If you’re
concerned with furthering your career (and you should be), it’s time to switch
over to a more professional network. We’ve shared 18 great reasons why you need
to be spending your time on LinkedIn much more than Facebook, and we hope they
motivate you to make a change for the better.
LinkedIn is professional at its core
LinkedIn was
created to connect professionals in online networking; Facebook was not.
Although both services have evolved to include elements of each other, they do
still remain true to their original purpose, and LinkedIn excels at presenting
a professional front.
LinkedIn is a great place to gain expert status
Although
experts are increasingly flocking to Facebook, it’s still hard for some people
to take the site seriously. On LinkedIn, the setting is much more open to
gaining expert status and credibility. Forums, question and answer sections,
and groups make it simpler to connect and share your knowledge in a credible
way.
LinkedIn represents a more targeted audience
Facebook is on
track to hit the 1 billion-user mark this year, a figure that basically
obliterates LinkedIn’s comparatively small 135 million plus users. One might
think that more users means more exposure, and that would be correct, but on
Facebook, you can’t be sure that the millions of users are actually online to hear
about your professional life. On LinkedIn, you can expect to reach a more
targeted audience that is connected to you, interested in your work, and
willing to listen to what you have to say.
You’re more likely to get a recommendation on LinkedIn
A
recommendation on either LinkedIn or Facebook is a great way to put your best
foot forward, but you’re simply more likely to land one on LinkedIn. Recent
stats show that 36% of LinkedIn users make a recommendation, compared to 27% of
Facebook users. LinkedIn also has a 57% interested recommendation response,
compared with 42% on Facebook.
LinkedIn users log in with a sense of purpose
While on
Facebook, you may be surfing to find out about the latest cat video or your
friend’s wedding photos, but LinkedIn tends to lead to a more task-driven
visit. Users log in to check out job and collaboration opportunities, people to
hire, and relevant industry news.
LinkedIn is a great place to showcase your unpaid work
Even if you
haven’t been hired for a job in your life, chances are you’ve volunteered or
done an internship before graduation. LinkedIn is specifically designed to help
you showcase this experience.
LinkedIn is an online resume
LinkedIn is a
great place to collect references, share your work experience, professional
samples, and more. Your Facebook Timeline is much more like a digital scrapbook
of personal experiences.
LinkedIn searching is more robust
While you can
search for people and terms on Facebook, LinkedIn really shines in this
category. You can search for companies, find people to connect with, get news,
and more on LinkedIn. Your profile is also highly searchable, and represents a
great tool for allowing recruiters to find you.
Although
LinkedIn functions as an online resume, it’s also a time saver when it comes to
creating one that you can print and hand out. Use this feature to stop
neglecting your paper resume and have something to hand in.
Recruiters are more likely to share applications on LinkedIn
Facebook and
LinkedIn are both experiencing growth in applications shared on their sites.
But LinkedIn stands out for the number of candidates who actually apply. You
can expect recruiters to go where the interest is, which clearly rests with
LinkedIn.
Facebook is a major time suck
Facebook is
fun, but for most users, it takes up much more time than it should. In a
comparison, researchers found that Facebook visits resulted in stays of 405
minutes per visitor, compared with 17 minutes on LinkedIn. It is much wiser to
spend 17 focused minutes on LinkedIn than several hours frittering your time
away on Facebook.
Groups on LinkedIn are highly effective
Facebook has
groups, but not on the level that LinkedIn does. LinkedIn remains an incredible
resource for connecting and networking in industry groups on the site.
You’re more likely to get hired on LinkedIn
In a recent
comparison of job search markers on Facebook and LinkedIn, LinkedIn beat
Facebook handily in every category. The most interesting and revealing,
however, was social employee hires, with LinkedIn earning 73% and Facebook at a
low 22%.
LinkedIn is a great place for business introductions
One of the best
features of LinkedIn is the ability to be introduced to new business contacts
through the site, especially through contacts you already know.
LinkedIn users have more money
Out of all the
popular social media sites, LinkedIn users have the highest average income of
$89K. If you’re looking to earn a good salary, you’ll be in great company on
LinkedIn.
LinkedIn activities are more attuned to job promotion
The top
activities on LinkedIn are industry networking, keeping in touch, and
networking between coworkers.
While your
friends on Facebook may be sharing music videos that you scroll right past,
LinkedIn works hard to bring you content that is the most relevant to you. The
site sends emails to users with the most-shared news, groups that belong to
your job focus, and contacts you’re likely to be interested in getting to know.
LinkedIn is awesome for research
Facebook is
growing in this respect with better Pages, but LinkedIn still wins the battle
of employer research. You find out who works there, who used to work there,
whether or not you have any connections within the company, and more.
Informative! Having a linkedin profile development created or tweaked by a certified resume writer guarantees that you will have a web presence that tells your potential employer how much value you offer and offers a convenient format for their reference.
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