1. LinkedIn is a great way to stay in touch with colleagues
LinkedIn is a great way to stay in touch with people who you know either from work or from school. If you know someone from either of these places, then it is likely that you both have similar career aspirations. Over time, it is likely that you will end up in different places. For one, it is nice to simply know where people are working and see their updates. Also, it might just happen that someone you know will end up working at a company that you are interested in. This could lead to a new career opportunity. What's more, LinkedIn lets you know if you have second/third degree connections with someone; studies have found that friends of friends often times are the ones who end up landing you a job. If you see a second or third degree connection who you might want to meet, you can find a way to be introduced!
2. It is a great way to showcase your skills to recruiters/future employers
One really nice thing for people who are open to new career opportunities is that recruiters and headhunters are actively searching the network for people who have the skills of positions that they are trying to fill. This even means that occasionally headhunters will reach out to you about a job. This takes the whole pain of searching for applicable new jobs away! Also, it is well-known that after you apply for a job, a high percentage of recruiters or people interviewing you will do a google search on you to see who you are. LinkedIn can be a great way to make a good first impression before you go in for an interview.
3. LinkedIn shows relevant job postings based on your skills provided in your profile
It seems that LinkedIn takes into account the skills and experience that you have listed in your profile and uses that to recommend jobs that you may be interested in. We estimate that this will be one of the top places to conduct job searches in the near future simply based on convenience and quality. What's more, you can filter down the suggested jobs by company size, industry, and location with the click of a button. Another neat concept is that there is a "people also viewed" feature that shows very similar jobs to the one that you are viewing. This is very much like Amazon's offering that suggests products, and we all know how helpful (or "unhelpful") that can be.
4. There are interesting business articles and career experiences/advice posted frequently
There is a section for interests in LinkedIn. One of the subsections within Interests is "Pulse." This is a great way to stay up to date with different postings by industry leaders and influencers. There is a lot of great advice that gets posted here. Careful though, you might end up losing track of time going from article to article! Also within the Interests section are groups and companies that you can follow. Following a company can be useful to easily see updates especially if you need some recent news to talk about in an interview. Finally, groups are a good way to meet like-minded professionals and see some of the latest developments in your industry.
5. It shows that you are someone who stays up to date with current technology
Just having a LinkedIn shows that you are with the times. One thing that you want to display to current/future employers is that you are keeping your skills up to date. For instance, if you are a candidate applying to a job and do not have a LinkedIn, then there is a chance that someone might think you are not keeping up anymore. For this fact alone, it is better to air on the side of caution and just make one. You won't regret it!
No comments:
Post a Comment