Ways to Use LinkedIn to Your Advantage

RILEY RASSMAN

LinkedIn can be a very useful tool in preparing yourself for jobs, finding jobs, and many other career-related things. For those that are unfamiliar with LinkedIn, LinkedIn is a professional social media site in which professionals can connect with each other, share posts, interact with one another, and offer insights, among many other things.

While LinkedIn is not the end all be all of finding jobs and being a successful young professional, it is a valuable tool that can help you along the way. Knowing how to maximize the benefits it can offer you will help you be more confident in your abilities as well as give you a bit of an edge over some other candidates. Listed below are some of our favorite ways to make use out of LinkedIn (some basic and some lesser-known) that will help users to prepare themselves for whatever career path they are after.

1. Build Your Network

Building your network is the first step of making use of LinkedIn. Without a network, LinkedIn does not have a lot to offer, it is basically like having an Instagram account without followers and without following anyone yourself. The crucial step of building your network allows you to connect with people you know—whether they are in your desired field or not—and stay up to date on what they are up to. Don’t discount anyone from your network, you never know who could offer you a valuable connection later on! Try to connect with as many people as you can. The more people in your network, the more potential connections and opportunities are out there for you in the future. As the old saying goes, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know!”

2. LinkedIn Jobs Page

Another great feature of LinkedIn is its Jobs page. Since LinkedIn is a very career-focused platform, it would only make sense that they would offer some sort of job board. You can search for jobs by title, skill, or company, and further narrow down the search by location, job type, pay range, and many other filters. Once you have searched for jobs on the platform a few times, it starts to understand what kind of job you are looking for and emails you recommendations based on your previous searches. This can be really helpful as they are usually freshly posted opportunities at that point with few other applications.

3. Set Up Informational Interviews

Adding onto the first tip of building your network, another great way to use LinkedIn to your advantage is to use it to set up informational interviews with people in your network. An informational interview is a great way to network and build relationships with professionals but is also a great learning experience. These interviews can offer you great insight into what people in your desired feel actually do on a daily basis instead of generalized job descriptions you get online. They are an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have regarding their work which will help you learn more about what you are looking for in a job. Keep in mind when reaching out to people to set these interviews up, it can feel awkward, but these professionals love to talk about what they do with someone who is interested in it!

4. LinkedIn Learning Courses

Our final piece of advice is to utilize your access to LinkedIn Learning courses. As a student of the University of Minnesota, you have access to thousands of courses taught by professionals of various fields. The course list is seemingly endless and covers everything from data analysis to personal branding to K-12 educations and everything in between. There really is something for everyone to learn on LinkedIn Learning making it an amazing resource for students and young professionals trying to learn as much as they can. Listed below are just some of the many courses offered, broken down by the field they are related to.

Marketing: Writing a Marketing Plan, Marketing on Instagram, Marketing Foundations, Marketing Tools: SEO, Setting a Marketing Budget

Human Resources: Human Resources Foundations, Strategic Human Relations, Human Resources: Payroll, Talent Resources

Finance and Accounting: Financial Accounting Part 1 and 2, Stay Ahead in Personal Finance, Financial Foundations, Accounting for Managers

Sales: Asking Great Sales Questions, Selling to Executives, Sales Prospecting, Making Great Sales Presentations

Entrepreneurship: Become a Small Business Owner, Start a Business Online, Entrepreneurship Foundations, Entrepreneurship: Raising Capital

Overall, LinkedIn can be a very helpful tool in all things professional, business, and career. There are many different facets to the platform and many ways in which it can help its user. Some of these ways include, but are not limited to: building your network, the LinkedIn Jobs Page, assisting in setting up informational interviews, and the LinkedIn Learning courses. With all of these resources all in one place, LinkedIn is a super convenient one-stop-shop for young professionals and students to boost their resume and their network.