How to Join LinkedIn without an Invitation

By Joel Elad from LinkedIn For Dummies, 2nd Edition

If you haven’t gotten an invitation to join LinkedIn, don’t let that turn you into a wallflower. You can join LinkedIn directly, without an invitation from an existing user. Open your Web browser and make your way to the LinkedIn site.

You see the initial LinkedIn home page. Click the What Is LinkedIn? link, in the top-left corner, to read more information about LinkedIn. Otherwise, when you’re ready to join LinkedIn, just follow these steps:

Enlarge 1 In the Join LinkedIn Today section in the top-right corner, provide your first name, last name, e-mail address, and a password in the boxes provided. You have a chance to add more information about yourself later.	Enlarge 2 Click the Join Now button to continue. You’re taken to the next step, where LinkedIn starts to build your professional profile by asking about your current employment status and location.	Enlarge 3 Complete the fields regarding your current employment status and location from the drop-down or text boxes provided. If you find it difficult to choose an industry that best describes your primary expertise, just choose one that’s closest. You can always change the selection later. If you’re employed but looking for another job, you should still pick the industry of your current profession.
Enlarge 4 Click the blue Create My Profile button to continue. LinkedIn offers to import your contacts from your e-mail program. If you see your e-mail system among the choices, you can pick the radio button next to that system and then click the Login button. LinkedIn will walk you through the steps of importing your address book and offering you the chance to connect to existing members of LinkedIn. You can also do this after account creation by clicking the Skip This Step link.	Enlarge 5 Confirm the e-mail address for your account. Depending on the e-mail account you used to register the account, LinkedIn may be able to log directly into that e-mail account and confirm your e-mail address. Otherwise, LinkedIn will e-mail you a confirmation e-mail, which you can choose to receive instead of using LinkedIn to log directly into your e-mail account.	Enlarge 6 Open Your Inbox and find open e-mail from LinkedIn Email Confirmation with the subject line Please confirm your e-mail address. When you open that e-mail, you should see a request for confirmation, as shown in Figure 2-14. Either click the Click Here (to Confirm Your Email Address) link or copy and paste the URL provided in the e-mail into your Web browser. When you click the link, you’re taken back to LinkedIn and asked to confirm your address.
Enlarge 7 Click the Confirm button to confirm the e-mail address for your account. You’ll then be asked to log in to your account, so simply provide your e-mail address and password when prompted. If you skip this step of confirming your e-mail with LinkedIn, you won’t be able to invite any connections, use functions like LinkedIn Answers, apply for jobs on the LinkedIn job board, or take advantage of most other LinkedIn functions. You’ll be taken to your home page with a confirmation message that your e-mail address is confirmed.