LinkedIn is a social networking tool dedicated to the employees and employers of various organizations around the world. Both employers and employees have plenty of features available in LinkedIn which are beneficial to them in business networking. While Facebook is targeted at youth willing to relax in their spare time, LinkedIn has become the main networking hub online for career minded people. Those who seek challenging career opportunities post their profiles in LinkedIn.

LinkedIn was founded in the year 2002 by Reid Hoffman and was officially launched in the year 2003. It became profitable in the year 2006 and by October of 2010, LinkedIn was ranked number 10 in the top 100 most promising websites list, published by Silicon Valley Insider. The growth has been dramatic in the last few years with many venture capitalists infusing their funds into LinkedIn. By the October of 2010, there are roughly around 80 million registered users in LinkedIn.  The competitors for LinkedIn include Viadeo, which has 30 million registered members and Xing, which has 10 million registered customers.

LinkedIn provides the creation of connections to registered members. Through these connections, members can invite their trusted friends and co-employees to join the network. These connections can have sub-connections based on the recommendations of members in the main connection. Thus, these connections essentially become a platform for employers to scout for impressive profiles to fill their open positions. Employees also use these connections to look for challenging opportunities. Employees can also research companies the top management of the companies where they would like to pursue their careers. Users have the provision of getting notifications regarding any new openings coming up within the connected group.

The other notable features of LinkedIn include answers, polls and groups. The members can join groups such as alumni, industry associations and related groups. They also have a service called LinkedIn polls for asking questions, and doing some impromptu market research. By the end of 2008, LinkedIn also started providing their services over mobile phones, including through an IPhone app.  More and more people continue to join LinkedIn with the hope of enhancing their career prospects by getting new contacts and leads.  The site also acts as a medium for business to find like-minded partners and distributors for selling their products and services.

Have you used LinkedIn and had experiences, good or bad?  Tell us about them here!

About the author:

Claire Jarrett runs Marketing By Web, who offer PPC Management