!!THE IMPORTANCE OF LINKEDIN IN A DIGITAL WORLD!!!!!!!!!!

Prepared for!Business Communications!

Professor Shari Weiss!!!!!!!!!!Prepared by!

Christian J. Lewis! Business Student!!!!!!!!

April 2, 2015!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!TABLE OF CONTENTS!!

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . !!INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .!!! Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .!! Problem or Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .!! Significance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .!! Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .!! Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .!!FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .!!CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .!REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .!!!!!!!!

LIST OF FIGURES!!!FIGURE!1! Putting LinkedIn to Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . !2! Screening through Social Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . !3! LinkedInRapid Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . !!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!

!EXECUTIVE SUMMARY!!!

LinkedIn is a professional network that has experienced monumental growth in recent years. Now having close to 200 million members, with most are at least 30 years of age or older, LinkedIn has emerged as one of the first social networking platforms that aimed its services toward a professional market. Before its launch in 2003 the majority of social networks only focused on friendships and various other relationships.!!Recruiting has also experienced growth, and is now a multi-billion dollar industry. LinkedIn has allowed professionals, businesses and other groups to tap into this industry by allowing recruiters to find qualified candidates. However, even with the monumental growth and use of LinkedIn, individuals still dont optimize their chances of being noticed through an impressive profile.!!Analysis of the data revealed importance in three areas:!! Growth. LinkedIn has been tremendously successful. When the company was preparing to

launch, it would draw as few as 20 signups per day. Now LinkedIn is a publicly traded company with a market cap near 18 billion and has grown from 20 sign ups a day to having more than 225 million members from 200 different countries. This is important because it displays the influence and power of LinkedIn in modern business.!!

Benefits. Overall, LinkedIn provides many opportunities for exposure. Individuals who do not maximize their connections through this network are limiting their potential as a professional.!!

Improvement. Many individuals who start a LinkedIn profile never fully complete it. According to LinkedIn, profiles that are completed receive 40 times more views, and this creates more opportunity. If you are lukewarm about creating your profile it will be noticed. By completing and continuously improving a LInkedIn profile, candidates will experience great benefits in standing out from the pack.! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Section 1!!!Introduction !!!Background!!

Linkedin was created by Reid Hoffman in 2002. By 2003 the site had been completed developed and was launched in the same year. As one of the largest online professional networking tools; it has over 300 million members in over 200 countries around the globe. Their mission is simple: connect the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful. When you join LinkedIn, you get access to people, jobs, news, updates, and insights that help you be great at what you do.!!Society is rapidly evolving at the influence of technology. In the professional world, an online presence becomes increasingly important. Recruiters now use Linkedin as a necessary tool to look up/reference potential hires.!!

Statement of the Purpose!!Many people do not know how to make the most effective Linkedin profile. This will show the methods and importance of making a detailed site.!!

Significance!!Social media is becoming more and more eminent in todays technology driven society. Having a strong social media presence is crucial in todays world.!!

Scope!The purpose of this report is to show what recruiters are looking for, what shouldnt be included, and why it is important to have a profile.! !

Organization!The purpose of this report is to recommend a method to set up a Linkedin profile. The report will show what employers are looking for in their candidates. It will also cover how to best represent your brandthis is significant to understand in a progressively technological world.!! !!!!!!!!!

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Findings!!90% of Job Recruiters use linked in to find potential good fit employees!!Establish a solid Linkedin presence! !!For many reasons, recruiters want to discover talented individuals rather than being plead with for jobs by desperate job hunters. Recruiters are always seeking talent and you want to be hidden right in from of them in a way that gives you the chance to be easily found.!!!Here are helpful tips you can use to accomplish this goal:!!1.! Start with a strong, captivating Profile Summary.!!Provide your name and email first and out it at the top of your Summary. This way, in case you come up as a 3rd Degree masked connection on someone elses search, they will know who you are and how to reach you.!!Through your summary you should show the content and aspects of your work/profession that get your spirit going. It is important to show passion for what you desire rather than just stating Im passionate about. Put yourself in the reverse role. If you were hiring someone, would you want to give the job to someone who clearly is passionate and loves what they do, or to someone that might just be after the paycheck?!!2.! Include your entire Employment History.!!Dont just copy and paste a resume. Be specific wherever possible. A simple bulleted list that shows solid accomplishments will work better on LinkedIn. Highlight things that define yourself and the different you have made to previous employers. Show ways you improved upon something, saved money, or discovered a way to increase revenue.!!3.! Show samples of completed work.!!You can upload different file types into your LinkedIn. This allows you to take advantage of showing skills using Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, and pictures.!!4.! Join Groups.!!It is important to join groups on LinkedIn. These days their is a group for just about anything imaginable, and you can be a member of 50 groups at any one time. Recruiters are known to search these groups. By default (you can change this), any member of any group in which you are part can see your profile and contact you, even if you arent linked. Make yourself findable by joining alumni, skill-based, industry-based, geographic-based, and interest groups.!!!

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5.! Participate in Group Discussions.! !!Each group has its own discussion area, and any member can begin and/or participate in discussions. What you post is "searchable", and recruiters will often assume that people talking !about the "latest and greatest" in their field, or even sharing articles of interest to the group are the kind of thought leaders and team players that make for attractive candidates. Be careful not to ask, "Who can help me get a job?" but instead talk about current trends or ask questions that you would ask of a trusted peer in your company or profession.!!Figure 1 shows some of the top tips for putting your linked in profile to work.!!

Figure 1: Putting LinkedIn to Work!

Source: jobhunt.org!

http://jobhunt.org

!Recruiters want tech-saavy Employees!!How job recruiters screen on linked in! !When a recruiter arrives on a profile, make them want to stick around. !LinkedIn is speed dating for professionals, says Grace Killelea founder and CEO of Half The Sky Womens Leadership Institute. Many recruiters are searching for a reason to check people off the list and anything odd will be a red alert. Be certain to completely fill in all work history because having time gaps will look suspicious. If there are gaps in your work history, fill that in, otherwise recruiters are going to get nervous, Killelea says. Many people who were laid off are not comfortable filling in those gaps, but they absolutely need too (marketwatch.com). Killelea has a golden rule for linkedin and for life. If you cant hide it, decorate it(marketwatch.com). In figure 2, the value of strong social network pages can be seen.!!Figure 2: Screening though Social Networks!

Source: theundercoverrecruiter.com! !!!4!

http://marketwatch.com

!According to Scott Dobroski, career trends analyst at Glassdoor, experience has a shelf life on linkedIn. Because of this, older job seekers must walk a fine lineunless you have made the cover of popular magazines or discovered something ground breaking. If you graduated from college over 10 years ago, you may want to exclude the date you graduated on your site. Even though ageism is illegal, it still occurs regularly. This isn't the case for all jobs,though. Dobroski states On the other hand, if youre applying for a job as CEO of a Fortune 500 company and you graduated in 1986, its okay to leave the date.!!Most recruiters won't care how many endorsements that have been obtained. If a candidate could have 1000 and it wont make much of a difference. The thing recruiters are really looking for are thoughtful recommendations from well-respected peers or a former employer. People want to see youve developed solid relationships (marketwatch.com).!!Since face to face meeting have not yet occured, Employers will try to gauge a candidates personality from what they have presented on their profile. It is important to sound confident without being viewed as arrogant there is a fine line between these, so one must handle the subject with caution. Be creative and let some personality shine through the LinkedIn page. Recruiters aren't excited to read a profile that reassembles a self-published memoir.!!Photos are going to be assessed differently depending on the industry. Avoid including photos that aren't necessary for the job. Killelea says Only include your dog if youre a dog walker or dog groomer (marketwatch.com). If the photo is over two years old, take an updated photo to include, and always avoid using selfies.! !Reasons to update LinkedIn today! !Linkedin has become an essential tool for personal branding!!Having a first-rate LinkedIn profile has never been more important than it is today. The site has evolved from an online resume and networking site into a complete personal branding source.!Here are a number of eye-opening reasons why job seekers should get on the computer and improve LinkedIn right now.!!LindedIn has become the worlds largest professional network, having over 225 million members. Without having a linked in profile it is possible that candidates won't be considered seriously. Executives don't turn their back to 225 million talented prospects. Getting involved is becoming more important by the day.!!LinkedIn profiles will appear at the top of google searches. When someone googles a candidates name, the first or second things that usually shows up will be their linkedIn profile. That is an important and powerful tool! according to a Gravitate Online study of over 8 million clicks, more than 94% of users clicked on the first page results while fewer than 6% clicked to the second page. The first and second positions get 50% of all clicks (forbes.com).!!!!!

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http://marketwatch.com

Believe it or not, people want to learn more about you. Linked gives you the opportunity to be in control over what they discover about the brand you are creating. Curious as to who these people are? They are people who are important to success: Managers, clients, competitors employees. All of these people will be using LinkedIn to gather more information about others. People will search individuals before meeting them, or when they are deciding if they will respond to an email. As can been seen in the figure below, using LinkedIn is growing rapidly and shows no signs of letting up.!

!FIgure 3: LinkedInRapid Growth!!!While reading this, someone might be browsing LinkedIn looking for the services one of our candidates provide . Candidates must take advantage of every opportunity and make sure they are highly visible to that person. This means having completed profile that is packed with key words that relate to leadership abilities. Job listings are becoming a thing of the past. In the future, hiring managers will turn to their social networks and tools like LinkedIn to find the ideal candidate.!!!!!!

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LinkedIn can be used as the ultimate branding platform. It provides one of the best opportunities to increase ones brand in the community. Its the ultimate personal branding platform. LinkedIn provides one of the best opportunities to increase your visibility and credibility with members of your brand community. It lets you stay connected to large networks of contacts. Now that videos and images can be added in the summary and experience fields, one can develop a truly three-dimensional view of their brand. ! !Using all the features of this powerful online tool will help you paint a compelling picture of who people are in the real world.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

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!Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations!!!!!

A. Summary of Problems and Procedures!!The problem that was researched for this report was candidates ability to find and make the best use of information about what makes a great LinkedIn profile. As technology changes rapidly, many sources become outdated. It is important to have the most complete and up to date information.! !B. Summary of Findings!!The information of this report focuses on the development and importance of staying up to speed with the ever changing job market. This report will highlight many statistics illustrating the importance of LinkedIn, the amount of recruiters and candidates that benefit from LinkedIn. Additionally, steps on how to attract and keep recruits on a LinkedIn profile have been included.!!C. Conclusions and Recommendations! !In order to receive all of the benefits that LinkedIn offers, It is important to stay activeUpdate photos, join groups, post in discussion forums, make connections! According to LinkedIn profiles that are 100% complete receive 40x more job and business opportunities. To avoid being overlooked by recruiters and wasting opportunities, use LinkedIn to control how you are perceived by peers and potential employers. ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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!!!!!!WORKS CITED!!

"9 Reasons Why You Must Update Your LinkedIn Profile Today." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2015.!!"How Job Recruiters Screen You on LinkedIn." MarketWatch. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2015.!!"7 Ways to Attract Recruiters on LinkedIn." Job-Hunt.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2015.!!"How Employers Use Social Media To Screen Applicants [INFOGRAPHIC]." Undercover Recruiter. N.p., 24 Oct. 2011. Web. 07 Apr. 2015.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!