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Understanding
LinkedIn Basics
Harness its power to launch your career
LinkedIn is a powerful social media platform that connects
colleagues and professionals, job seekers, companies, recruiters
and industries. Learn how to use it and put it to work for you.
MBA
ASAP
PP
John Cousins
Social Media
MBA ASAPPP

MBA ASAP
Understanding LinkedIn Basics
Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 3
Profile.............................................................................................................................................. 4
SlideShare ................................................................................................................................... 5
Connections..................................................................................................................................... 5
Interests........................................................................................................................................... 6
Companies................................................................................................................................... 6
Groups......................................................................................................................................... 7
Jobs ................................................................................................................................................. 7
Updates ........................................................................................................................................... 7
Mobile............................................................................................................................................. 8
Summary......................................................................................................................................... 9

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Introduction
LinkedIn is a powerful social media platform that
connects colleagues and professionals, job seekers,
companies, recruiters and industries. It is a great tool for
raising your profile and organizing and keeping track of
your education and job history and skills. Take a minute
to go to the site and wander around a bit and get familiar
with the layout.
LinkedIn is a great social media tool for business and
professional networking. It is also the premier human
resources forum for getting exposure to recruiters and employers and upping your chance of
landing your dream job.
LinkedIn was launched in late 2002 and has grown to more than 433 million members in more
than 200 countries. Professionals are signing up to join LinkedIn at a rate of more than two new
members per second. It is your one-stop shop for networking.
The human resources field is being dramatically reshaped as a consequence of the digital
economy. The rise of LinkedIn as a nexus point for job seekers, recruiters, and employers, is an
indication and consequence of this transformation.
The social networking site has transformed how employers and prospective employees engage
with one another, becoming an indispensable tool for employers seeking the right person to fill a
specific postion. Employers use the site both to connect with active job seekers and also to
identify desirable candidates to contact, court and hire.
SlideShare and Lynda

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LinkedIn owns SlideShare were you can post and share slide deck presentations like PowerPoint.
It also owns Lynda.com which is an educational site worth checking out. In mid 2016 Microsoft
purchased LinkedIn.
Here is summary of what LinkedIn has to offer and its prominent features:
Profile
Think of LinkedIn as Facebook with a professional slant. This
is where you build a profile of your education and job history.
You profile is like an online resume, a page on which you list
information like job experience and professional skills.
LinkedIn is a place where you can network with like minded
people, both peers and mentors from across the world.
LinkedIn measures your “profile strength” from Beginner to All Star The higher your profile
completeness, the more likely you are to appear in search results. For example, if you list skills
like “Bookkeeping” and “Accounting,” recruiters may come across your profile when they an
search on those keywords.
There are 5 levels of LinkedIn 'Profile Strength':
All-Star
Expert
Advanced
Intermediate
Beginner
You achieve 'All-Star' status by:
Adding a profile photo
Listing 2 or more positions you’ve held, along with descriptions of your roles

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Having 5 or more skills on your profile
Writing a summary about yourself
Filling out your industry and postal/zip code
Adding where you went to school
Having 50 or more connections
Slide Decks and Videos
LinkedIn owns SlideShare where you can post slide decks you have made on PowerPoint or
other presentation software. You can then embed these presentations in you LinkedIn profile
page. You can also embed YouTube videos and other media that highlights some part of your
career or interests.
It’s important to complete your profile to the best of your ability especially if you’re planning on
using LinkedIn to look for jobs. But don’t be intimidated. This isn’t a race. Take your time as
you build your profile.
Now let’s talk about how to optimize your LinkedIn profile:
Connections
Getting 50 connections might sound like a daunting task but LinkedIn makes it pretty easy.
Start with people you know. A good first step is to search for people you know by name. Use the
search bar at the top of the page to locate them. Click on their thumbnail profile which will take
you to their profile page. Click the “Connect” button next to their picture to add them to your
network. LinkedIn sends a stock message about wanting to connect along with your name. You
may send a personalized message along with the invitation to make the connection more

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meaningful. LinkedIn may ask you how you know this person and provide you with a list of
possible relationships and your job history.
After you have located a few people whose names
quickly come to mind and have sent them requests
you can try to the “People You May Know” page.
The top bar under the search bar has a drop down
menu called “Network” this is where you find the
“People You May Know” page. LinkedIn analyzes
your connections and makes suggestions based on
your burgeoning network. The page will show potential connections and how many connections
you both share. As you build your network you will be surprised by how many people you are
connected to by on or two degrees of separation.
There is a theory called Six Degrees of Separation that states that everyone is six or fewer steps
away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world. So that links of "a friend of a
friend" can be made to connect any two people in no more than of six steps. LinkedIn is the
manifestation of this idea. It is thrilling when you start to connect with people from all over the
world that share your business and career interests.
Under the “My Network” tab on the top bar you can also navigate to “Add Connections”. This
will step you through the process of importing your email address book. LinkedIn will then
compare your email address book to people registered on LinkedIn, suggest connections, and
help you manage them. You choose which ones you would like to connect with.
Interests
On the top bar is a drop down menu tab called “Interests” that allows you to find and connect
with companies you might be interested in.
Companies

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Many companies have profile pages on LinkedIn with lots of information about the company
including job openings. Many companies encourage applicants to apply through LinkedIn.
Recruiters also use LinkedIn to search for candidates. More reasons to complete your profile and
keep it up to date!
The “Interest” tab also navigates to the Group function.
Check out and Follow the MBA ASAP page!
Groups
LinkedIn groups are designed to share content, ask for
advice, post or search for jobs and network with
others based on some common interest. Groups focus
on industries, professions, associations and societies,
support groups, causes, and publications to name a
few. You get the idea. Find some groups that seem
interesting and check them out. They are great ways
to network and find out the latest information related
to your interests and career goals.
Jobs
The top bar also has a menu tab called “Jobs”. Based on your education and job history LinkedIn
will make suggestions of current job postings you may be interested in. When you click on the
“Jobs” you will get a list of possible jobs and LinkedIn will prompt you to set up your job
preferences so they can tailor their recommendations to you. If you are looking for a job or
interested in advancing your career, then the job search and recruitment tools are LinkedIn's most
valuable features.
Updates

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Social network content sharing on Facebook and Twitter are more about fun and entertainment
between friends. LinkedIn updates tend to be focused on business and professional interests
between colleagues.
When you post a status update on the LinkedIn homepage it will be shared and also posted to
your profile page under Posts. You can post from your homepage or your profile page and when
you engage in discussions in LinkedIn groups, it will also be posted as an update.
You can also post updates from web articles you find interesting and informative by clicking the
LinkedIn social share button next to it. You can also connect your Twitter and Facebook
accounts to LinkedIn.
Mobile
LinkedIn has mobile applications for iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows. If you are like me
you will probably end up using LinkedIn much more on your phone or tablet than on your
computer.

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Summary
LinkedIn is a great way network, keep current, market
yourself and search for jobs and opportunities.
Send me an email and tell me whether you found this
helpful and with any suggestions of what to clarify or add
at john.cousins@mba-asap.com. And when you set up
your profile, make me one of your first connections!
And Follow the MBA ASAP page. This will get you on your way to becoming a networking
ninja!
John Cousins
www.mba-asap.com