How powerful is LinkedIn ?

Recruiters use LinkedIn as a tool to find candidates for their vacant positions, so LinkedIn is powerful for both job seekers and recruiters. I recommend having a resume that closely matches your Linkedin profile. LinkedIn will help you get noticed and contacted by recruiters and your resume will be used once you land an interview. Your resume will be used by the various interviewers you'll encounter. As it was previously mentioned, having a digital presence is a must, but make it a professional presence by presenting a professional looking headshot and profile. LinkedIn is not Facebook, so keep it business focused and keep it professional looking.
Good Luck !

LinkedIn will help you identify new opportunities at companies and identify connections through your network, but your resume will be your support as a strong candidate. Think about Linkedin as a door opener but once the door opens you need to provide them with your case. Your LinkedIn network is only as strong as your network, so make sure that make those connections!

This is a great question and I'm so glad you are asking because there is lots of confusion about LinkedIn. As a recruiter with over 15 years of experience I've reviewed thousands of resumes and have used LinkedIn to find candidates since their beginning.

A resume and a LinkedIn profile are both extremely important and will contain a lot of the same information. However, they have different purposes.
Your LinkedIn profile allows you to be found by hiring managers, recruiters and other professionals looking to network with you. Think about your LinkedIn profile as your "always on" professional career advertisement. Hiring managers and recruiters are searching LinkedIn day and night seeking individuals with the right skill set, education and experience to join their teams. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date, free of typos and grammatical errors and remember your profile shouldn't just be a laundry list of what you've done at each company. It should clearly state your professional value proposition and highlight your achievements in each position you list. Every LinkedIn profile should include a pleasant-professional looking head shot for a picture. Save pictures with your friends, family and pets for Facebook and Instagram. This should be a picture of you dressed in work appropriate attire and grooming from shoulders up with a simple uncluttered background.

Your resume, just as important as your LinkedIn profile, will be used when you want to apply for a job. I think of a resume more like your business card for career search. Your resume must be professional, free of typos and grammatical errors (just like your LinkedIn profile) and again, it shouldn't just be a laundry list of what you've done at each company. It should clearly state your professional value proposition or PVP -What is the value you can bring to an employer? (The PVP has replaced the old "Objective" used on resumes) and highlight your achievements in each position you list. Make an effort to quantify your achievements wherever possible and keep it clear and concise. A recruiter or hiring manager will only review a resume for a few seconds before they move on to the next. Make sure your resume is representing you in the best and most professional way possible so you receive that follow up email or call.

Hi,
Excellent question, besides the common uses of posting your resume and having your experience on LinkedIn...it can be good for a lot of other uses such as networking and finding other people within your industry or career field. Also, following organizations and groups that you are interested in can lead to possible job opportunities and it is a great place to network with other people and keep up with current business/industry news.
Good luck!

You have to work hard on your resume and LinkedIn profile. Having a digital presence nowadays is essential.

Having a good profile in Linkedin alone could get you a job, thats how powerful it has become. Have it reflect your work experience, trainings, certifications etc . You can try to get some good references from previous employees. For employers, this has become a very relevant platform to look for potential employees as it reflects your professional experience that has been further validated with your network connections, recommendations etc.

Anush,

LinkedIn is very powerful. As a Sr Technical Recruiter in one of the fastest growing SaaS companies in the world, based in San Francisco, it is my bread and butter. When I get an open role, we begin to source candidates. We might start with a simple boolean search or just use the features that LinkedIn provides (ie search by title, location, companies, years of experience, key words, etc.). For example, to find a full stack engineer, you might start with a boolean string of:

"software engineer" AND (ruby OR elixir OR python) AND (mysql OR postgres) AND (api OR apis) "distributed systems"

That is just one example. By keep your profile updated and listing your skills and tools, you are more likely to be found by recruiters. Let's say a recruiter needed someone that had API design experience, but they did not list that anywhere on their profile, but did in fact have it, then they may be overlooked. The closer it looks to your resume, the more likely recruiters will find you. There are other tools that Recruiters use, like Entelo, Careerbuilder, Indeed, Dices, etc, but LinkedIn is is the most popular and most powerful.

Regards,

Richard