What is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is different from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It is mainly used to develop professional connections, look for opportunities and apply for jobs.
Users are primarily adults, according to Pew Research Center. About 70% of users live outside the U.S. Therefore, if you want to find a job abroad, LinkedIn is a good place for you to find opportunities provided by other countries’ companies.
College students are unlikely to realize the importance of this platform until they become juniors and seniors. According to Omnicore, the total number of LinkedIn users is 675 million, while only 46 million users are college students or recent college graduates. Those students and recent graduates may think they don’t have too many things to share on this platform as they don’t have many working experiences. They may also think they don’t need to use LinkedIn now as they are not ready to find internships or jobs.
However, students should start using and building their resumes on LinkedIn as early as possible because LinkedIn is essential for professionals and students.
At first, “LinkedIn is a great way of being found on Google,” Kinley McFadden, an author at Smart Business Trends, said. For instance, I googled my name and found that my LinkedIn page was the first result.
LinkedIn is also an excellent place to find internships and jobs directly from hiring managers. Some managers will post hiring alerts. If you find these opportunities first, you may apply for these internships or jobs before other people.
Last but not least, LinkedIn is the best place to show your professionalism. You can introduce your working experience, educational background, volunteer experiences, accomplishments, and professional skills in your profile. If you have a good profile, you may attract many managers to view your page and are more likely to connect with others.
Overall, if you don’t have your LinkedIn account, create one as soon as possible. It will help you a lot in your future career.
Sources I use as references in this blog:
Larissa Gao 