for opportunities through your network.
• Recruiting – Source, vet, and contact candidates for open positions.
• Building Brand – Establish yourself or your company as an authority in your industry.
• Leads – Identify and connect with prospects for sales or business development.
• Research – Investigate companies you may want to work for or do business with.

Privacy & Settings

LinkedIn offers robust account settings to control your privacy and experience. Under Settings & Privacy, you can:

• Choose whether your profile is visible to all LinkedIn members or only your connections.
• Block specific members from viewing your profile.
• Select which sections of your profile are visible. For example, you may want to hide your birthdate.
• Disable search engines from indexing and including your profile in results.
• Manage notifications and email frequency.

It’s important to adjust these settings appropriately for your comfort level and professional circumstances.

Conclusion

At its heart, LinkedIn is a platform for professionals to build connections, access opportunities, distribute content, and showcase themselves. While it functions like a social network, it is strictly focused on career and business objectives. The most successful LinkedIn members carefully cultivate their network and participation to advance their professional goals.

With its powerful profile system, company Pages, groups, and job listings, LinkedIn provides tools to connect with colleagues and opportunities worldwide. The extensive professional data and outreach capabilities make it a go-to platform for networking, recruiting, research, and building brand credibility.