LINKEDIN USERS KEY TO

BEING SUCCESFFUL

Prepared for
Shari Weiss

Prepared by
Zarah J. Vega
BUS 300 Student
San Francisco State University

November 13, 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. IV
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
PURPOSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
SIGNIFICANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
ORGANIZATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
People Around the World Join LinkedIn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
LinkedIn Users Activity vs. Activity on Other Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
LinkedIn Users Concerned of their Safety and Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
WORKS CITED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure
1 Where are LinkedIn Users Located . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Activity of Users on Social Networking Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3 Quotes about Safety Concerns on LinkedIn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this report is to inform readers the importance of LinkedIn users having a complete
profile. Through this social networking site people are able to connect with classmates, faculty, and
family at a professional level. Joining this social networking platform allows you to create what most
people call, your professional brand. A profile on LinkedIn is similar to a resume. LinkedIn and big
companies search through these profiles and use what they see and read to make big decisions on whether
to make a connection or give the user a chance of an opportunity or career. These profiles allow
employers to be able to search for people who meet their standards and qualifications or conduct further
research about a person before hiring them. LinkedIn is beneficial to its users by allowing them to find
and pursue a career in their passion by browsing profiles, maintaining relationships, and building their
own professional brand. Logging on frequently and keeping your profile up to date is extremely
important. Profiles are rated on completeness of: Beginner, Intermediate, Expert, and All-Star. Both users
and companies can benefit by complete profiles to see if the user is what they are looking for.
The conclusion is that LinkedIn users can benefit themselves by having a strong profile and constantly
keeping it up to date with the information provided. This report is based on supplied data from the survey
conducted during the course and further online research. Based on the survey, more than half of the
participants answers were along the lines of not having a profile on LinkedIn or not logging on
frequently and being an active user.
Analysis of the data revealed benefited in three areas:

People from all Around the World Join LinkedIn. LinkedIn has over 322 million people
registered users and is currently used in over 200 countries and territories. It is available in 20
languages.

LinkedIn Users Activity vs. Users Activity on other Social Sites. 15% of users sign onto
LinkedIn daily, the average daily time spend on site per user is 9.8 minutes, and 85% of users are
using Facebook.

LinkedIn Users Concerned of their Safety Privacy. LinkedIn users are afraid that the personal
information they provide on their profiles might fall into the wrong hands. LinkedIn has enabled
blocking features and custom privacy settings on their site.

On the basis of these findings, it is recommended for all LinkedIn users to continue to have a strong
presence on the site by completing and updating their profiles frequently. In addition, users who are afraid
to provide personal information needed to have a complete profile on LinkedIn should customize the
privacy setting to their own liking. Being able to utilize the website to its full ability will create endless
opportunities and connections for many users.

INTRODUCTION
This report is designed to inform users about the importance of keeping a strong presence on LinkedIn.
By having a strong presence, users are able to utilize the website to its full ability. Specifically, this report
seeks to answer these questions:

Who is joining LinkedIn?

Why is keeping a strong presence on your LinkedIn profile important?

How are LinkedIn users concerned of their privacy and safety?

BACKGROUND
LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking service. The social networking site was founded in
California on December 2002 and launched on May 2003. LinkedIn is the largest professional networking
site available today. LinkedIn provides a way to connect with other professionals and helps you stay in
contact with millions of users. This networking site is used for exchanges of knowledge and ideas. Also,
this platform is used for users to find opportunities and groups of interest, as well as jobs in a particular
field. This site is available in over 200 countries worldwide in 20 different languages.
The company was founded by Reid Hoffman including founding team members from PayPal and
Socialnet.com. Hoffman was able to launch LinkedIn from out of his living room by inviting 350 of his
contacts to join his network and create their own profiles. LinkedIn grew rapidly and had 4,500 members
by the end of that month it began. Today, the 500 employee private company has some 50 million users.
Reid Hoffman is 42 years old and has a reputation as a Silicon Valley heavyweight, investing in more
than 60 start-ups. (Business Insider) A few of the start-ups Hoffman has invested in include Facebook and
Friendster. According to Hoffman, he created LinkedIn because he saw a huge amount of social
entertainment on the web. He thought about investing in a bunch of things that have a social site to it; the
professional side he would have come to understand later. (Business Insider) During the time he invested
in start-ups, he began his own start-up, LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is a professional way to promote yourself online. This networking site is one of the first to show
up in any search engine results when using it to find people. For example, search engines like Google will
show LinkedIn profiles at the top when typing a persons name. LinkedIn includes all of your basic
information online: education, experiences, connections, and groups. In addition, users have the option to
attach resumes and links to personal blog/website. LinkedIn provides users an easy way to build their
personal brand. LinkedIn profiles are beneficiary: first, users are able to find and pursue a career in their
passion by browsing profiles and connecting with professionals in a particular field. second, users are able
to build and maintain professional relationships and turn those professional relationships into
opportunities. Lastly, users have access to research staff at companies while preparing for interviews and
other opportunities. These benefits rely on having a completed profile.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to inform readers on LinkedIn users and their profiles. This report is also
designed to persuade people have a strong presence on the site and a strong profile. LinkedIn users are
recommended to complete the complete profile checklist provided on the LinkedIn website.

SIGNIFICANCE
With the world having information at our fingertips it is important to be on social networking sites. Many
people use social media sites for entertainment purposes. There are also enterprising sites which for
business purposes. Having accounts to these professional networking sites can gain a person various
connections, which may lead to amazing opportunities. LinkedIn has become one of the most important
websites for finding a job. LinkedIn is important to your career and you should be keeping it updated
even if youre not looking for a job. You never know when youll need it. Recruiters and potential
employees are there. Most importantly, people who you can potentially do business with are there.

SCOPE
The problems that will be analyzed are the advantages of being a frequent LinkedIn user. This report will
discuss who LinkedIn users are, where they are from, the activity performed on profiles, and
recommendations on how to have a great profile. This report will not focus on the disadvantages of being
a LinkedIn user.

ORGANIZATION
This report is written to inform readers on the importance of having complete profiles LinkedIn. The
introduction section will provide background information on this specific networking site. The findings
section will go into depth of those who are using LinkedIn, statistics of the usage performed by users, and
the users concerns of their safety. Following, tips and recommendations on how to create and obtain a
strong profile. The conclusion will summarize the problems, procedures, findings, and include
recommendations. The information provided in this report has been from articles found on the Internet.
The LinkedIn survey used for this report had a sample size of 15-20 people and targeted college students
and their knowledge and/or activity on LinkedIn.

FINDINGS
People Around the World Join LinkedIn
In 2014 there were 347 million users and 75% of its new users came from outside of the United States.
Males make up 56% of LinkedIns user base and females account for 44%. According to LinkedIn
Statistics, in the the beginning of 2015 there were 332 million people on LinkedIn. Two new members
join every second. LinkedIn is currently used in over 200 countries and territories and is available in 20
languages. The top three countries in the world with the most registered members are: United States with
111 million approximate users, India with 28 million users, and Brazil with 20 million approximate users.
LinkedIns users from the United States equal roughly 54 percent of the countrys working age which is
15 to 64 years of age. India with the second most LinkedIn users is the second most populated country in
the world and the current countrys working-age population is roughly 700 million people. Brazil is the
worlds fifth largest country by landmass and population and the 20 million registered members in the
country represent roughly 10 percent of Brazils total population.
Because LinkedIn provides the ability to connect with people all over the world, it is transforming the
way companies, hire, market, and sell. We rely on networks more than ever to try to make better and more
informed decisions. Although, LinkedIn is still a difficult process for most of us it is changing the world
of recruiting. The hunting game of research, networking, and referrals can now all be done and
accomplished through LinkedIn. In Figure 1, the infographic shows the numbers of people from all over
the world who are creating LinkedIn profiles.

Figure 1: Where are LinkedIn Users Located The statistics shown in Figure 1 exhibit
LinkedIns basic user information in the year 2015.

Source: Statista
Designed by Zarah Jane Vega
LinkedIn Users Activity vs. Users Activity on other Social Sites
LinkedIn has 15% of users signing onto their accounts daily. The average user spends about 9.8 minutes
on their site a day. According to LinkedIn, in 2015 the average user spends 17 minutes per month on the
site. 85% of LinkedIn users use Facebook. There are one billion total endorsements on LinkedIn at the
moment. The average CEO has 930 connections. 59% of LinkedIn members have never worked at a
company with more than 200 employees. There are over 39 million students and recent graduates on
LinkedIn. In conclusion, LinkedIn has become a valuable tool for businesses and professionals all around
the world to connect.
According to Business Insider, Pinterest, Tumblr, and LinkedIn made major successful pushes last year to
increase engagement on their mobile sites and apps. The new race in social media is not for audience, but
for multi-device engagement. LinkedIn has tried ways to increase users engagement of the time spent on
the platform. According to Dennis Russell, Managing Partner at Financial Placements LLC, there are four
ways LinkedIn is increasing User Engagement. The four ways LinkedIn created to increase engagement:
1) LinkedIn Messaging transformed to Chat-Style Interface, 2) LinkedIn claims it has also improved
push and email notifications to make conversations timely and effective, 3) Intelligent messaging
assistants (IMAs) feature is in the works, and 4) some new feature making use of voice and video is to
make conversations more compelling.
Studies have shown that there are only 50.5% completed profiles by LinkedIn users. That is about half the
size of the population of users on LinkedIn. Completed profiles are very important for users who want to
gain connections and opportunities. LinkedIn reminds their users to think of their profile as their resume,
where all their information is stored. A person with a detailed profile has a strong profile. The more

detailed and filled with information a profile is, the stronger it looks to others. According to LinkedIn,
users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn.
A complete profiles requires adding professional information and request recommendations. LinkedIn
provides a list of what makes a profile complete: including your industry and location, an up-to-date
current position (with a description), two past positions, education, skills (minimum of three), a profile
photo, and at least 50 connections. In Figure 2, the table shows activity usage on social media sites by
users.

Figure 2: Activity of Users on Social Networking Sites The statistics shown in Figure 2 exhibit
the numbers of usage on network social sites and its users.
User Activity on Social Sites
Source: Social Times
Designed by: Zarah Jane Vega
LinkedIn Users Concerned of their Safety and Privacy
LinkedIn is a great resource for professional networking but users feel they might be giving out too much
of their own personal information. A handful of information can be taken from your profile and shown to
the wrong people. Many users have concerns of their safety. Although, LinkedIn is one of the top leading
network social
sites and benefits
LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook
users all over the
world to connect
and gain
% of Users
15%
60%
65%
connections/
Signing on Daily
opportunities,
with over 300
Average Daily
9.8 minutes
21.2 minutes
42.1 minutes
million users,
that makes
Time Spent on
millions of
Site Per User
profiles with
personal
% of Users Using
85%
95%
n/a
information
Facebook
available to the
public. On social sites like Facebook and Twitter, users are able to post and share hundreds of
entertainment videos. For example, an adorable child, breaking news, or funny videos. But when surfing
through LinkedIn users will not come across anything entertaining. Instead, people will see different
kinds of information because the platform is used for professionals. Just like any other social site there are
privacy and security issues. Because users are providing more personal information onto their profile than
other social sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, there tends to be safety and privacy concerns.
Due to the fact that the main purpose of LinkedIn is to have a profile, users are showcasing a digital
resume where they share their talents, personal information like where they have gone to school and
where they have worked, other skills, and more. Many are afraid that such personal information can get
into the wrong hands.
Ways LinkedIn Users Can Feel Safe
In other social networking platforms, unwanted contacts can be easily avoided by blocking those
particular users. Unfortunately, on LinkedIn this is a problem for many users. There have been many
cases of people using LinkedIn as a stalking platform. A few years ago BuzzFeed reported that the
professional networking site had stalking problem on their hands and over several months around 5,000
people have signed a Change.org petition asking LinkedIn to add the ability to allow users block

individuals from viewing his or her profile. (Bindley, Huffington)LinkedIn Help Center has addressed the
harassment or safety concern and has provided tips on what you user can do if this particular issue ever
arises. If another member of LinkedIn is repeatedly contacting you on our website, here are some setting
you can adjust to avoid unwanted contact and increase your privacy level: block the member from
viewing your profile. There are other ways to make your profile more private by not blocking your
profile: Users are able to hide the public version of their profile that is visible to people who arent signed
in to LinkedIn, Hide their profile photo, change your profile display name, adjust settings for who can
send you invitations, and have the option to turn on or off open profile.
LinkedIn Creates a new Blocking Feature
After a long time of requests and demand from the LinkedIn community, LinkedIn came out with a new
feature that allows users to block specific member profiles on the site. To access the new feature, users
simply visit the profile of the user they want to block and click down the arrow to the right of Send
InMail button and select the Block or report option. This feature adds an additional layer to privacy
controls by allowing users to block certain users they make them feel unsafe. This feature will get rid of
unwanted direct interactions and network activity. Users are able to view and manage their list of blocked
members in their privacy and settings page.
In conclusion, to get the most from LinkedIn, complete your profile. In addition, to completing your
profile, keeping it up-to-date is key. Always make sure to adjust or include the information provided on
your profile. By doing so users can use the site to its full potential. LinkedIn is a professional site and and
should require the same log on time on social sites. If more people logged onto their LinkedIn profiles,
the percentage of completed profiles can rise. Having a completed profile can lead to success filled with
various opportunities and endless connections. If users feel unsafe there are different safety precaution
features available to be adjusted in the settings. In Figure 3, the grid shows LinkedIn users having mixed
feelings being on the site.

Figure 3: Quotes about Safety Concerns on LinkedIn. The data provided in this grid exhibits
the data collected from people who have taken the survey.
LINKEDIN
Positive
LinkedIn
Its easy
Comments helped me to connect
find an
with
awesome
people
job
from all
opportunity over the

world

QUOTES
I love that
LinkedIn
finally
installed a
blocking
feature

Active
participatio
n on
LinkedIn is
like saying
Look at
me!

LinkedIn is
the future
of
networking

Neutral
LinkedIn is
Comments the worlds
largest
professiona
l network

Our
mission is
to connect
the worlds
professiona
ls to make
them more
productive
and
successful

Negative
LinkedIn
Comments seems like
its wasting
my time

LinkedIn
opts users
into third
party
sharing
without
their
consent

LinkedIn
is publicly
held and
has a
diversified
business
model

I used to
be
constantly
bothered
by men
harassing
me on
LinkedIn

Source: Social Times

Revenues
come from
member
subscriptio
ns,
advertising
sales, and
talent
solutions

On your
LinkedIn
profile its
important
to have a
professiona
l looking
profile
picture of
yourself

LinkedIn
isnt use to
hire, its
used to
recruit

LinkedIn
gives the
public too
much open
information
about
myself

Designed by: Andrew Davis

CONCLUSION
Summary of Procedures
LinkedIn users have the opportunity to create a profile and make connections all over the world. Instead
of conducting all the research and digging, users are able to almost everything on this one networking
site. LinkedIn is a site that gives users the option to create a profile for other employers, groups, and
members to view. This allows users to gain connections and possibly a career or great opportunities. What
most users do not know is that employers usually go to LinkedIn and find your profile to know more
about you before offering you a job and/or opportunity. In addition, users with a complete profile tend to
stand out more to employers/companies. The more detailed your profile is, the stronger it looks. Only half
of LinkedIns users have a completed profile. This report is designed to inform readers about having a
completed profile on LinkedIn. Without a complete profile, users may lose out on many opportunities and
connections.

Summary of Findings

People from all over the world are joining LinkedIn and creating profiles. Which means that users are
able to communicate and make connections from all over the world. The top three countries with the most
LinkedIn users are the United States, India, and Brazil. There are over 347 million registered users on
LinkedIn. Two new members join every second. LinkedIn is currently used in over 200 countries and is
available in 20 different languages. LinkedIn is unlike other social networking sites; it is a professional
networking platform. In other words, this site is not for entertainment purposes. Compared to Instagram
and Facebook, LinkedIn has a low user percentage of users signing on daily to their accounts with just
15%. Instagram and Facebook have a higher percentage of users signing on daily, 60%. The average time
spent on the site is 9.8 minutes daily and 85% of LinkedIn users use Facebook. 50.5% of LinkedIn
profiles are considered complete. Half of the users on this platform has an opportunity to complete their
profiles and gain connections/opportunities. Unfortunately, many users feel unsafe having their personal
information made available to the public which could be a concern of why profiles are not complete.
Luckily, LinkedIn has provided options for users to adjust privacy settings and block users.

Conclusions
Analysis of LinkedIns user registration, usage from users, user activity and user concerns leads to the
following conclusions and recommendations about the purpose of this report to inform users to have a
strong presence on LinkedIn to complete their profiles and keep it up-to-date:
1. LinkedIn users can log onto their accounts and complete their profiles with the checklist provided
on the website.
2.

LinkedIn users can adjust privacy settings to their own preference.

3. LinkedIn users should log on more often to update their profiles with correct and current
information.
On the basis of these findings, we recommend that LinkedIn users should begin or continue making their
profiles strong. It is important to do so to utilize the website to its full ability. Great opportunities and
careers can be obtained by doing so. These kinds of benefits might not be given anywhere else. LinkedIn
is one of the leading networking social sites that is similar to a hard copy resume and is a great way to
build your personal brand.
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