As I have perviously mentioned, LinkedIn is a great way to help jumpstart your future career. One of the ways that I have learned to used LinkedIn recently is through the "Answers" tab. "Answers" is a way to ask specific questions to all LinkedIn members. They are categorized, making it easy to find general of specific topics to help you learn more about the professional world.
How To Check It Out: To look at the "Answers" page of LinkedIn, just go to the top bar and scroll over "More". Click on answers and you go to the home page. This page has a layout with some of the newest and most popular questions in the main section. On the right hand side, you can browse through general topics and areas of study, such as Health, Marketing, or Business Operations, and then go into subcategories to get more specific questions and answers.
What role can you play? As a recent graduate, I just started using this as an outlet to expand my knowledge and influence within the last few weeks. Being young and relatively inexperienced in the professional world, a lot of times I just get on a few times a week to read. I go to the areas that are valuable to me, such as Direct Marketing or Internet Marketing, and just soak in the questions and answers provided by other professionals. Some are right on, some contradict each other, but thats the beauty of having an individual opinion. Everyone can provide the answer that they think is best.
You can also participate by answering questions. Many questions in areas that I have recently studied or have learned about I can provide answers to! It is a great feeling to be able to take something you learn and apply it, whether it is in your work or helping other people.
The other way you can play a role is to ask questions. A few weeks ago, I got frustrated with my job. My marketing budget is nonexistent and I just had one of those mornings where you get down on yourself. So I turned to LinkedIn. I asked a question that I needed help with. The next morning when I got on my computer, I had e-mails and LinkedIn responses from 6 people, providing me a great way to learn more about areas of my field that I was unsure about.
Why? Why should you participate in LinkedIn "Answers"? Because it helps you become more of a professional. First, it can help you network with people. When I posted my question a few weeks ago, my profile views increased drastically. A few of these people I had personal messaging conversations with, and a few I "Connected" with on LinkedIn.
But most importantly, it helps you grow in areas that you have little or no prior knowledge of. It helps show that you care about growing as a professional. Never be satisfied with the knowledge that you have; always strive to learn more from others and through experiments. One of my favorite quotes is "The day you stop learning is the day you stop growing".
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