Social media app
The professional network for work history, job hunting and industry news.
LinkedIn is a social network for working life. Your profile lists your jobs, education and skills and works as an online CV that recruiters and future colleagues can find. The feed carries posts from people and companies you follow, and the Jobs section lets you search for roles and apply, often with your profile instead of a separate CV.
Reid Hoffman and a team of co-founders launched LinkedIn in May 2003, and Microsoft bought it in 2016. More than 1.3 billion members have registered. Because your colleagues and your employer are often on it too, LinkedIn is the network where it pays most to check what your activity shares before you post, edit your profile or look at someone else’s.
01Is LinkedIn free?
A LinkedIn account is free and covers a full profile, connections, messages with your connections and job applications. Premium plans are paid monthly and add messages to people you are not connected to, more detail on who viewed your profile and learning courses. Companies pay separately for job posts, recruiting tools and ads.
02How to start using LinkedIn
- 1
Sign up at linkedin.com with an email address or a Google or Apple account. You must be at least 16.
- 2
Add a profile photo, a headline and your current job. These are what people see first in search results and invitations.
- 3
Fill in your past jobs, education and skills, so your profile works as an up-to-date CV.
- 4
Connect with colleagues and classmates you know. LinkedIn suggests them from your work history.
- 5
Under Jobs, set the roles and places you are interested in, and turn on job alerts.
03Is LinkedIn safe?
What your employer sees
Profile changes can be shared with your network. If you are job hunting quietly, turn off Share profile updates with your network under Settings, Visibility before you edit.
Fake recruiters
Scammers pose as recruiters with offers that ask for payment, bank details or a download. A real employer never charges you to apply.
Your data and AI
LinkedIn can use your profile and posts to train AI features. You can turn this off under Settings, Data privacy, Data for Generative AI Improvement.
