LinkedIn is a great way to connect with collegues or clients, past and present, as well as discover new jobs, talent and connections along the way.

We have complied a few tips on how to get the most out of your LinkedIn profile, whether that is blocking people you don't want to connect with or making sure your job seeking efforts stay a secret.

Keeping job seeking a secret

If you are using LinkedIn to look for a job but don't want your current employer to know about it, there are a couple of things you can put in place.

It's worth noting that no updates are sent out when you apply for a job on LinkedIn, but your network or others viewing your profile could see updates you post yourself.

You can select who can see your connections, activity feed and messages you want to receive, as well as turn on or off broadcasts by heading into the Privacy and Settings.

To get to these settings, hover over the thumbnail of your picture in the top right-hand corner and you will be greeted with a list of options.

Sending customised connection messages

LinkedIn offers regular suggestions for people you might know or want to connect. If you find someone you know or want to connect with but don't want to send the automatic and impersonal message that LinkedIn offers, then this is what you need to look out for.

If there is a circle and a plus sign next to the "Connect" button, then an auto-message will be sent and you won't be able to customise it or make it more personal.

To send tailored message with exactly what you want to say, you need to go to the Member's profile, and look for the blue box that says "Connect" inside, which you will find underneath their name and information.

This will then allow you to send a custom message inviting them to connect with you.

Removing connections

If you have some connections on your profile that you accepted at the time of request but have since moved on or decided you'd rather not be connected, then you can remove a connection quite easily.

Head into the connection's profile and under their name and information you will see a blue box that says "Send a message" with a drop down arrow next to it.

Click on the arrow and at the bottom of the list you will see a "Remove connection" option. The person you have removed won't be notified and only you will be able to reinitiate that connection.

Blocking or unblocking a user

If you there is someone you don't want to connect with but are constantly getting requests from them, or their name suggested, you can block them by heading to their profile.

Similar to removing a contact, you click on the arrow next to the blue box under the name and select the "Block or Report" option. You will have have to press "Continue" and "Agree" to confirm your selection.

If you want to unblock someone, head into the "Privacy & Settings" section, click "Manage" which you will find under "Privacy Controls" and find the person's name. All you have to do then is hit "Unblock".

You can block up to 50 members on LinkedIn, and they won't be notified when you do. They will appear in your block list and you won't see anything to do with them and vice versa.