How to use LinkedIn to find a job
Start by ensuring that your LinkedIn profile is in top shape. Once you launch an active job search, employers can check out your profile at any time, if they haven’t already. Then make sure you’re easy to find, by participating in a variety of ways—sharing posts and publishing articles that brand you as a subject matter expert. You should also check to see that your network stays strong and keep in touch with key connections. Don’t wait until you desperately need help!
Is LinkedIn good for finding jobs?
LinkedIn can serve as a good tool to help you find jobs—as long as you don’t sit around waiting for it to do that for you. It shouldn’t be the only tool you use in your job search, either. Also, you need to network actively, both within your LinkedIn connection network and outside.
How to find employers on LinkedIn?
Even with the free membership, you can do some searching—for people, companies, jobs. You might not get all the information you’d like, but it will give you something to start with. For instance, search for a specific employer you’re interested in. If they have a company page on LinkedIn, it will pop up, and you can find out more information from there, such as job openings they might have. One of the actions you also want to take is to search for people who work for that company. You can do some of that in the free version as well.
For example, let’s say I’m interested in a position at The Home Depot. I start by searching for “Home Depot” in the LinkedIn search box, and the first entry takes me to their company page. That page includes a link to the company’s careers web page. It also tells me that 29 alumni from my university currently work at Home Depot and that more than 113,000 Home Depot employees are on LinkedIn. I’m not going to research all those employees, but I might try to do something about those alumni.
You can do a more complex search if you have a paid version, so that might be worthwhile. One of my colleagues strongly recommends that people who are doing a serious job search sign up for a paid version of LinkedIn. It doesn’t need to be the most expensive version to help you find useful information. For instance, do you want to work for a large company or a smaller one? Home Depot’s page says they have 10,001+ employees, which could be a maximum number that LinkedIn will show, because we know they have 113,000+ on LinkedIn alone.
Hiring managers and recruiters use LinkedIn to connect with people looking for jobs
Hiring managers and recruiters use LinkedIn particularly to source potential candidates who are currently employed and might not be actively conducting a job search. Using a paid version of LinkedIn, they can create a search that pulls up a list of people they might want to look closely at. They’re also interested in possible candidates who have established a positive (active) presence online, as evidenced by those individuals’ activity level within LinkedIn.
What are some tips for how job seekers can prepare their LinkedIn profile and other social media accounts for consideration in a job search?
You need to do at least the following:
(1) Keep your LinkedIn profile up to date. If you’ve changed jobs since the last one shown, for example, add at least brief information to show your current position.
(2) Build/maintain a healthy network of connections. Ideally, you should rank in the “500+” category, which is the largest number that shows to the public. Of those in your network, a hefty percentage should be people you’re actually in touch with from time to time—a fairly active relationship is even better.
(3) Check to see if anything in your profile hasn’t changed but should have. That is, if something it contains makes you look as if you’re “behind the times,” either remove or update it so it has a positive impact, not negative.
Finally, make sure your brand remains consistent across all social media, not just on LinkedIn.
Best ways for LinkedIn users to increase their profile views
All serious LinkedIn users should keep their profile active and current. Publish and/or post items that show what you’ve been up to, contribute to an ongoing professional discussion, and so on. You can even tweak small details here and there periodically. It doesn’t need to be a major change to have at least a small effect on your online visibility and potentially increase your profile views.
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