LinkedIn and Branding: The Best Way to Professional Careers

       I have heard a lot about LinkedIn since I was a freshman in college. My college friends talked about it as a professional "Facebook" where people share profiles, news, education, working experience and what they have achieved in their lives and careers. However, I didn't realize the importance of having a LinkedIn account until I got an internship offer from a recruiter of some company on LinkedIn. Several weeks ago, I went on to check my LinkedIn and it notified me that some people have viewed my profile. I looked at the list of them and there was this account that didn't look familiar to me at all. Then I started checking out that account's profile and saw that the one who owns it is actually a recruiter. Therefore, it dawned on me that recruiters do look at people's profiles and look for hiring people on LinkedIn.

       What is LinkedIn? According to Wikipedia, LinkedIn is a social professional networking website for people in professional occupations. Over the past three to four years, LinkedIn has become the best social networking website with over 200 million users. It provides an online place to showcase your brand (knowledge, skills, working experience, and achievements). It also lets you find, connect with and follow your favorite people and organizations. But not every LinkedIn user knows how to take advantage of it because people don't know how to show their brands on the largest professional networking site in the world. They're just losing their opportunities because recruiters go through over 200 million profiles to find good candidates. Therefore, in my opinion, LinkedIn users should always make their accounts look active by posting profile pictures, filling out the summary section and updating new skills frequently. Finally, LinkedIn is one of the best places for people to sell themselves to the world of professionals.