LinkedIn Description, What is LinkedIn, How to use It?

• LinkedIn is a social network that focuses on professional networking and career development.

• You can use LinkedIn to display your resume, search for jobs, and enhance your professional reputation by posting updates and interacting with other people.

• LinkedIn is free, but a subscription version called LinkedIn Premium offers additional features like online classes and seminars, as well as insights into who's searching for and viewing your profile.

Like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and a dozen others, LinkedIn is a social network. And like another social network, it's owned by a big tech company: Microsoft.

But unlike most social networks, LinkedIn is a professional networking site, designed to help people make business connections, share their experiences and resumes, and find jobs.

LinkedIn essentials

Despite the professional focus, LinkedIn is quite similar to social networking sites like Facebook. It's based on principles like connecting to friends (or, in the case of LinkedIn, "connections,"), posting updates, sharing and liking content, and instant messaging other users.
LinkedIn also puts a professional spin on ideas you know from Facebook. Your profile, for example, becomes a resume, complete with work experience, accomplishments, recommendations, and referrals from colleagues.

The site also offers things you won't find in other places, like a full-featured career board, where you can search for and apply for jobs.

Many employment services are now compatible with LinkedIn - when applying for a position, you may be able to share your LinkedIn profile, which sometimes means you won't need to painstakingly enter your work experience into a long online form.

If you're new to LinkedIn, here's a quick tour around the site.

A quick tour of LinkedIn

1. Home is akin to Facebook's news feed. Here you can see posts made by other LinkedIn users, and make your own posts that others can see, like, share, and comment on. Like Facebook, you can limit your posts to just connections in your network, or share your thoughts with everyone.
2. My Network is where you can see your existing network of connections, and search for LinkedIn users to invite to join your network. You can also see existing invitations you've received from others.
3. Jobs is a comprehensive career site. You can search for and apply for jobs, get information about companies you're interested in and much more. You can set up notifications and get emails when there are new job postings.
   
4. Messaging leads to an instant messaging platform you can use to chat with people in your network. You can also use it to send messages to people outside your network with something called InMail if you subscribe to certain tiers of LinkedIn Premium.
5. Read more: What is LinkedIn Premium? A breakdown of all 4 of LinkedIn's paid membership tiers
6. Me is where you can find your profile, which is akin to your resume. Here, you can show your career history by posting your work experience, accomplishments, education, current location, and more. If you have a LinkedIn account, this should be as polished as your actual resume, as you can expect professional connections and recruiters to look at it.

What you can do with LinkedIn

It should be clear that LinkedIn is a tool you can use to enhance your professional networking and job searching activities.

Many people use the site to grow their contacts and find career opportunities, and the Jobs section of the site is a powerful tool for finding and applying for jobs. There are settings on LinkedIn that let you alert recruiters that you're actively job searching as well.

Some people use LinkedIn to enhance their professional reputation by making posts in the news feed, and commenting on other people's posts.

LinkedIn Premium is a subscription version of LinkedIn that adds a number of additional features, such as online professional development classes, insights into who's viewing your profile, and the ability to instant message anyone on LinkedIn, even if they're not in your network.

Find Me On LinkedIn @Drjyotish

How to endorse someone else on LinkedIn, or accept a LinkedIn endorsement for yourself

• You can endorse someone on LinkedIn when you wish to attest to their ability or skills, which will help others find their profile and give them a better chance to land other jobs.
• If others endorse you on LinkedIn, you will have to accept those endorsements before they appear on your profile. You also have the option to disable endorsements on your own profile.

LinkedIn endorsements are a way for the people in your network to confirm your aptitude and experience within your professional field.


You choose the skills you wish to appear in the "Skills & Endorsements" section of your profile - be they Copywriting, Legal Research, Social Media, and so forth - and then you hope that others agree with your self-assessment and take the few seconds to endorse you.

Every endorsement you get on the skills listed on your LinkedIn profile helps you to be more easily found and, just maybe, to land the job you've always wanted.
And of course every LinkedIn endorsement you give helps out your colleague, so don't hesitate to endorse the skills of others who you hold in high esteem.

How to endorse someone else on LinkedIn

1. Sign into your account and click "My Network" at the top of the home page, then click "Connections" at the top left of the next page, and then select the person you wish to endorse. (You can also simply search for the person by name using the search bar at the top of the screen.)

2. Scroll down to the "Skills & Endorsements" section of the page and view the skills they have listed, then choose which to endorse.

3. Click on the blue plus (+) symbol beside the skill, then select the level of endorsement you wish to provide ("Good," "Very good," or "Highly skilled").

4. If you wish, click the "Select a relationship" dropdown menu and specify how you know the individual, then click "Submit" to make the endorsement.

A checkmark will now appear beside the skill, indicating that you have endorsed the skill.

How to accept a LinkedIn endorsement for yourself

LinkedIn endorsements do not automatically appear on your profile after someone makes the endorsement; you have to accept them yourself.

You will receive a notification (on your LinkedIn account and, if you have so opted, via email) when you get an endorsement. Click on the notification and then accept the endorsement.

How to turn off endorsements on your LinkedIn profile page

If you ever find yourself getting too many endorsements from people you would rather not have recommending you, or if people are endorsing you for skills you feel misrepresent you, you can turn off endorsements for as long as you would like.

1. Go to your profile page and scroll down to the "Skills & Endorsements" section, then click the pencil icon on the section.

2. On the bottom of the popup window, click "Adjust endorsement settings," then toggle "I want to be endorsed" to "No."

Find Me On LinkedIn @Drjyotish

Profile Checklist to become an ALL-STAR! 

Photo: It doesn't have to be fancy. Wear a nice shirt and don't forget to smile. People with a profile photo get x21times more views and x9 times more requests!! 

Headline: Tell people what you're doing, what you're excited about and the cool things you want to do in the future.

 Summary: Share your story, describe what motivates you, what you're skilled at, and what's next.

 Experience: List the jobs you held, even if they were part-time, along with what you accomplished at each. Even include photos and videos from your work. 

 Education: Starting with college, list all the educational experiences you've had, including summer programs. List at least 5 skills. People who list 5 or more skills are x27 times closer to recruiters! Don't forget to include your city and industry! 

Do you have an ALL-STAR profile?

Find Me On LinkedIn @Drjyotish

'How much is LinkedIn Premium?':

 A cost breakdown of all 4 of LinkedIn's paid membership tiers

How much LinkedIn Premium costs depends on which membership option you pick, and each of the four options available come with different offerings.

• Premium Career costs $29.99 per month, or $239.88 if you pay for an entire year upfront.
• Premium Business costs $59.99 per month, or $575.88 if you pay for the year.
• Premium Sales costs $79.99 per month, or $779.88 if you pay for the year.
• Premium Hiring costs $119.95 per month or $1,199.40 for the year.

LinkedIn already gives you access to a lot of useful things, like a massive professional network, and a place to get your name and potentially your resume out in front of the right people.

But if you're looking for more, upgrading to LinkedIn Premium can give you a boost by allowing you access to tools that are tailored to your unique needs.

Here's what you should know about the various premium plans LinkedIn offers.

What LinkedIn Premium costs

There are four kinds of premium memberships, each with its own price points.

Note that the prices below do not include sales tax.

1 HOW MUCH IS LINKEDIN PREMIUM

Career is $29.99 per month or $239.88 (33% less) annually.

This membership allows you to see who's viewed your profile, direct message recruiters, see how you compare to other applicants who apply for jobs through LinkedIn, get salary insights, and access exclusive educational content and interview preparation materials.

Business is $59.99 per month, or $575.88 (20% less) annually.

Those who opt for the Business membership get 15 InMail messages per month and business insights (including growth and "functional trends"). InMails are messages that are sent directly to other LinkedIn members, even if you're not connected to them.

With a Business membership, you can also view an unlimited number of profiles on the site, see who's viewed your profile, get career insights, and access online video courses.

Sales is $79.99 per month, or $779.88 (19% less) annually.

Sales Navigator professionals get 20 InMail messages per month, as well as the usual "see who viewed your profile" and unlimited profile browsing features.

They also get sales-specific insights, lead recommendations (including the option to save leads), and advanced searches with a lead-builder.

Hiring (or Recruiter Lite) is $119.95 per month, or $1,199.40 (17% less) annually.

Besides the option to see an unlimited number of profiles and view who checked yours out, Hiring (also called Recruiter Lite) members also get 30 InMail messages per month - the most included with any premium membership.

You'll also get a more recruiting-friendly design, and advanced search options and smart suggestions that can help you find better job candidates. This includes an "integrated hiring" feature that gives you a bird's eye view of your entire hiring pool. Plus, you also get automatic candidate tracking.

All of these plans also offer a one-month free trial at the start. But for Linkedin employes and its members it is free.