How to leverage LinkedIn for job search?

Being it’s a large network of professionals, you can and you definitely should leverage LinkedIn for job search. However, if you want it to be successful, there are some things you need to keep in mind. Everyone’s there so you better do it right.

In this article, we’ll explain how you can leverage LinkedIn for job search and increase your chances of getting noticed.

 

Fill out your profile

First thing first – you can’t even start considering using LinkedIn for a job search without filling out your profile! There are many sections of a profile and if you are serious about getting notices, you will fill them all out. The more information you share on LinkedIn, the better!

Why?

Because LinkedIn is different than CVs. If someone lands on your LinkedIn profile, they want to learn about you so, chances are, they will actually read everything that you’ve presented. On the other hand, when your CV lands in a recruiter’s inbox, their time is very limited so they probably just scan your CV.

Sections you simply can’t skip

We get it – it might be tiresome to share absolutely everything from your professional life. For example, if you don’t want to get into licenses, courses, publications or list 50 skills – we get it!

But, keep in mind there’s a better chance of someone noticing you if you fill out all the sections and do so thoroughly. However, if you don’t want to spend too much time filling out your LinkedIn profile, here’s the bare minimum we’d advise you to do, on top of the required fields LinkedIn insists on.

Required fields

Headline

You actually have to have a headline, it is a required field. This is the equivalent of the “elevator pitch”. Being short and sweet, you need to try to get someone’s attention.

Position

This one’s self-explanatory. You need to advise of your position (current or past).

Industry

Same as above, pretty self-explanatory. You need to choose your industry. And this can really help you leverage LinkedIn for job search – all the professionals from your field of interest will see that’s your industry, too.

Education

This is a mandatory field, but you don’t have to share your education in the intro.

Location

Another easy one – simply add the country where you live. Again, this can help you connect with professionals that are near to you. It will also help recruiters and headhunters who would like to reach out to you about a position.

Other sections

Even though not mandatory, we’d advise you to write a nice overview of your professional life in the About section. Similarly to that, add all the skills you can to your profile. Skills are particularly interesting because some job ads actually state skills needed so if you have those on your profile, you’ll show as a match!

 

Other than these, we’d also advise you at least list your experiences and education. Actually, you should describe each point, but if you don’t feel like it, keep in mind you’re not showing your true potential. If you don’t know how to do it, think about hiring Linking Lines to optimize your profile! Check our offers here.

 

Let everyone know you’re job-hunting

Luckily, letting everyone know you’re looking for a job is super easy. On your profile, simply add “Open to Work” and modify what is it you’re looking for.

You get to choose job titles, workplaces, job locations, start dates, and job types. But, the most exciting part is that you can choose who sees that you’re looking for a job! Therefore, it’s easy to let the whole world know and not only that but you automatically get #OpenToWork photo frame.

Why is this a good thing? You never know who might see it and message you with an offer or just to connect.

 

Network

Last, but not least, we’d like to mention the importance of networking in job search. When we say “network”, we don’t just mean send connection requests to people. You’ll need to do more than that! React to and comment on people’s posts, post yourself, and send messages to connections in which you briefly introduce yourself. When you do the introduction, try to balance between being too pushy and oversharing and sending a simple “How’s it going?” message.

 

Get to it – leverage LinkedIn for your job search!

Well, there you have it! Here are a few tips that will help you leverage LinkedIn for job search. If you’re persistent, you’ll get there – just don’t give up. If you need extra support, we’ve written about LinkedIn before and rightfully so. Since it is the most used job search platform for some industries, we have to educate job seekers on it.

Make sure you read our other articles about how you can leverage it for job search.

 

[html_block id=”8293″]