The social network is this month (on May 5th to be exact) celebrating their 11th year in existence. It has changed the way that the human resources industry has worked and has brought recruitment online.

Linkedin allows members to show off their educational and work experience in a formatted manner. It allows members to highlight certain skills and achievements but also allows for others to recommend them or ‘endorse’ them for certain skills.

Previously, professionals relied on showing their Resumés to prospective employers but with the advent of Linkedin, they can ‘show off’ a lot more and focus on the recommendations received from other professionals. Today, Linkedin has over 300 million members worldwide and this can be leveraged by recruiters and individuals alike in the job search process.

Launching in May 2003, the social network for professionals is now valued at an estimated $7.5 billion. It is often seen as the more serious of the big social networks but can hold its own in terms of its popularity and size.

Linkedin provides excellent functionality for professionals and recruiters alike; it is not unusual for an individual to be headhunted through the system. It facilitates a formal introduction through an internal messaging system and allows for people to connect easily with colleagues. Linkedin also has excellent facilities for company pages, allowing businesses to update their stakeholders on any interesting news or recruitments.

This infographic by dpfoc.com charts the history of the ground breaking social network that changed the way we operate in human resources in the modern digital age.