I know, you made that LinkedIn account months ago and never went back. You’re content at your job, and since you’re not looking for a new one you haven’t put much effort to updating or maintaining it. What’s the point right? The point is that you may be missing opportunities! Even if you’re not looking for that “ideal job” anymore, it could definitely be looking for you (trust me, I’m the one looking!) and you don’t want to be passed over because you haven’t added a Current Position since 2009. Here are some reasons to dust off that old profile and get reacquainted with the LinkedIn community

First reason: Recruiters and employers are looking for you!

Finding a career is like falling in love, and LinkedIn is your matchmaker. Therefore in order to be matched with your true love, LinkedIn has to know a lot about you. What I mean with this corny analogy is that your profile needs to be full of valuable information in order for you to come up in searches. Recruiters are looking to fill amazing positions and they often seek individuals who have experience. Even without looking, the perfect career growth opportunity may find you!

Second reason: Networking!

LinkedIn is primarily about connecting people and it can be an extremely useful tool in reconnecting you with old friends, classmates, colleagues, or employers. Networking will help you when it’s time for you to change jobs or move, or even help you get career advice or just connect. And networking always leads to the potential for more networking so it’s best to be out there in the professional community to seize these opportunities.

Third Reason: Joining a group.

This will help you with networking as well, but joining a group can also keep you up to date on current happenings in your field and alert you of upcoming relevant events. This is because most groups send out notifications that are full of relevant material targeted specifically for you.

Fourth reason: Your inbox.

Who knows what you have waiting in there! If you don’t have your account set to forward all your inbox messages to your email, there may be mail waiting for you. Recruiters send messages to your inbox to reach out to you, and invitations to connect also end up here. Who knows, maybe your future employer has already reached out to you!