LinkedIn’s IPO is making waves in financial circles, but there’s a number being bandied about that should resonate with job seekers as well: 41 percent of its revenue comes from hiring solutions, which signifies the extent to which employers and recruiters are using LinkedIn to find job candidates. LinkedIn is a powerful tool for any job seeker, whether you’re a college student entering the job market or a seasoned professional looking to advance your career.

[Source: OnlineMBA.com]

Richard Colback, author of LinkedIn Essential Training, shares his top tips for getting the most out of LinkedIn:

Complete your profile and keep it up to date. LinkedIn is a live platform with millions of people referring to the profiles it contains on a daily basis. By creating and maintaining a full profile, you will feature more prominently in the results shown to this huge network of people.

Add connections. The value of a network is exponentially greater than your profile on its own. By adding business, educational, and professional contacts to your network, you open up opportunities not only for yourself, but also for others in your network who can help each other via a shared link to you.

Get involved. There are many ways that you can get involved on LinkedIn. These vary from sharing information that will benefit the LinkedIn communities you are part of, to joining groups and providing people with another way to contact you and share their interests and insights with you. Active users of LinkedIn are finding jobs, creating business partnerships, and helping others to advance every minute of the day. It’s incredibly powerful, and simple to get started.

Richard’s course offers in-depth tutorials in setting up a profile and making the most of LinkedIn’s networking and job search features. (We also have a course on creating an effective resume if you need some help with that piece.) Take some time to develop a presence on the site, and see what happens when you open yourself up to a network of millions of employers, recruiters, and colleagues who use LinkedIn to help their businesses—and each other—be more successful.