LinkedIn: Social Networking Site
By: Monica Peterson

I have recently become a member of the LinkedIn Social Networking Community. For those of you who do not know what this website is, it is a business-oriented social networking site. It was founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003. This website is primarily used for business and professional networking. Even if you have only held part-time jobs up to this point in your life you are still able to find network connections through those companies. The search is very easy to use and almost every business has a LinkedIn account. There are over 60 million registered users who have multiple connections. I have been using this website not only to find previous connections from past jobs but as well as making new connections with prospective employers. I have found that you can learn a lot about companies by looking at their profile and being able to get a more in-depth look into how their company operates. While researching this company I came across the top ten ways to use Linked In.

1.      Increase your visibility by adding connections
2.      Improve your connectability by adding previous jobs not just your current one
3.      Improve your Google Page rank by making your profile a public website that can be found during Google searches
4.      Enhance your search engine results by promoting your blog or website to search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing
5.      Perform blind, “reverse,” and company reference checks. LinkedIn allows you to input a company name and the years you worked there and will find others that may have worked there during the same time period
6.      Increase the relevancy of your job search by using the advanced search to find people with educational and work experience like yours to see where they work
7.      Make your interview go smoother.
8.      Gauge the health of a company by performing an advanced search for company name and uncheck the “Current Companies Only” box
9.      Gauge the health of an industry by using the search to find people who worked for competitors—or even better, companies who failed
10.     Track startups
11.     Ask for advice through LinkedIn Answers