The Uprise of LinkedIn

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LinkedIn is on of the hottest emerging media sites right now and has benefited millions of people around the world gaining connections, landing interviews, and even jobs. LinkedIn is now in its twelfth year online and currently has over 300 million users. Shockingly, only 30% of those users are from the U.S. but I believe this number is quickly increasing as our economy continues to grow and more people notice the benefits of LinkedIn.

Why is having a LinkedIn so important?

As a college student your ultimate goal in life is to go into a career you love and provide for yourself and (future) family, right? Well by having a LinkedIn you are able to expand your network, outside of just your school or online job sites. You are able to make connections, and get your foot in the door before even applying to a job. Your profile is your resume that anyone can view and first impressions are critical, even on LinkedIn. Making your profile your own professional brand will enhance your chances of getting noticed which could lead to interviews.

LinkedIn is the most important social network and has, arguably, more potential than any other ones. As our economy gains growth, and continues to become more social (especially online). I see more people wanting to drive their careers to the next level. Companies and Universities around the world will expand their LinkedIn presence by connecting with more users/clients, as well as possibly special offerings or contests to boost engagement.

A few years ago LinkedIn unveiled a new service called “Youniversity” which shows where universities rank on certain professions, where alumni are working, as well as tuition rates. All the results from this service are pulled directly from LinkedIn users.

Here’s a small sample of some stats from UW-Oshkosh.

Being from Madison I was curious in seeing how many Oshkosh alums are in madison and where they are all working.

These kind of stats will bring more users, especially at the high school level looking at potential college destinations. LinkedIn wants to boost their users by getting kids under 18 thinking about careers they may want to pursue and getting them excited for their future.

Overall, LinkedIn has a very bright future and it creates an effect on people to have the drive to take their careers even further. You see, people will get a LinkedIn account and not think much of it. But after they spend time editing their profile, liking companies, and making connections, they will want to keep enhancing their profile to get people to view it. LinkedIn shows stats on your profile about how many people have viewed your page and if it’s up or down from previous weeks. LinkedIn will really expand in the next few years and I am excited to see what else it will do to change our professional networking.