Introduction to LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social network that connects professionals and companies looking for new business opportunities or collaborations. It is the world’s largest online professional network.

LinkedIn is the most popular social media platform for building relationships and interacting with other professionals.

It is intuitive in the sense that it has all the basic characteristics of a social network — it allows users to connect with “friends,” send direct messages, create posts, and share and react to content posted by other users.

To access LinkedIn, you can create a profile from a computer or smartphone. Profiles consist of a description similar to a resume, where you upload your professional experience, skills, and education.

This platform is ideal for students, companies, or anyone looking for a job, or to advance in their career.

LinkedIn offers free, basic membership to anyone who wants to create and maintain a professional profile online, but for those who want access to additional products and features, there is also the option of a premium subscription.

On LinkedIn, users can:

• Find and connect with contacts in their fields of interest
• Find out where their university colleagues work
• Find job offers
• Participate in specialized groups with other people who share their affinities
• Explore and develop new job skills through the LinkedIn learning modules
• Use the LinkedIn Events feature to create and join professional events such as online workshops, seminars, sales and marketing events, networking events, and more.
• Write articles, post photos and videos, and more.

Once a user enters their data, the platform searches for other profiles with similar characteristics. You must have an active account in order to use LinkedIn to search for profiles.

LinkedIn will also suggest out-of-network profiles which a user may or may not find interesting. 

LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn, like other networks, offers a “groups” feature. Groups are made up of users who come together under a shared purpose or specific interest. Once you join a group, posts that appear in the group will also appear on your feed.

If you manage a group, you can send a weekly highlight to all members of the group.

Joining groups is recommendable. Try and find the ones most aligned with your goals, and participate actively in them. 

LinkedIn Recommendations

LinkedIn gives you the ability to receive recommendations from your co-workers and bosses, allowing you to add recommendations to your CV.

You can ask contacts from previous or current jobs to recommend you, or you can do it yourself. Be generous with your colleagues if you think they deserve it.

LinkedIn Company Pages

LinkedIn allows companies to create corporate profiles from which they can post about their experience and knowledge, and offer their followers useful and interesting content.

It also allows them to conduct job searches and share their achievements.

Messages

LinkedIn allows you to send private messages to your contacts for free.