9 Reasons You Need to Use LinkedIn

Now. We all know about LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the #1 social network for professionals to

connect at all levels. To this date, over 600 million professionals are on LinkedIn. That is 600

million job seekers and employers. If you don’t think that LinkedIn will provide you any value,

then think again; with numbers that high, LinkedIn should be your #1 source when searching

for a job.

For some reason, when it comes to job searching, we are quick to run to all of the big job boards out there but we neglect a great platform like LinkedIn. By the end of this post,I

want to convince you on why you need to utilize LinkedIn to its fullest potential. I really want to go into the 9 reasons why you need to use LinkedIn. With that being said, let’s begin.

1. Number of Users:

As mentioned earlier in this post. LinkedIn has 600 million users, of which 300 million are active monthly users and of which 63 million of those users are decision makers. The purpose of LinkedIn is to connect with professionals in areas that interest you. Everyone that uses LinkedIn is looking to connect. With over 300 million mostly active users, there is no reason why you can’t accomplish any of your professional goals. In order to be successful in any endeavor, you must surround yourself with individuals who can help you get there professionally. Why not LinkedIn?

2. Employers are looking for you here:

According to a very reputable source, it is stated that 78% of hiring managers utilize LinkedIn to find job seekers to fill positions within their company BUT in better news, over 90% of those employers ACTUALLY hire through LinkedIn. With that high of a percentage, it is clear as to why you should become a part of LinkedIn.

3. Recent Graduates are NOT on there:

Yes you heard it right; college students and recent graduates are NOT on LinkedIn. LinkedIn statistics show that around 16% of LinkedIn are College Students and Recent Graduates. Why aren’t they using LinkedIn you may ask? Because they are crazy! Remember when I said that 90% of employers hire through LinkedIn? Remember when I said that 600 million people are on LinkedIn?

Exactly. If that low of a percentage of college students and recent graduates are using

LinkedIn? What do you think your chances are of getting in front of one of those

employers? Pretty high right? If that alone doesn’t give you motivation to get on

LinkedIn, I don’t know what will.

4. It’s not what you know it’s whom you know:

LinkedIn is all about making connections with individuals in your chosen career field. You have the opportunity to link up with those who share the same professional interests as you. You have the opportunity to connect with potential employers before you even meet them. You never know whom you might meet on LinkedIn. You can connect someone that knows people that can assist you with your career goals.

5. Branding is KEY:

I’m going to be 100% honest with you. In today’s society, personal

branding is the key to your achievement in any endeavor. If you don’t have a personal

brand online, then you don’t exist.

One of the easiest platforms in which you can set up your personal brand is on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the perfect platform to establish yourself as the professional you desire to be.

6. Its Potentially the New Resume:

Think about this for one second, the resume you have on paper or electronic copy is usually limited to 1-2 pages. This leaves you in a position in which you cannot display your full value to the employer because you are forced to be brief.

Considering the fact that employers are heavily searching on LinkedIn after they look at your resume. You can now spell out all the details and specifics that otherwise there was not room for. Not only that, but with the recommendations feature, employers can see that you actually have others that can validate your success.

7. Show the World What You Know:

With the LinkedIn publishing feature, you can write

posts on the platform in order to display your knowledge. Not only that but LinkedIn

allows you to showcase your knowledge of a product, industry, process, theory, or perspective on a topic. This too can help you legitimize yourself as a candidate, advocate, or representative.

Not just showing that you worked somewhere, or went to such and such university, but actually proving your ability to put pen to paper. LinkedIn publishing has always been a great way to see how others view your level of expertise.

8. You can come up in Google:

Look, there is not secret that employers are constantly searching for you on the web. When you have an established LinkedIn profile and you are producing content on LinkedIn, it is easier for you to come up in Google search engines.

9. You don’t want to be left behind:

Lets be honest here, at the end of the day, LinkedIn is the only professional career based social platform that’s out there. If you decide that you are not going to have a a LinkedIn account, you are proving to the world that you are out of touch on where our society is going. . The future is technology and social media. Successful people embrace the tools of today and learn how to best leverage them.

How has your experience been on LinkedIn?

I know we have a few of you out there who actually use LinkedIn.  We would like to hear about your experience on the network so far.  MANY people don’t understand the benefit of LinkedIn because they never gave it a shot.

Everyone is quick to create a Facebook, twitter, Instagram or Snapchat profile but for some reason, nobody takes LinkedIn as serious as it should be.

I would love to hear about your experience on the platform.