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How do you start LinkedIn in 2022 step by step for beginners?



How do you start LinkedIn in 2022 step by step for beginners?


LinkedIn is one of the most popular social media platforms used by people around the world looking to connect with others who share their interests and goals. It's also one of the best ways to land jobs or find new opportunities.

With more than 1 billion users worldwide (as per May 2019), LinkedIn offers all kinds of features that make your life easier when using it. But if you're just starting out, what are some things you should know about creating a professional online presence on LinkedIn?

In this video series, we'll go through everything from setting up your first profile to finding great content to post on your page. We'll show you why LinkedIn can help you grow both professionally and personally. And we'll give tips to avoid common mistakes so you don't end up wasting time trying to fix them later.

But before we jump into those topics, let’s take a quick look at how to set up and log into LinkedIn for the very first time. You may have heard this question asked over and over again... but there's never been a definitive answer until now! So if you've ever wondered "how do I create a LinkedIn account?" then keep reading below because we're going to walk you through every detail of getting started on LinkedIn.

Is it free to create a LinkedIn account?

Yes – yes it is! There are two main reasons for this:

1) The vast majority of accounts created will be personal profiles rather than business pages. That means they won't require any special permissions like posting ads or making money off other members' posts.

2) If you want to join groups, events or conferences, you need to pay a fee to sign up. However, once you're logged in you can access these services completely free of charge.

So even though the service itself isn't free, you only pay $16/year (less than £10/$15). This covers all the premium LinkedIn features such as sending emails and messages to contacts, accessing advanced analytics data and much more.

You can read our full guide to signing up for a LinkedIn account here.

Can you be on LinkedIn without a job?

No. While many companies use LinkedIn to recruit candidates, there are still plenty of positions where employers prefer to hire based on skills alone. In fact, job seekers often spend hours applying to different roles only to receive rejections due to lack of relevant work history.

As a result, having a LinkedIn profile gives you extra credibility and helps increase your chances of being offered a position. Plus, it makes it far easier for potential clients to find you when searching for professionals within specific industries.

Plus, if you're not yet working in a field related to your degree, you could potentially apply to become a graduate researcher. These roles typically offer higher salaries and better benefits packages than non-graduate jobs. They tend to focus heavily on research projects instead of administrative tasks - meaning your resume needs to showcase your ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously while maintaining strong communication skills.

If you decide to pursue a graduate role, it might be worth taking the time to complete your LinkedIn profile beforehand. Otherwise, you could risk spending months applying to dozens of similar roles and receiving zero responses.



Is LinkedIn good for no experience?

This depends entirely upon which type of profile you're building. For example, if you have a small company, LinkedIn is likely the best way to build its brand recognition and spread awareness among potential customers. Similarly, if you're launching a career change, LinkedIn can be a fantastic resource to learn about industry trends and discover new networks.

However, if you're planning to enter a highly competitive market, consider investing in hiring an experienced digital marketing agency to develop and launch your campaign. Or, alternatively, reach out to friends and colleagues in the same industry to see whether they would recommend a reputable firm to handle your project.

On the flip side, if you already have a successful website or blog, you may want to promote yourself as a freelance writer or copywriter. In this case, LinkedIn is an excellent platform to target high-quality leads because it allows you to easily communicate directly with your audience.

How do I create a basic LinkedIn profile?

Once you've decided what kind of profile you'd like to create, follow these steps to begin filling it out:

Log into your account using your email address and password.

Click on 'Create a Profile.'

Fill in your name and contact information.

Choose between Basic or Advanced settings. For instance, Basic includes your bio section, education and experience sections. On the other hand, Advanced lets you add additional details like links to your websites or blogs, endorsements, recommendations and more.

Add your photo.

Select your location.

Enter your current company title and responsibilities.

Answer questions relating to your future plans.

Write down your accomplishments and achievements.

Make sure you add keywords related to your chosen profession, industry, academic background, etc..

Don’t forget to fill in your employment history.

When done, click “Save & Continue”.

Now, select “Edit My Profile” next to your username, and review each section to ensure it contains accurate information. Then hit save and continue.

Before moving forward, you should always check out your own LinkedIn homepage to verify everything looks correct. Afterward, you can either accept or decline suggested connections. Once accepted, you can invite anyone else to view your profile.

Finally, you can download all your LinkedIn documents, including your CV, Resume Summary, Cover Letter and Experience Section.

After completing these steps, you should receive confirmation via e-mail that your profile has been successfully updated. From here, you can move onto adding more detailed information about your educational background, work experiences, certifications, awards, volunteer activities, publications, public speaking engagements, hobbies and more.

To learn more about how to maximize your LinkedIn profile, watch our entire How To Use LinkedIN Video Series.

How to navigate LinkedIn Groups

Groups allow everyone to come together under shared interest and topic areas to discuss ideas, ask questions, provide feedback and engage with other community members. Here are some important points to remember:

Always introduce yourself.

Be authentic and honest about your strengths and weaknesses.

Remember to thank other group members.

Use hashtags wisely.

Post useful resources or articles.

Participate actively in discussions.

Share valuable insights.

Learn more about LinkedIn Groups by watching our entire How To Use Linkedin Group Video Series.

What are the best ways to improve my LinkedIn profile?

There are several strategies you can employ to optimize your LinkedIn profile. Below are a few suggestions to get you started:

Connect with people outside your network.

Take advantage of your connections to expand your network by inviting people you haven’t met face-to-face.

Keep your profile fresh and engaging by updating your headline regularly.

Update your summary whenever possible.

Respond to comments left by others.

Ask questions and respond promptly.

Follow experts in your industry to stay informed.

Get involved and contribute to conversations.

Readers love stories, especially ones involving success and failure. Share yours and earn kudos along the way.

Start connecting with influencers in your niche. Follow them back to boost your visibility.

Try answering other member’s questions. Showcase your expertise and gain trust.

Stay active on LinkedIn throughout the year by participating in local meetups, attending trade shows and hosting webinars.

The above list is certainly not exhaustive. There are countless ways to enhance your LinkedIn profile and drive traffic to your site. Just remember, the more you put in the harder it will be to take anything away.

LinkedIn has evolved since 2012, when we released our original article outlining the top 10 things you must do to succeed on LinkedIn. Since then, we've added hundreds of new features and improved existing functionality. With continued updates to the platform, you'll be able to achieve greater results faster.

Have something to say about this story? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network. It has over 400 million members from around the globe and it was founded in 2003 by Reid Hoffman and Ben Silbermann. Today, LinkedIn operates a suite of products that help businesses connect with professionals online. 

In this article we will discuss some very basic steps to take when using LinkedIn (or any social networking site) for your career or personal development. We will also provide some tips if you are just starting out and want to know more about how to use LinkedIn 2022 step by step for beginners.

Before going into our guide, here are the most upvoted questions asked by readers who were looking for answers to these exact same topics:

What is LinkedIn's purpose?

Where can I find someone to hire me?

Is there a way to make money on LinkedIn?

How do people use LinkedIn for marketing their brand/business?

Does LinkedIn have a "job board"?

Why would I be interested in creating a LinkedIn profile?

How does LinkedIn work?

Shouldn't I join LinkedIn first before trying to build my own network?

Do I need to sign up for LinkedIn to learn how to use it?

Here’s what you should know about LinkedIn in 2022:

1. Can I look at LinkedIn without joining?

No! You cannot view LinkedIn unless you have signed up for a free account. However, you can still browse through its pages while logged into your existing account.

2. How do I add a portfolio to LinkedIn 2022?

A good place to showcase your skills is in your Summary section where you will see three icons - Skills & Expertise, Education, and Work history. Clicking on one of those links will give you options for adding specific information to LinkedIn which may include your experience, education background, certifications, awards/recognitions, publications etc. If they don’t show up under the appropriate category then click “add new” and enter them manually. Your summary page will now reflect all of the things you added to your LinkedIn Profile so far.

3. Can you create a portfolio on LinkedIn?

Yes you can! There are two ways to go about doing this depending on whether you are working towards building your resume or not. The easiest method is to upload images via the photo tab located under 'profile' within your LinkedIn profile settings. This option allows you to attach photos and videos directly to your profile. A second option is to send us the link to your website or blog and we'll publish it right here on our platform. Just remember that if you choose this route the URL must be publicly accessible because we're linking back to your content!

4. How do I add media to LinkedIn 2022?

You can either add media files like PDFs or other documents that you would like to share such as presentations, articles, white papers, reports etc...to your LinkedIn Profile by clicking 'Profile' followed by 'Add Media'. Or you can simply copy the file address and paste it into the box provided. When uploading media to LinkedIn, ensure that you keep track of file sizes and dimensions since many platforms limit the size allowed.

5. How do I update my LinkedIn profile?

To edit your profile, log into your LinkedIn Account and navigate to your profile. Once you arrive at your profile, select Edit Profile. From here you can change your name, email address, location, occupation, industry, employer and much more. You can even delete parts of your profile if necessary but please note that deleting your entire profile means that no one else will ever be able to contact you again.

6. Does LinkedIn offer courses for students and young adults?

Absolutely! Many colleges and universities across the country offer courses related to digital careers. Students and recent graduates often receive training through organizations like LinkedIn University and LinkedIn Career School. These programs teach students everything from resume writing to interviewing techniques. Most importantly though, they equip students with valuable tools and resources to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace.

7. Should I stay current on LinkedIn for my career or only check in occasionally?

That depends entirely on you. Personally, I feel that staying active on LinkedIn helps to keep fresh in your mind the connections and opportunities that come along every day. At times, however, you might find yourself buried in emails or messages, especially during holiday seasons. In this case, checking in once per week is fine. But if you aren’t seeing anything interesting happening on LinkedIn, consider stepping away for a few days until something comes up that catches your attention.

8. Why should I care about SEO? What does that mean exactly?

Search engine optimization refers to the process of improving your visibility in Google searches. Google determines how relevant your content is based upon keywords used in the title tags and meta descriptions for each piece of content. For example, if your company sells widgets and you write a post titled "The Benefits of Widget #123" you probably won’t rank highly in Google searches unless you optimize that particular keyword phrase. To improve your rankings, try including additional words and phrases in your titles and meta data. Also, consider optimizing your posts as well as your company’s homepage. Lastly, always use descriptive titles and tag lines. Don’t worry too much about being overly specific – just focus on providing useful information for potential customers and visitors.

9. Is LinkedIn the best choice for finding jobs?

It really depends on whom you ask. While LinkedIn boasts thousands of companies that actively seek employees, there are plenty of others who prefer to remain anonymous due to privacy concerns. As far as job boards go, Monster and Indeed tend to be considered the leaders among traditional websites. Both sites allow users to apply for positions directly from their profiles. Another advantage of both sites is that employers can screen applicants prior to making hiring decisions. On top of that, both services feature user reviews and ratings to determine skill levels. They also offer live chat support so that candidates can speak directly with HR representatives.

10. What kind of advice could you offer to someone thinking about signing up for LinkedIn?

First off, let me say that LinkedIn is great tool for anyone seeking employment opportunities. Whether you are currently employed or pursuing graduate school, LinkedIn offers a wide range of features designed specifically for professionals. So if you think that you’d benefit from having access to hundreds of contacts connected to your field of interest, then LinkedIn is definitely worth considering.

Second, make sure that you understand the differences between the paid premium version versus standard membership. Standard accounts cost $29 per month whereas Premium costs $49 monthly. Although there are benefits associated with paying for a subscription, I wouldn’t recommend spending extra cash unless you truly believe that you’ll derive value from accessing certain functionality.

Finally, I encourage everyone reading this to become familiar with the various features available on LinkedIn. Not only will this help you better utilize the service, but it will also increase your chances of receiving job leads and connecting with recruiters.

11. Do you have any further suggestions for learning more about LinkedIn 2022?

If you'd like to read more about LinkedIn, I suggest taking full advantage of the following resources:

12. Will LinkedIn help me land a new job?

This question brings up several important points regarding how to use LinkedIn effectively. First, you absolutely need to set aside time regularly to monitor your activity on LinkedIn. Second, you should spend time engaging with groups and individuals who are already involved in the fields that you are targeting. Finally, you should follow up on the recommendations given to you from past colleagues and associates, which in turn will lead to future job opportunities.

13. How do I use LinkedIn as a student?

Students and recent grads alike can easily leverage the vast amount of knowledge offered by LinkedIn. Since you likely have little to no experience in your chosen field yet, you might find that it takes awhile to figure out how to best position yourself for success. By utilizing LinkedIn’s unique features, you can begin establishing relationships with prospective mentors and peers in your field of study. This will greatly enhance your overall outlook on life and prepare you for the real world beyond college.

14. Where can I find someone to hire me?

There are numerous sites that cater exclusively to helping job seekers connect with local businesses. Here are a few examples of popular ones:

15. Should I delete my LinkedIn profile after graduation?

I'm assuming that you've graduated recently and are wondering if you should remove your LinkedIn profile. Of course, the answer depends on why you created the profile in the first place. Did you intend to use it professionally afterwards? Or did you plan on keeping it solely as a fun hobby? Whatever the reason, LinkedIn provides ample opportunity to continue networking by inviting people to connect with you. Simply visit LinkedIn.com and type in your username to reconnect with old friends or classmates. Alternatively, you could rebrand your profile according to your desired profession instead of removing it completely. Either way, you will undoubtedly gain more followers than you had previously.

LinkedIn is one of the most popular social networks used for professional networking and recruitment. It's also very useful when it comes to getting new jobs or finding work opportunities. In fact, many companies now prefer candidates who have profiles on LinkedIn over those that don't! So if you're thinking about starting your own profile there are some steps you can take right away. Join me for an in-depth discussion in this video, Get started with LinkedIn, part of Learning LinkedIn.

How do I get started with LinkedIn?

If you've never set up a LinkedIn profile before then this may be the best place to begin. The process will still be a little daunting at first but once you know what you're doing you'll find it easy enough. 

First things first... You’ll want to sign into your personal email address using your Gmail login information (you can easily switch between accounts). This is because we will require you to confirm your identity via both your email and phone number. If you already have a LinkedIn account then it would be recommended that you log out of your current account so that you can create a completely fresh LinkedIn profile from scratch. Don’t worry though – you won’t lose any content or data whatsoever.

Once logged in click “Create Profile" and fill in all relevant details including name, location, occupation etc. When creating your profile make sure to include your company/organisation in the location field. Then hit next followed by "I agree". Next, upload a headshot photo which will appear above your bio section. Make sure you choose a good quality image (as low resolution as possible) and that it fits within the screen size requirements. Once complete click save changes and continue onto the next stage.

Next, select either 'Business' or 'Personal' depending on whether you wish to focus your profile primarily towards potential clients or friends respectively. For example, if you were looking to network professionally with other professionals then selecting Personal might not be the best option. However, if you wanted to attract people interested in knowing more about you personally then Business might suit better. 

As soon as you've selected your preferred option, LinkedIn will ask if you'd like to add additional data such as skills, education history, hobbies, awards, certifications etc. To add extra information simply type your answer under each respective category and press enter. Alternatively, you could just skip these questions altogether and only proceed to the final stages.

Finally, if you haven’t done so already, you have the opportunity to opt-out of receiving promotional emails from LinkedIn. Click the cog icon beside your inbox and uncheck the box labelled "Promotional Emails".

This is where we will introduce our next topic - What should I do first on LinkedIn?

What should I do first on LinkedIn?

The key thing here is to build up your visibility. There are three main ways to achieve this:

1. Add connections

2. Create posts

3. Promote yourself

Now let’s go through each method individually. First off, you must connect with someone else on LinkedIn. By doing this they will see that you exist and therefore your visibility increases dramatically. Now while connecting with others isn’t always necessary, it does help increase your exposure significantly. As mentioned earlier, you don’t even necessarily have to connect with every single person you meet online. Just try to connect with 3–5 people per day and gradually expand from there.

Secondly, if you feel confident, you can post something on LinkedIn too. These pieces of content range from blog articles to videos and photos. They can all be uploaded directly to your profile page and share them publicly with anyone who follows you. Posting regularly helps keep your audience engaged with your updates, which again increases your visibility.

Lastly, although somewhat less effective than the previous two methods, promoting yourself on LinkedIn can also prove beneficial. Here you can send messages to specific audiences based on their interests and demographics. Simply input the keywords you think fit the target group you’re trying to reach and the system will look after the rest.

For instance, if you were trying to promote a particular product you could message users who had previously purchased similar products. Or perhaps you’d like to market yourself as a local expert or entertainer in certain areas. Whatever marketing strategy suits you best, remember that promotion goes hand in hand with building relationships.

Now that you understand the basics of setting up a LinkedIn profile we move onto the last point - How do I create a LinkedIn account with no experience?

The easiest way to gain access to LinkedIn without having ever created a profile is to request an invitation. Invitations are given by existing members and are usually offered to students, recent graduates or freelancers who are looking to establish themselves.

To receive invitations you must first join LinkedIn and visit the invite link. From here you’ll be asked to provide basic contact details along with a valid email address and date of birth. After completing this form you will automatically receive an email inviting you to register.

Alternatively, you could alternatively apply for an invitation manually via the website itself. Go to www.linkedin.com/invite/joinus and follow the instructions provided.

LinkedIn is a great tool to use for networking and career development however, it shouldn't replace face-to-face interactions. Remember that real world conversations benefit everyone involved and ultimately lead to greater success.

In summary, if you’ve decided to learn more about LinkedIn and want to improve your chances of securing employment, then this course is perfect for you. We cover everything from setting up your profile to developing strategies to grow your reputation and position you as an authority in your industry.

So what do you say? Are you ready to jumpstart your LinkedIn profile? Let us know in the comments below! And for further reading check out our guide to LinkedIn for entrepreneurs.

Step 1: Create a profile

To get started with creating your own LinkedIn profile, first log into LinkedIn using any browser. When prompted choose Sign Up Now and complete the sign up process.

Once signed up, go ahead and click Start Here, then select Create Your Profile from the menu at the top of the page.

You'll be asked to enter your name, email address, location (if applicable), occupation, industry sector, company size, and education level. Once all these details are entered, you will be taken back to the main screen where you can begin building out your profile. The next few steps should help you along the way as you fill out more information about yourself.

The following sections allow you to add additional information to your profile such as current job title, employment history, skills, awards received etc.

Current Job Position - This section allows you to edit your current position or add a new one by selecting From A List...

Employment History – You may already know what type of career path you want, but if not, here you can add previous positions that might interest potential employers. Additionally, you can use this section to highlight accomplishments, achievements, and other noteworthy events.

Skills & Expertise – If you've ever had trouble describing what exactly you’re good at, this section gives you the opportunity to list specific skill sets and expertise within them. For example, if you’ve worked previously in sales and marketing roles, you could describe how well you perform in each area.

Awards Received – Awards are great ways to show off your success, so why not include them on your LinkedIn profile? These can range anywhere from being recognized for community service to winning a national award.


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