How Linkedin.com helped me

A few weeks ago a friend of mine asked me questions about linkedin.com and how I benefited by using it so far. I have been meaning to respond to her questions but didn’t have a chance to do it. Now, I realized that this information may be useful for other people too, hence I’m sharing it here.

Below is an overview of a few useful features on linkedin.com that I’ve benefited by since I first started using it.

1. One place for your resume
2. To connect with colleagues, past and present
3. To discover new connections
4. To join groups of similar interests
5. To help people solve problems
6. To stay up to date with your network
7. To recommend and get recommended
8. To look for jobs and apply for jobs
9. Search visibility and personal branding

Facts from Guy Kawasaki on the subject:

• People with more than twenty connections are thirty-four times more likely to be approached with a job opportunity than people with less than five.
• The average number for Harvard Business School grads is fifty-eight, so you could skip the MBA, work at Google, and probably get most of the connections you need. Later, you can hire Harvard MBAs to prepare your income taxes.
• All 500 of the Fortune 500 are represented in LinkedIn. In fact, 499 of them are represented by director-level and above employees.
• The average number of LinkedIn connections for people who work at Google is forty-seven.