LinkedIn had enormous value for me after I graduated from a PhD and was desperately looking for a job in industry. I got the LinkedIn Premium, which allowed me

LinkedIn had enormous value for me after I graduated from a PhD and was desperately looking for a job in industry. I got the LinkedIn Premium, which allowed me to message any people directly (without the need to be connected first). My first attempts at cold approaching people were not successful, but I slowly refined my communications and was able to get many replies. I would search a company that was interesting and then message an employee asking for questions about the company, if we had a good conversation, they would hook me up with the recruiter. Sometimes I would directly contact a startup founder with a pitch of how my expertise would be helpful to them (my field is pretty niche, so there aren't any job titles for it). I got my current job by directly approaching the recruiter responsible for the position I wanted. It escalated pretty quickly from the first contact. I didn't need to manufacture my profile in an artificial way. I just put everything I did and know there. The platform gave me the visibility I didn't have, as I come from a small university. The single ability to find who works at a certain company, and how many insiders you already know has enormous value.