Beginner's Guide to LinkedIn

No matter what you are using the internet for, social networks are quickly becoming part of everyday life on the web. If you are just here to hang out and have some fun, you can easily use social networks to connect with friends, both old and new, and play games, make appointments, or set up a killer party. For businesses, these are an indispensable tool.LinkedIn has truly grasped the business aspect of social networks. LinkedIn goes beyond just a network of friends and fans. It can be used to create some very important and quality job links. For any business professional or someone just hunting for their next position, LinkedIn is a great place to start. Not only can you link up with professionals in your line of work or field, you can post your resume, and you can even search for people needing some help. You can also get recommendations from other LinkedIn users. There is no end to the business power of this little networking site. It may sound a little difficult to set up, but there really is no challenge. You will just need a little time and know-how and you will be off to the rat races.

The first thing that you will need to do is get an e-mail address if you do not have one already. Since many of us already have one, I think we can skip this step. The next thing you need to do is visit LinkedIn and create an account. You can start on the home page by entering your name and email. This will start the basic free account. If you want to upgrade, you will be able to later, or you can visit the compare accounts or join today links on the top of the page. We will start with the free account since most people like free. Once you fill out the form on the first page you will be sent to page two where you will be able to enter a little more information about yourself, like employment status, industry, and area. You do not have to enter your job status if you don't want, but the more information that you provide, the better this tool will work for you. If you want, you can add your contact list from your email account. This can be skipped if you don't have one of the major accounts or if you just don't want them in there. If you do add them, you can filter which ones you add and which ones to leave out. This makes it very easy to set up an account for personal and one for business use. After this step, you will need to confirm your email address via the link they will send you. That is all there is to setting up your account. Now the fun part of filling it out.

Once you have verified your account there are several things that you can add to this for some very powerful results when it comes to business. You can fill in job titles and positions that you currently hold and have held in the past. There are several categories that you can fill out on this site. You can even add your resume for future job offers. It is a very wise idea to post your resume here whether you are currently looking or not. This will allow several HR professionals to view your resume. There are many times where they will check this site prior to announcing a position opening. It is very likely that you can get a job offer in your mailbox one day without even applying. If you state that you are currently employed on your site, whether you are or not, you will find a very competitive salary to accompany this offer if they are truly interested in you.

If you currently have a business Twitter account, it would be a great idea to post this to your LinkedIn account. This is a very easy thing to do. Just go to the Profile tab and you can click the Add Twitter link. The system will walk you through the process and your tweets will be added to your LinkedIn account. If you are using the Twitter account for your opinion or for pleasure uses, you may not want to add it to a business LinkedIn. Many employers will use this information against you and it may hinder any future employment.

About once a week, you may want to post an interesting news headline and link to something in your industry. This will show people that you are staying up to date and "in the know" about your field and will build your credibility. You can do this on your Twitter account and it will post to both sites if they are linked together.

The next thing that you will want to do is find others in your profession, old college friends, or anyone that may accept an invitation from you, and start getting connections. This will increase your visibility and can add a lot to your credibility. If you are linked to the right people, you can have your profile viewed by people that can really help you out. Whether you are looking for a job, a contract, or just to build your portfolio and connections, adding people to your LinkedIn account can do nothing but help your cause. You can easily benefit from this. You can also ask some people that you know to write a professional sounding recommendation for your account. You can all do it for each other and you can soon be some of the top minds in your field.

LinkedIn is a very powerful business tool that everyone should use. Not only can you benefit from a better job offer landing in your inbox, but you can get the word out about your business, take on some side jobs for extra cash, build SEO for your website, or even make some very solid business contacts. There are several very powerful people that use LinkedIn. You may be connected with Donald Trump or Bill Gates. The possibilities are endless with this social site, and the benefits are limitless. No matter what you are wanting from your job or future, LinkedIn can get you to that point.