5 Benefits of Having a LinkedIn Profile?

Miriam Freeman
3 min readMay 1, 2021

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From Free-Photos/Pixabay
Free-Photos / Pixabay

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is the largest business-oriented networking website geared specifically towards professionals. It has over 500 million members, in over 200 countries. “ Simply put, it is an online portfolio, a means to connect and a vessel to research. In our day and age, It is a Must-Have for anyone who is looking to get employed, to get promoted, to change jobs or even to find that first job.

Why LinkedIn?

Of course, like any other platform, the benefits this website provides to its users, depends on the user and how much effort that user is willing to put to learn and utilize its variety of resources and tools.

If you use it wisely and to it’s full potential you will:

1- Gain Exposure

Your profile provides you with exposure to many recruiters who are using LinkedIn to find potential candidates. Even if they already have your Resume, They will still search your name and look at your LinkedIn profile. (& yes, some will look at your Facebook and Instagram as well!)

Recruiters and hiring managers will look at your picture, your overall social presence and get a feel for your personality and character before they reach out to you to invite you to the next level of hiring process.

If you are a top performer in your field, If you are skilled in high-demand areas, Or if you have experience in positions that are more difficult to fill, recruiters may directly reach out to you. Same goes with less well-known companies and employers such as start-ups.

With LinkedIn, You are NOT limited to your own friends circle, community or country. You can reach and be reached at from anywhere in the world.

2- SHOWCASE

You have a dedicated page to customize and showcase who you are and what values you can bring to the table.

You can display your credentials, your skills, experiences and knowledge to current or future employers. You have the chance to brand yourself, indirectly highlight your best qualities and gain trust of recruiting parties. This is a invaluable space through which users can gain trust of recruiters and build a sound foundation for their job search.

3- RESEARCH

Through LinkedIn, You can access information about companies, their culture, their values, missions and visions. You can search and look at their employees and get a feeling for the type of people they hire and who you will potentially deal with if you enter that environment. These information can be very helpful when deciding which company to apply to or which offer to accept.

You can read about what’s happening in your favorite industry or company, which is very helpful to prep for your interview and/or how to structure your resume at the time of applying to a job.

Additionally, You can search for jobs and apply right from LinkedIn, as many companies post their vacancies and job postings in LinkedIn.

4- GAIN KNOWLEDGE

Right there in LinkedIn, there is a learning platform that you can sign up and gain access to courses. The benefit of learning though LinkedIn is that the validations/certificates can be directly added to your profile.

LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda) is an online learning tool that offers hundreds of courses on variety of subjects such as business, software, technology, creative skills etc. to facilitate achieving your personal and professional goals.

5- NETWORK, Network, Network

Probably this is the most important benefit of LinkedIn.

Get connected to influential people in your industry or your current company. This gives you a window of opportunity to get your foot into the company or industry that you have always dreamed of.

You can connect and speak with professionals around the globe by highlighting your skills and knowledge and you can open doors for yourself that was pretty much impossible in pre-LinkedIn era!

So if you don’t have a LinkedIn profile yet, hop in there and create a profile today.

P.S. Did this post help you in anyway? if you got value from it or know someone who would, please share and leave a comment below with your suggestions.

Originally published at https://leapfrogmission.com on May 1, 2021.

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Miriam Freeman
Miriam Freeman

Written by Miriam Freeman

I’m a finance consultant, certified coach & mentor @Leapfrogmission. I help professionals pivot their mindset and reach higher in their career and life.

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