LinkedIn is the world's largest professional networking site with 650,000,000 users. It helps people make connections, share their experiences, and find jobs. 

Understand 

Your LinkedIn profile is a page you create that summarizes your professional experiences and education. It's a standardized, online version of your resume. Effectively everyone you interact with professionally will look at your profile at some point. It strongly influences the job opportunities you're considered for, so it's imperative to do it right. 🎯

The critical components of a compelling LinkedIn profile include: 

• A snapshot of who you are

  • Your headshot

  • A headline 

  • A summary statement

• Your work experience

  • Companies you've worked at

  • Roles you've had at each organization

  • Specific responsibilities and accomplishments you've had in each role

• Your education

  • Where you went to undergrad 

  • Any graduate school degrees

• Any volunteer experience or unique interests

  • Names of organizations you actively volunteer with

  • Organizations you regularly participate in

• Professional connections

  • At least 500 people you have a professional relationship with 

Recruiters and executives love Linkedin and use it on a day-to-day basis. Putting in the time is worth it because it will speak for you as a first impression hundreds of times during your job search.

Myths about LinkedIn

Before we dive into how to approach each of the LinkedIn profile components, let's debunk a few myths about what LinkedIn is.

❌ You only need an updated LinkedIn profile during a job search. Nope! Anyone in the professional world (hint: you included!) should have an updated LinkedIn. Solid profiles get people reaching out to them every week about potential following job opportunities!

❌ No one really looks at LinkedIn. This statement is absolutely false. 87% of recruiters say that they find a candidate's LinkedIn profile to be the most effective way to vet someone during the hiring process. Recruiters live on Linkedin. 

❌ Accept all connection requests. There are some competing schools of thought here. Some argue that more connections are always better because it improves visibility. Others advise only connecting with people you've worked with or went to school with. 

Like most things in life, the color of truth is grey. But after working with thousands of job seekers and talking to countless recruiters, we've found the most successful candidates have 500-2,500 connections who they at least loosely know. Ideally, you have a strong enough relationship with someone that you'll remember them a year down the line.

Connecting with people on Linkedin enables you to identify potential introductions. You should absolutely go through and connect with all:

• Colleagues and manager (former and current)

• Friends in your industry

• People you meet through networking

• Recruiters and hiring managers when you genuinely hit it off

• Classmates and professors

• People you know from sports, clubs, or religious activities in your industry

It's definitely worth going through everyone you know in your industry and adding them on Linkedin. Connections come in handy once you're actively on the job hunt!

Needless to say, having a strong LinkedIn profile and a critical mass of connections is essential as you prepare to find a new job.