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The professional network LinkedIn officially now has more than 15 million members based in the United Kingdom, having successfully doubled its user base in just eighteen months (it had just 10 million users in September 2012).

A staggeringly diverse range of job descriptions are included in this user base, including 540,000 people working in Information Technology and Services, 399,000 in Financial Services, and 374,000 engineers. Not to mention the less mainstream professions – there are currently 744 magicians and 146 chimney sweeps on LinkedIn.

The finance and banking sectors are healthily represented on the network. According to LinkedIn’s membership figures, banks are among the largest employers in the United Kingdom, with Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, and Lloyds Banking Group in the top five, alongside supermarket chain Tesco and the NHS.

The Finance Club is the fifth biggest community on LinkedIn, after The Project Manager Network, Oil&Gas People, Social Media Marketing, and a TED talk group. UK students follow Ernst & Young, Deloitte, PwC and Goldman Sachs in the financial services industry, and Apple, Google, IBM and Microsoft in the technology sector.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, London is the most populous area when it comes to LinkedIn users, with 2.3 million members situated in the region. Birmingham is second, with 284,000, and Manchester is third with 250,000.

Getting the most out of LinkedIn, Redundancy and redeployment on LinkedIn, LinkedIn job hunting

So what does this online growth tell us about how the job hunting game is changing in the United Kingdom?

Put simply, that we are catching up with the rest of the world when it comes to how recruiters seek out and evaluate talent.

“LinkedIn has 260 million users worldwide, and is the number one social media site for hiring professionals,” says Libby Calaby at City CV. “More than 97% of recruiters use LinkedIn to find candidates, which is why it is now more important than ever to have an active, professional profile. Most importantly, the majority of recruiters use it now as their primary or sole resourcing tool.”

Whether you are a graduate taking your first steps towards a career in your chosen sector, or an executive with a wealth of experience to draw on, it has never been so crucial to demonstrate this in your online profile. To find out how City CV can help you with LinkedIn profile advice, call +44 20 7100 6656 or send an email to enquiries@citycv.com