There are more than 100 million members on LinkedIn including business owners, managers, and Fortune 500 company executives.
Those numbers grow daily. Learn to take advantage of powerful tools like LinkedIn to get the most out of your job searches and find that career you’ve been dreaming of.
If you are looking for that perfect job or that dream career move, LinkedIn is a great tool.
Here you can showcase all of your skills and talents, and work to ensure the right people and opportunities cross paths with you.
Use LinkedIn’s Job Search Tool and Networking Capabilities
Discover how to leverage LinkedIn’s job search tool and networking capabilities to land a job and advance your career. Get tips on creating an optimized profile, building your network, and finding job postings in your industry.
How to Search for a Job on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a powerful tool that many overlook.
It also has a powerful job search tool that can help you find jobs that interest you.
Find Job Postings and Employers
The job search tool in LinkedIn provides you with a number of search options including keyword and location.
Let’s look at LinkedIn job search. This tutorial is meant to get you started.
- Log in
- Choose jobs from the menu across the top.
- Select “find jobs” from the drop-down menu.
- Type in the keywords to search by – these might be a specific position, an industry, a city, a company name, etc. This will provide you with a list of available positions based on that search criteria. Find thousands of job positing.
- Check who posted the job position.
- Apply for as many jobs as you want from your search, using your LinkedIn profile.
- Conduct searches regularly as postings can change quite quickly.
If you want more refined searches don’t be afraid to use the advanced search option provided by LinkedIn.
Let Employers Find You
LinkedIn is a great way to make connections with important people within companies you might like to work for.
You can use LinkedIn to brand yourself, search for career advancement opportunities and network with relevant people who can help you find that opportunity.
1. Create a Profile
If you don’t already have a profile, the first thing you need to do is create a LinkedIn profile, which includes your current and past employment history, the industry you are in, and websites that are relevant.
2. Add a Photo
Some individuals prefer not to add a photo, but that is a big mistake when you are looking for employment. Take a headshot if possible; edit it so it’s crisp, and appealing.
Then upload the photo. Remember you are only allowed an 80×80 pixel rate so you’ll have to downsize your photo.
3. Add Keywords and Skills
Be sure you include in your profile all of your resume keywords and your skills.
This will allow the employers who are searching to find your resume for appropriate jobs that you qualify for and when you are seeking employment within a particular industry.
4. Build Your Own Network
You should connect with other LinkedIn members and build your own network.
The more connections you nurture and build, the more opportunities you will find. That said, you should always connect to people you know or have a business relationship with. You need to know you can trust the other party.
5. Join relevant LinkedIn Groups in your area
On LinkedIn, there are hundreds of relevant local groups – Discussion groups. These groups are not only for professional discussions but also used for job hunting.
Many LinkedIn groups include job boards per industry, occupation and profession. You will want to search and join groups of your interest and in the area of expertise to receive first hand information about new job openings.
6. Spread Out and Connect
If you use Facebook, you are familiar with “friending.”
LinkedIn has a similar setup where you can invite people into your professional network. Just do a search and you’re sure to find endless numbers of colleagues, past and present, that you can connect with and network with. Let them know what you are looking for when it comes to your career search.
7. Check Out Companies
LinkedIn makes it easier to find companies who employed people in your field.
You can search for people who live and work near you with similar skills to yours. You can then check out the companies these individuals have worked for, in the past and present, and you can use these leads in your job search.
8. Time to Play Detective
You can do more than just find companies who hired people with similar skills to yours.
Play detective and browse through the personal profiles of employees and see the job experience they have. This is a great way to gain insight on how to change your resume and your profile so that they are more appealing to potential employers.
9. Look at Smaller Companies
If you are having trouble finding a job at one of the large companies, consider looking at smaller companies as potential employers.
Sure smaller companies that are hiring are harder to find, but LinkedIn makes it much easier because you can search by industry, number of employees, and industries you prefer. You can also look for companies that are just in startup stage.
10. Use the Six Degrees to Your Advantage
When you search for the type of career or job that interests you, you are likely to discover that you have someone in your network who knows a hiring manager.
LinkedIn uses the Six Degrees method of connection. You can then ask the person you know that knows the hiring manager if they would mind hand delivering your resume. This almost always increases the likelihood that your resume will be looked at.
11. Get Recommended
Obtain recommendations from people you have worked with. These carry a lot of weight.
Ask those who join your network if they will recommend you.
Positive recommendations from your peers, staff members, current and past bosses will verify that you are a valued, productive, motivated employee.
Sign up today!
LinkedIn is a valuable tool for employers and employees. Don’t wait until you are in the market for a new job.
Sign up today, start to build relationships and networks. You never know when you might find yourself looking for a job change or career move. Building solid relationships along the way will ensure your chance of success significantly increases should the time arise.
There are many social networking tools available to the job seeker. LinkedIn offers one of the most powerful social networking tools at your disposal. Make the most of it.