Does LinkedIn Help You Find a New Job?

As of 2023, LinkedIn has about 750 million users spanning across more than 200 countries, including senior managerial executives from even the Fortune 500 companies!

So it’s no exaggeration to say that LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking site on the internet. But, can you use it to find the right job or internship? Definitely!

In fact, LinkedIn not just helps you land a new job, it also aids you in making invaluable professional connections, strengthens occupational relationships, and gives you the chance to learn the skills needed for an accomplished career.

How exactly it helps you with all that? Let’s find out:

How LinkedIn Helps You Find a (New) Job

We’ve all heard that LinkedIn is a terrific place to begin your search for a job. But what in specific makes it great?

Well, imagine a giant billboard that displays your profile picture, set of skills, work experience, educational qualifications, and your former employers’ recommendations. That’s LinkedIn.

The more attractive your billboard, the more potential recruiters would look for you. And the splendid thing is that you’re in charge of it all, and can customize your “advertisement” any way you like.

Coming to some facts and stats, in the second quarter of 2020, LinkedIn disclosed that 58% of all of its revenue came from its talent acquisition services. Meaning a massive amount of recruiters actively seek to hire talent on LinkedIn — essentially making it a marketplace for job seekers and recruiters to connect. This makes it an ideal place for you to be if you’re seeking to be employed. Additionally, as per a report by Forbes, 97% of recruiters utilize LinkedIn as part of their recruitment process.

On top of that, recruiters like candidates who are actively seeking a job. Your presence on LinkedIn signifies just that. So, if someone looks at your LinkedIn profile (basically, your “hire me” billboard) and like what they see, they can contact you and you might get a job. As simple as that!

Pros and Cons of LinkedIn

Everything, no matter how useful, comes with its pros and cons. LinkedIn is no exception. Let’s have a look at what it has to offer you, and sometimes, how can it cause you slight inconveniences.

The Pros of LinkedIn

#1: It helps rank your name on Google!

If you apply for a job, chances are, the first thing the recruiter or the human resources executive will do is search your name on Google.

LinkedIn is a reputable and influential network — and Google ranks its content higher up in the search engine rankings. Because of that, it’s usually easier to get your LinkedIn page to rank on Google against your online portfolio or personal website.

#2 It makes researching companies and their employees easier

These days, most organizations have their own LinkedIn pages, where they update business information, share recent news and press releases, and display the current employees.

Having all that data in your reach at just a few clicks away, you are likely to get a sound and straightforward idea about the organization’s culture and its people. This will help you assess whether or not the company is a fit for you before you dedicate efforts to preparing for their interview or accepting their job offer.

#3: It can help you keep tabs on industry news

Similar to other networking platforms, LinkedIn also aggregates a timeline when you create an account or log in. There, you will find news updates from your company, your groups, and your personal connections. It is prudent to know industry trends and news to be in a more informed position.

#4: It develops strong professional connections

There’s no way you can emphasize the need for professional connections in ANY profession. LinkedIn is a tremendously valuable networking tool for professionals.

What’s more, even if you’re an introvert and hate real-life networking events, you can still make crucial LinkedIn connections right from the comfort of your home.

The Cons of LinkedIn:

#1: It can highlight unemployment

LinkedIn is an efficacious tool to advertise yourself. Thus, unfortunately, it can advertise the negatives as well. Gaps in your work experience could reflect badly on you, as they might prompt the recruiters into questioning your proficiency.

Even though you might be unemployed, or went through an unemployment phase, you must still present that in a way that doesn’t bring your professional skills into disrepute to prospective employers or your networking contacts.

#2: You may run into scammers

All the networking platforms, including LinkedIn, face the challenges of having a few scammers posing as regular users. You have to watch out for the fraudsters trying to scam you.