With the establishment of cell phones, each one of us can now make calls, send messages, connect to our friends and family and so on. As smartphones became popular, we now have devices like computers, laptops, tablets and so on to entertain us, allow us to fulfill our regular tasks and keep our documents safe. As the world was advancing, they also released something that you can keep in your phone to help you make anything possible. They are called applications. Now these applications were developed specifically for smartphones that help you according to its various categories. We have applications that help us keep track of our day, a virtual event planner, a calendar, a calculator, a foot-step tracker, health tracker, cyber diary, menstrual cycle tracker, applications for learning, applications that support games, your local bank has its own application for internet banking, and then we have a big hub of social media applications which keeps on experiencing more and more additions. Because, social media was one of those type of applications that intrigued everyone in the beginning. Well, why would they not? They allow you to connect with your friends and family without asking to to spend a single penny from your pocket. Because these applications make use of your internet connection only! Now within social media you will find various categories of applications that come with different interfaces as well as different purposes. Now we have a ton of applications that help support our need for entertainment. These applications work at their best when you wish to connect to friends who have traveled abroad and along with that, these can help you earn online or simply get famous. However, not many of these applications help you set your career. For that then, we have LinkedIn. Do not be confused if someone tells you LinkedIn is just Facebook but for adults. If you read our article from here on, you will find out just what LinkedIn is!
LinkedIn was found even before Facebook; this application came into existence in 2002. This American based application has its headquarters in California while its parent organization is Microsoft Corporation itself! Does that not give it a good reputation already? Well LinkedIn was founded by a number of intellectuals; Eric Ly, Allen Blue, Konstantin Guericke, Jean-Luc Vaillant, and Reid Hoffman. Now LinkedIn is here to help you with business and employment oriented social networking services. It operates through its mobile application which is available on any device supporting any kind of software; Android, iOS, Windows, Linux and so on. LinkedIn is best used for making professional networks. With that, on LinkedIn man employers post regarding job offerings while those of you who are seeking for a job instead can post and leave their CVs on your page. Statistics conducted in the April of 2017 showed that LinkedIn now has 500 million users. These users come from 200 countries whereas out of these 500 million members, 106 million members are active on regular bases. With LinkedIn, both employers and workers are able to create their profiles and then “connections” which is a term used by LinkedIn to establish the people who know each other through LinkedIn. Along with that, LinkedIn uses a gated-access approach. This means that if you wish to contact any professional on LinkedIn you either should have an already existing relationship or you must introduce yourself through a contact of that specific professional. This approach helps users of LinkedIn build their relationships and connections on trust and experience a safe social networking site. According to Alexa Internet, LinkedIn is ranked the twentieth most popular website in 2016. New York Times further revealed that students in America who belong to high school are building their own LinkedIn profiles to help their college applications. This website is now available for access in 24 languages; which includes English, French, Italian, German, Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, Korean, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Romanian, Danish, Turkish, Russian, Czech, Japanese, Indonesian, Polish, Tagalog and Malays. So, if you are bilingual and your mother language is any one of these 24 languages, you can now experience the best of LinkedIn in your language!
Latest plans of Microsoft include integrating LinkedIn with Microsoft Office products and encourage more and more users. On LinkedIn, instead of posting your pictures from your night out (Selfies, flashy pictures and so on), you are to share professional achievements, ideas, and aspirations. This application helps you promote yourself, your skills, build contacts, find a job and so much more. Now if you are someone who is already intrigued by this website, we will briefly teach you how you can sign up for LinkedIn using two ways; through web or through its application!
Now if you wish to make your own profile through its website, you will first launch your web browser. At the top of your web browser, you will type www.LinkedIn.com and hit the enter key. Immediately the webpage for this social networking site will open. From this main page, it will ask you to either log in (for which you need an existing account!) or sign up. Clicking on the sign up button will take you to your sign up window. Here your sign up is simple. You just need to provide your email address, phone number, username, password, security questions, organization and so on. Once done, simply hit on the sign up button and you will be done!
Now, if you are on your smartphone right now, you can still create your LinkedIn profile. All you need to do is go to your app store (Play Store for Android and Apple App Store for iOS). Make sure you are logged in to your app store account. At the top, there will be a search bar. Simply type LinkedIn and the first application that appears from the list will be original LinkedIn. Just make sure you have typed the right spellings! Now all you need to do is accept the terms and conditions in order to let the application download and install itself. Once the process is done, you will simply launch it on your phone and hit the Sign up tab. If you already have an account, you can simply log in with your username and password. If not, simply follow the sign up steps and you will be done in no time. On your profile you can upload your own profile picture, provide any biography, set which information is visible to others, and find any existing connections by specifying your organization (place you study at or work). You can upload your CV and specify your skills and the job you are looking for. You can even email your existing colleagues, friends and family to join you on LinkedIn.
Here on wards now, we will teach you some ways you can use to get the best use out of this application. This social networking site can allow you to build quite a powerful profile and chain of connection if you simply make sure you have the following tips enabled on your LinkedIn profile.
First thing’s first, LinkedIn allows you to create a personalized URL. While the initial LinkedIn URLs contain an endless series of numbers, you have the ability to customize it so that it can just include your name and the company you have or you belong to. Simply pay a visit to your profile settings through your profile page and you will be good to go! Another feature that LinkedIn provides you is the ability to create your own profile badge. This is especially suitable for those of you who blog, work as a content writer, make guest posts, have your own website and so on. This profile badge will establish and build your own authority. When people click on this badge, it takes them to your LinkedIn profile and this way you can help your career yourself!
This application also allows you to make “follow links” that gives search engines the ability to index your LinkedIn profile. Just make sure you have the suitable keywords to build your profile. For example, if you are searching for work, add keywords that are relevant. And do not worry, these keywords are interchangeable. This is how LinkedIn helps you use Search Engine Optimization. Now LinkedIn lets you appear more authentic. So, you can now add sample of the work you have done. So say you can at your college and you are looking for a job or an internship. This allows suitable jobs to ensure that you are legitimate and opens up your career opportunities.
With this, you can also check out the job postings in LinkedIn from time to time. What’s best here is that these job postings can be searched with location and lets you find something just around the corner for you! Now the people you are connected to on LinkedIn can even endorse you and recommend your profile to others. This is how this application allows your previous employers to help out your career.
If you wish to be a part of a larger community that is going to support your career and your finances, LinkedIn is your way to go!
Hina Akram 
Michelle