125 LinkedIn Job Search Tips
By Position Ignition
Copyright 2011 Position Ignition Ltd
All rights reserved.
Also by Position Ignition:
100 Essential Career Change Tips
85 Mid Life Career Change Tips
Moving into Retirement in 21st Century
LinkedIn is the world’s biggest social networking website for professionals. Founded in 2002 and launched in 2003, the site currently has in excess of 100 million members in more than 200 countries and territories. People use LinkedIn to make connections with potential hires, discuss and find out more about the present state of their profession, sector and industry, impart knowledge and information to others and seek out opportunities for freelance/portfolio work and employment. This eBook will look at the latter use for LinkedIn, giving you practical, expert tips for a successful job search using the network.
Although many of us are on LinkedIn, few of us truly know how to make the most of it, especially for job search. There’s so much more to seeking work on LinkedIn than browsing the job listings. Now, with this eBook packed full of advice from our Career Guides, you can tap into LinkedIn as the vital job search resource it is. In the following pages, you’ll build upon your knowledge of:
• Filling in your profile to attract employers’ attention
• Using the applications to enhance your profile
• Connecting with people who will be of value to you in your job search
• Getting recommendations as useful as any traditional reference
• Using groups and group discussions to your advantage
• Showcasing your areas of knowledge and expertise in the Q&A
• Picking out the right opportunities from the job listings
• Researching potential employers
Creating Your LinkedIn Profile
The first and most important thing to do upon joining LinkedIn is to fill in your profile in as much and as relevant detail as you can. Your profile page is the “go-to place” for people who want to find out more about you, having seen you comment on a discussion in a group, or answer a question in the Q&A. It’s the first impression you make on people who are browsing LinkedIn profiles or Googling certain terms. The profile offers a marvellous opportunity to tell the world about your experience, skills and accomplishments—it’s an opportunity not to be wasted.
1. Before even creating your profile, get clear on what you’re looking for. What is your target job? Instead of aimlessly considering lots of different types of role or even career, take time to choose just one type of position that aligns with your strengths, passions, preferences and constraints.
2. Think about what you want your LinkedIn profile for and who precisely you want to be seeing it. Is it for recruiters, future employers, head-hunters, HR personnel or potential business partners or someone else?
3. What do you want to happen when people have seen your profile? Do you want them to contact you personally or via LinkedIn itself? Think about what is best for what you are after. If you want them to contact you directly, make sure your email address is easy to remember and make sure that it is professional. If you want them to contact you via LinkedIn, make sure that it’s easy for them to connect with you.
4. Add a picture: Networking is personal; you are making a personal connection with another human being. Part of that is being able to “see” who you are connecting with. With so many spammers and fake profiles on LinkedIn and other social media sites, why not show people who you are and make that personal networking connection.
5. Don’t just upload any old picture of yourself, but preferably a position headshot. You wouldn’t rock up to a job interview in your track-suit, so present yourself smartly on LinkedIn too.
6. Instead of having the standard URL that LinkedIn automatically assigns you, customize your URL to you! Position Ignition co-founder Nisa Chitakasem’s URL is http://uk.linkedin.com/in/nisachitakasem. If someone searches for Nisa’s name they find her—right at the top. Make sure you’re as easy to locate, because you never know when someone might be looking specifically for you to offer you work.
7. Spend time on your tagline: You may think the tagline ‘is just one line’ and indeed it is, but it is a significant line. As you travel around LinkedIn, you’ll see people’s taglines in several places, such as the ‘Answers’ function, whenever someone asks or answers a question. A tagline is designed for immediate impact and to give you an instant idea of what someone or something is all about. Think carefully about how to introduce what you’re about in your tagline.
8. Make sure that it’s easy to find you. Think about the words you use across your profile and make sure that certain ‘keywords’ are included so that you show up when people search for something that might be relevant to you.
9. If you can, include the job you want rather than the job you have in your tagline—employers often search by job title when searching for potential candidates.
10. Include both current and previous roles in your profile. Treat it as a CV or an application form—put down the particular positions relevant to the type of work you’re looking for now.
11. Also add any board, advisory, consulting or voluntary positions you’ve held. The experience you gained in these roles can be just as valuable as that gained through conventional jobs.
12. Add detail to each role listed by explaining what the organisation did and what you did within the organisation.
13. Don’t overload your profile with too much information. Keep it clear, concise and to the point. Highlight your main achievements and what you want to be known and recognised for.
14. Fill in your education details so that people can see what and where you studied, what you may have enjoyed doing and what skills you have gained from your studies. Highlight any achievements, awards or top grades you have. If future employers have studied at the same University as you or have enjoyed similar hobbies, they may relate to you better than if they hadn’t known these things about you.
15. Adding what subjects you studied to the education fields can give people a sense of what your areas of expertise are or can help them to see you as a rounded individual with your various fields of interest and knowledge.
16. Get clear about what you want and make sure your profile supports this. Think about your target and mould your profile so it is focused on this and that there is a clear structure and shape to it.