10 different ways you can use LinkedIn and their benefits

For potential recruiters, employers and others to find and contact you

To develop your expertise and personal brand

Best way to expand your network and reach is to connect with current colleagues - there's no particular reason why they wouldn't add you back (at least not that I've found)

Sometimes it's good to connect with old colleagues - not necessarily to get something out of them but to catch up and keep up the relationship, especially with those you enjoyed working with

Connect with CEOs, entrepreneurs, and other people you admire and that have some sort of connection to you. That way, it's not out of the blue.

Even though I might not be able to connect with them, I can follow them, see what they're writing about, and get a glimpse into what they're thinking about.

I think the online courses are useful but useless if you don't apply what you know.

One good thing about LinkedIn is you can get a sense of who someone is before you meet them. Since you may have new coworkers all the time, you'll want to understand their background so you can better position different conversations with people.

I mostly ignore news items on LinkedIn that seem to veer on Meta or Twitter updates. I also tend to ignore promotions, but I do like to see when people in my network get new jobs.

Although everybody's career follows different paths, finding people you admire or aspire to and seeing their path can give you a sense of what steps you need to take. Again, you might not take the exact steps but it helps if you know you have certifications, or certain projects, or even more schooling that you may need to take. Both the similarities and differences are important (find several people with your dream job).