It seems today a lot has to do with who you know and not just so much with what you know. LinkedIn is the social networking program which focuses on business relationships and professional networking. It was founded in December 2002 by Reid Hoffman and founding members of PayPal and launched later in May 2003. LinkedIn has over 150 million members, which has put itself far ahead of its competitors XING and Viadeo. Membership is increasing every day and the majority of members (50%) reside in the United States. Membership however has seen a massive growth within India and saw the fastest growing network users as of 2009. With membership on the rise it seems business networking will never be the same again.
So what does LinkedIn actually do?
Anyone can sign up for a LinkedIn account and more and more students and graduates are beginning to see the opportunities LinkedIn bring for future employment needs. It now seems more important to build up valued connections in case you may need them in the future. The official name for the relationship you build with other members is a ‘Connection’. Like other social networking sites you can invite people to become one of your connections but if the respondent clicks that they don’t know you, this tarnishes your account. If too many people reply like this, your account may be suspended. The aim of this is to build trusted and strong relationships amongst users. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, you can search for people under a number of criteria such as “Profile Headline”, “Summary”, “Education”, and “Company” which makes it much easier to find who you are looking for.
One of the main features of LinkedIn is to make business life simpler by enabling you to see the connections you already have. People are able to research companies which they would like to work for and able to review statistics of the company. In July 2011, LinkedIn went one step further and added a button to LinkedIn profiles which meant people could directly apply to jobs by using their profile as their CV. By doing this employees would be able to see the connections they have already made in their career.
LinkedIn has joined the likes of Facebook and Twitter by becoming an app available for smartphones such as the Blackberry and the iPhone. This works conveniently for people who wish to network on the go (but also means your mobile phone will probably never leave your side!) With apps like these being available on the go, we can never escape work or virtual social life. We live in an age where we can never truly escape technology as it has such a firm grasp on us and we now depend on it. This however discriminates slightly against older members of society who may not be so in touch with the technological advancement in this field. Younger people certainly have an advantage and this may lead to ageism in the working world.
Unlike Facebook, once you are a member of LinkedIn and wish to view the profiles of the people you have connected to do not stay secret. You are able to tell who has been viewing your profile which may be good or bad depending on the circumstance. It would be positive to see someone influential looking at your profile but at the same time you may question why certain people are looking at your profile.
LinkedIn highlights how job hunting has moved into the virtual. No longer is it the case of simply handing in a paper copy of your CV into a company, instead everything is done online so it was only a matter of time LinkedIn profited on this. Social networking is becoming integrated into the recruitment process and plays a major part for both employers and employees. It is more likely now that a future employer will ‘Google’ you and find out all they can about you before they meet you and LinkedIn makes this possible. Employers are recognising that they will be far better informed of their future candidates by doing this. Therefore anything you decide to publish on the internet if fair game for your future boss to view. By becoming a member of LinkedIn, especially when starting off your career, provides a chance to highlight the skills and work experience you already have and highlights the gaps you may have on your CV.
We can clearly see that social networking now has a major influence in our lives and we have to recognise their significance and influence. We no longer have any boundaries as they are worldwide phenomenons which are continuing to grow with strength to strength. To help people gain the most out of LinkedIn Eric Butow and Kathleen Taylor have written a book called “How to Succeed in Business using LinkedIn” which gives a step to step guide of the advantages of using this form of social networking.
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