Looking for a job? If you work in a professional field, then LinkedIn is a great place to find your next career. Just open a free LinkedIn account, create your profile, and get active by publishing content and joining the conversation!
Of course, it’s not quite that simple, but you can follow the five tips below to boost your chances of finding a job using LinkedIn. It’s the most popular social networking site for professionals with hundreds of millions of users, so with patience and persistence, you can make the necessary connections to open new doors to employment opportunities.
1. Make Your Profile Stand Out
When you create your LinkedIn profile, make sure you include as much information as you can. Use all of the sections available to you. Most importantly, lead with your strengths. Make sure the information at the top of your profile is most relevant to the type of job you want to get. Use keywords in your title and profile description, so it’s easier for people to find you when they search for users with those skills.
Once you’ve created a comprehensive profile, take some time to search for people you know and make strategic connections. When you connect with someone on LinkedIn, they are considered a First Degree connection, and all of their connections become Second Degree connections for you. It’s these degrees of connections that help you expand your own LinkedIn network and your exposure by introducing you to a larger audience. Post content, comment on content published by other users, and in time, you’ll build meaningful relationships with other users. You never know what opportunities those relationships might uncover!
2. Get Recommendations
LinkedIn Recommendations are like testimonials of the work you can and have done. They’re a form of social proof that didn’t exist 10 years ago, and you’d be crazy not to use them. How do you choose new products to buy? Do you ask friends and family for testimonials and referrals? Most people seek out opinions from people they know when they’re making important decisions. The same holds true for hiring managers. Reach out to your LinkedIn connections and ask people who you’ve worked with to write a recommendation for you. Be sure to reciprocate and write recommendations for your connections, too! LinkedIn is not a one-way community.
3. Join Groups
Search for groups related to the type of job you want to get and join groups that are active. If a group is very small or no one posts anything to a group, then it’s not worth your time. You can join up to 50 groups with a free LinkedIn account. Once you join a group, not only can you participate in the conversation, but you can also connect with all of the other members of the group. Suddenly, your LinkedIn network has grown significantly! More connections equate to more opportunities to find a job.
4. Search for Jobs
Did you know that companies post jobs to LinkedIn constantly? You can search through those job postings using a wide variety of search criteria. Just visit the Job Search page, enter your search criteria, and you’ll instantly receive relevant results. Some job postings allow you to apply for the job without leaving LinkedIn. When you find jobs you’re interested in, apply for them. When you find companies that interest you, be sure to follow their LinkedIn Company Pages so you get on their radar screens and can stay on top of news and updates from those companies.
5. Create Job Email Alerts
To save time, you can automate your job search using LinkedIn. Simply create email alerts so you automatically receive an email when jobs that you might be interested in are posted to LinkedIn. It only takes a few seconds to create an email alert, and you can create as many as you want.
To create an alert, sign into your LinkedIn account, and conduct an advanced just job search using all of the search criteria that you want. In the results screen, you’ll see a +Save link, which appears on the right side of the page above the first search result. Click the +Save link, enter a search name into the provided text box, and select how often you want to receive email alerts. You can choose to receive email alerts when new job postings match your job search criteria on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. When you receive an email that includes a job that’s right for you, follow the link to get all the details and apply.
Research shows that the vast majority of corporate hiring managers use social networking sites, including LinkedIn, to find new employees. Follow the tips above to create a killer LinkedIn profile that makes you irresistible to recruiters.
