LINKEDIN – THE SOCIAL NETWORK FOR PROFESSIONALS

What is LinkedIn?
The term ‘social network’ is sometimes connected with spare time activities, but do not confuse LinkedIn with Facebook. LinkedIn was certainly not launched for sharing photos from parties and expressing your emotional status. LinkedIn is also not a regular job
board.
LinkedIn is a professional network connecting job applicants, employees and employers around the world. The main benefit of this network is the social range. The possibility of building relationships with new people from your industry can affect your future professional life.

A strong profile is more important than a CV

More than 66% of HR staff search for candidates on LinkedIn. So what does that mean for users? We believe that a professionally created profile may bring you your dream job.

What do HR staff look for on LinkedIn?

• Unique skills and experiences
• Experience in a particular company
• Projects
• Language skills

LinkedIn nowadays offers various ways of how you can stand out from the crowd. If you worked on a specific project or published an article that is available online, you can add it to your profile.  In your profile you may also select a photo, insert a short description about yourself or mention your voluntary activities. Do not forget that your profile creates your online identity therefore you should be careful with the content to avoid creating the wrong impression.

Create a list of contacts

Everybody has heard of the term ‘networking’ these days. With LinkedIn networking means building long-term professional relationships and contacts in a specific industry. Don’t think adding your colleagues, friends or family members is enough. It is very important that you show your interest in new trends, add high quality content in the form of various articles, info graphics and comments on posts, as well as participate in relevant discussions. Moreover, your activities on LinkedIn demonstrate your online reputation.
Another important part of this networking involves adding and receiving positive references. If you know any savvy people, you can write a reference for them or recommend their skills. Not everyone will provide this automatically so if you feel you have a particularly strong skill then ask your colleague for a reference. More than 85% of employers stated that their last hiring decision was influenced by what they found about the person online. You can find more about how to build professional relations in our article ‘Rules of Successful Networking on LinkedIn’.
Advantages of being a LinkedIn user:

Building your personal brand and image

• The possibility to present your past experiences, projects and other work cooperated on as well as your current status
• Ability to obtain references from your contacts and publish them directly on your profile
• Easy to establish professional relationships with your fellow students, your University and potential employers
• The opportunity to get attractive offers of cooperation
• For employers, LinkedIn is one of the essential tools in finding new staff  
• Some job offers are published only on LinkedIn
• Access to the latest industry information and interesting developments through participation in various interest groups
• The possibility of monitoring a specific corporate website