You probably already know what LinkedIn is by now, and maybe you have an account, but perhaps it's not one of your top-rated social media platforms for many valid reasons. In this article I'll be explaining the platform (LinkedIn); its distinctive features, and how you can take full advantage of LinkedIn for Career Success. After reading this piece, you’ll understand the potential of LinkedIn and how you can use the platform to develop meaningful and relevant industry connections, gain exposure to hiring managers, meet people with similar professional interests and most importantly land your next job.

LinkedIn is the largest business-oriented networking website geared specifically towards professionals. It has over 645 million members, in over 200 countries. Out of Fortune 100, 88 companies have licensed the software to find and track potential candidates. LinkedIn is so powerful because the network and your profile are centred on your professional identity. The information you share — from your job history to articles, photos, and videos — all contribute to building a professional footprint that can reach a potential audience of over 600 million other professionals. The truth is time has changed and the world is evolving rapidly and so is the method of recruiting and criteria for recruiting. A fancy résumé and a well-written cover letter are no longer enough to land that job. These days before a candidate is invited for an interview, his or her digital footprint is first reviewed. Most recruiting managers want to see how you’re demonstrating your skills and experience on social media. Undoubtedly, one of the best social media platforms to leave a “professional digital footprint” is LinkedIn.

THE DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF LINKEDIN

Professional Network

The first distinctive feature and one of the reasons why you should take LinkedIn seriously is the fact that, unlike other social media platforms, LinkedIn tailors your network to professionals within your field rather than family and friends or acquaintances. With these connections, it becomes easy to develop industry relationships, discover current trends, opportunities, and lots more within your industry or area of interest. A report has shown that over 122 million people received an interview through LinkedIn with 35.5 million having been hired by a person they connected with on the platform

Digital Resume

Your LinkedIn profile is your digital resume. It allows you to show potential employers and or clients your skillset, work experience, education, licenses and certificates, publication, interest as well as recommendations from previous employers or colleagues. This distinctive feature demonstrates how LinkedIn has added a professional layer to social media – allowing its users to demonstrate professionalism on the Internet while maintaining other basic social media features. Moreover, with LinkedIn, you can download a copy of your updated CV, which is professional and well designed for job applications.

Job Notifications

Earlier, we have established that 88 out of the Fortune 100 companies use LinkedIn to find and track potential candidates, and they don’t stop there. Most companies advertise jobs directly on LinkedIn, and the platform has amazing features that enable the user to receive job alerts that are relevant and are tailored specifically to their skill sets and interest. In addition, LinkedIn gives you the ability to turn on notifications for any job you’re interested in. When this is activated, you’ll receive notifications, and you can either apply directly from LinkedIn called Easy Apply with your LinkedIn profile (CV) or follow the application link to the job portal or company website. With this feature, you don’t need to trawl the web every day or receive 100s of irrelevant job emails from recruiting portals. You just relax, develop your skills and let LinkedIn find you the perfect job that matches your profile.

LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn has an app called LinkedIn Learning. This is an online learning platform like Coursera or Udemy. It has lots of relevant and well-structured courses in every field. With LinkedIn Learning, you can take pathway courses or short courses and earn a certificate at completion. These certificates show your potential employers that you are constantly learning, developing your skills, and have what it takes to land that job.

In conclusion, LinkedIn should be your trusted professional resource when it comes to building a powerful network and growing in your desired career. It has a vast repository of professional development content, from book recommendations, articles and videos, all the way to online courses. LinkedIn is not only the go-to tool for maintaining your network(s), but it is also a great way to keep up with what's happening in your industry and get job search tips, among many other things.

About the Author

Victor Michael is an International postgraduate student at the University of Wolverhampton Business School, where he is currently studying MSc Digital Marketing Management. He is a Growth Hack/Growth Marketing Enthusiast.