Let's start with the profile. A LinkedIn profile is an interactive CV and networking platform. You can add pretty much anything and everything you want that makes you look good - your education, work experience, volunteering, awards & certificates, your skills, and more. One of the great things about LinkedIn is that it is relatively easy to use.
The structure is already there, all you need to do is fill it in. The 'About' section at the top of your profile is where you can write your own personal introduction. There is something so satisfying about creating and refining your LinkedIn profile.
As the world's largest professional social network, LinkedIn takes 'the world is your oyster' to the next level. You can start off by connecting with anyone you already know that links to your education or career in some way. For example, I have connected to people on my course as well as people who contribute to The Courier.
From there, your feed will be filled with content that your connections have posted, liked, shared, commented on, etc. This will expose you to new people that you could connect with if there is reason for them to be in your own professional network.
You can also use LinkedIn to find jobs. There is a dedicated job search feature for you to explore. You can also use the platform to reach out directly to potential employers, and you may even have employers reach out to you if you have a profile that meets their candidate search. As well as personal profiles, there are over 61 million company pages on LinkedIn that you can follow and find employees to connect with.
Overall, I think LinkedIn is an amazing way to find interesting people in your industry who have similar career interests who can inspire you. Once you get comfortable with how it works, you can start posting on your feed, and from there your posts might attract the right person's attention to kickstart your career. There are loads more features to explore that I haven't mentioned, so get to it!