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LinkedIn's chief product officer, Tomer Cohen, oversees product management, user experience, design, and customer operations. Having worked for the company for 13 years and managed LinkedIn's move to mobile devices, there's little he doesn't know about the platform.
I spoke with Cohen at the firm's London office near Farringdon Station. He chatted about his career experiences and long-term aims. I also asked him about the best-practice tips for making the most of LinkedIn.
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"Let me give you the secret sauce," said Cohen. "These are the only three things you must get right. If you do them all, LinkedIn can become a superpower for you."
While that approach sounds simple, he warned, "The fundamentals are important -- really, really important."
So, what are the three fundamentals for turning LinkedIn into a superpower? Let's dip in.
1. Build a great presence
Cohen said the first thing to start with is your public profile: "Make sure your profile, and I know it sounds almost rudimentary, looks great."
He said it's important to verify yourself. This status means a member's government-issued ID has been verified by one of LinkedIn's partners.
"Verification signals to the whole ecosystem that you're active," said Cohen. "You're saying, 'You can reach out to me. I'm here to invest.'"
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Cohen said people want to connect and collaborate with authentic individuals who contribute.
"You don't want to have somebody in your community, and you don't know their photo, and you don't know what they did," he said.
Once you've created and verified your profile, refine it to boost your online presence.
"The more you build your profile, the more you tell the ecosystem, 'Here's what I'm interested in.'"
2. Focus on your network
Cohen said the second golden rule for success is to recognize that everything on LinkedIn takes place through your network.
"What I think in many ways differentiates LinkedIn is how professionals can use the network to achieve their goals and inspirations professionally through a community."
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He told ZDNET that users must understand their community is their network: "So, it starts with people you know, and you've worked with."
Cohen said successful members spend a lot of time fostering their network.
"Build it up because there will be people you work with throughout your life. Then there will be people you want to follow -- people you maybe don't know, and they don't know you, but what they say is important for your craft and work," he said.
"You'll recognize you need those skills in your work. You'll want to follow those people, so you start creating your network."
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Despite the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on the world of work, Cohen said person-to-person connectivity will still be crucial to success.
"In the world of AI, you'll still reach out to people. Those connections are the key to getting stuff done," he said.
"For example, when somebody wants to interview a candidate, they'll reach out to someone in their network and say, 'Hey, you worked with John. How was John?'"
3. Engage with everyone
With your profile established and your network in place, Cohen says lasting success on LinkedIn is all about communication.
"Transact, reach out, share, post," he said. "I think of LinkedIn as a big, long-term investment."
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Cohen gave the example of one of his MBA professors from Stanford University. Six months ago, he caught up with the professor, who explained he'd built a presence on LinkedIn after being told by someone that the platform was a great way to get your ideas out.
"This is someone who'd never engaged with social media, and suddenly on LinkedIn, he's sharing what he's been building for many, many years, which is his work," said Cohen about the academic.
"He's getting speaking engagements. He's getting invited by senior people to talk about his research on venture capital. This is exposure like he's never had before. But it wouldn't happen if he only focused on his own identity. He had to start engaging with others to build his network."
What comes next for LinkedIn?
Of course, wielding influence on any social network platform is a work in progress, especially in an age of algorithms and AI -- and that's true for LinkedIn, too.
The technology company has already launched new AI-enabled tools, including Job Match, a feature that shows job seekers how their profiles compare to an open position, and Hiring Assistant, the company's AI agent that can take on recruiters' repetitive tasks, such as fine-tuning job descriptions and searching for suitable candidates.
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There's more to come. Cohen painted a picture of what the LinkedIn user experience might look like in 24 months.
"Empowering our members is really about curating the experience in the best way possible," he said.
"I believe that, ultimately, when it comes to the member experience, it will be highly personalized."
Over the next 24 months, Cohen expects the company to develop more tailored tools for end users.
"I think that work starts from how we help you as a member or customer navigate this massively, dramatically changing world of work," he said.
"If you're a member of LinkedIn, and let's say you're a job seeker, how does the process move from you searching for jobs to you being able to do your entire career development on LinkedIn?"
Cohen envisaged how AI and other data-enabled services might help: "So, you might brainstorm about what jobs are out there, what skill sets you need, and you'll have a partner that helps walk you through this process."
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He referred to LinkedIn research that suggests 70% of the skills required for jobs today will change by 2030 due to the rise of AI. Those emerging technologies will change social media platforms, too.
"I think, in general, for technology, you'll start seeing a lot more personalized experiences because the cost of building them is coming down now. So, I can build more for you, I can curate more for you," said Cohen.
"People will see personalized versions of apps because developers can do it. If you bring down the cost of technology, you bring up the throughput, ideally with quality, and then you get a highly personalized experience."
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