Anyone who’s in a job search knows that LinkedIn is a vital tool for success. But are you using it for all it’s worth? I mean, do you really know how to leverage LinkedIn in your search?
Honestly, most job seekers don’t.
While smart professionals are at least on LinkedIn, they typically use it for only one thing: looking for jobs. Some don’t even bother applying to jobs on the site, opting instead to go directly to company sites. Now, I would never tell you not to look for jobs on LinkedIn; it’s an excellent resource for your search! However, there are a few other ways you can get more out of the platform. This is what I share with clients when I describe LinkedIn:
- It’s a marketing site to get the word out about your professional brand.
- It nearly rivals Google in its ability to help you search for people, companies, and positions.
- For those who don’t want to network in person (or can’t), LinkedIn provides an ideal platform for creating and building relationships.
Truly, LinkedIn is an excellent tool for supplementing your search. By reaching out to people, in addition to just applying for jobs, you’ll find that you gain more traction and advance conversations quicker.
LinkedIn as a Marketing Platform
Limiting your thinking that your LinkedIn profile is merely your online resume is akin to thinking a website is just a digital brochure. Yes, at one point in time, both these beliefs were relevant and true. But we’ve evolved. Just as websites now allow you to do everything from chat with a representative to placing an order, your LinkedIn profile has so much more possibility!
At a minimum, your LinkedIn profile must have these components to align with 360Brew, the site’s new algorithm:
- compelling headline
- noteworthy about section
- completed experience section, including what you did and how you added value
To better leverage LinkedIn in your job search, you can add a lot more to your profile:
Cover Image
When you land on a website, you expect to learn in seconds what the company does. That’s shared through images and content. While your headline may do the heavy lifting here, your cover photo needs to pull its weight as well. Consider using Canva to create your custom cover image: The site offers a free option and has the exact measurements you’ll need as well as templates. Be sure your image conveys who you are.
Featured Section
Too few job seekers even know the featured section is a thing, much less actually incorporate its use into their profile. Here, you can showcase projects through videos, links, and uploads. Some job seekers will attach their downloadable resume in their featured section, which is another smart idea.
Skills
Did you know that skills on your profile help LinkedIn determine if and how you’re qualified for roles that are posted on the site? That’s why it’s vital that you only choose skills that are already on LinkedIn. In other words, type in a word and choose something from the drop-down menu. Make sure your top three skills in your skills section are, indeed, your top three skills, as they show up on your profile when recruiters download it. And add your top five skills to your about section and each position in your experience.
Portfolio
There’s so much more you can add to your profile, including licenses and certifications, honors and awards, publications, patents, projects, courses, test scores, languages, volunteer work, and organizations. You can also add uploads and links to to each experience and education to highlight accomplishments. Instead of having a portfolio to share at interviews, you’ll now have everything at one convenient location: your LinkedIn profile.
LinkedIn as a Search Engine
LinkedIn is one of the most powerful search engines available, right up there with Google. Plus, pretty much everything that’s on LinkedIn is also indexed on Google. Naturally, you can absolutely look for jobs here and even create alerts that send you automatic notifications of new job postings. But that’s not all. When you integrate LinkedIn for research, worlds open up to you. You can search for:
- companies in your industry (or target industry)
- professionals with roles similar to yours
- hiring managers and recruiters
- alumni from your alma mater
- professionals who recently joined target organizations
This information becomes incredibly valuable when building a targeted job-search strategy. Instead of applying randomly, you can identify organizations that align with your goals and learn more about the people working there. Follow the companies that you find and let them know you’re targeting them for roles. That helps them find you as you’re finding them.
LinkedIn as a Networking Platform
You can network without ever having to leave the house when you leverage LinkedIn in your job search as a networking platform. Certainly, you can reach out to new people and forge relationships, but you can also engage with your existing connections. And you can even go to presentations and networking events through LinkedIn.
To fulfill what 360Brew suggests, at a minimum you’ll want to take action three times a week, either through comments or posts. Here are ways to engage on LinkedIn:
Comment on Posts
Thoughtful comments on posts are one of the easiest ways to create and maintain visibility with your network. When you engage with others’ content, you show your support and demonstrate your experience while keeping your name in their feed. And because of how LinkedIn serves up content from second- and third-level, as well as first-level, connections, that little comment can lead to more conversations and connections.
Post Your Own Content
Posting on LinkedIn doesn’t require becoming a daily thought leader. Even occasional posts can help others understand what you care about and what you bring to the table. The key here is twofold:
- Follow the three E’s: be educational, entertaining, and engaging.
- Be consistent.
I always suggest that job seekers post about three key things:
- Your job search. If you aren’t currently employed or worried about losing your job, let people know that you’re looking, what you’re looking for, and how your search is going.
- Your expertise area. This could be thoughts, ideas, polls, or articles you read.
- Yourself. Give some insight into who you are as a person with posts about pets, nature, jokes, memes, or pretty much anything else that shares your personality.
When you post about these three areas, you start to build credibility. Bonus: If you repost someone else’s content and add your thoughts, it counts as a post too!
Participate in Events
Many people aren’t even aware that LinkedIn enables members to host events, but there they are. You can search for events by going to your newsfeed/homepage and scrolling down to the last things on the left side of the page. There you’ll see “events,” which you can click on to see what’s coming up.
Participating in events allows you to meet all kinds of movers and shakers, including:
- industry leaders
- potential colleagues
- hiring managers
- peers in your field
They’re also an easy way to engage with professionals who share similar interests.
Join and Get Active in Groups
Another underutilized arena on LinkedIn is groups. Just type in whatever you want in the search bar and, when the results return, choose groups from the choices across the top. You can join up to 100 groups, so aim for those in your industry and for people like you (aka, job seekers). Within groups, you can search for people and jobs that are posted there, and you can of course post. If you’re looking to meet likeminded people in an easy-to-network setting, groups are an excellent option.
Use LinkedIn Proactively and Reactively
LinkedIn can play a huge part in a successful job search—for all the reasons shared above. How you use it is also key to better leverage LinkedIn in your job search. My suggestion is to use it both proactively and reactively.
We typically think of using LinkedIn after applying, which is the reactive approach. Here, you’ll apply to a job and then reach out to someone who works there. If you have first-level connections at the company, that’s the obvious choice, but don’t overlook making a cold outreach to someone on the talent acquisition team to give them a heads-up that you applied and are interested. This can especially help you stand out when you use Easy Apply.
When it comes to following up, it doesn’t matter where you originally found the job. Whether you discovered the opportunity through LinkedIn, Google, another job-search site, or the company page, LinkedIn can still help you build connections around that opportunity.
Looking at the proactive use of LinkedIn, we’re talking about leveraging the platform to make connections prior to applying. You might:
- identify companies you want to work for
- search for employees in similar roles
- engage with their posts
- attend company-hosted events
- reach out to professionals for informational conversations
Then, when a relevant job opens, you already understand the organization and may even know someone who works there. At that point, applying becomes just one step in a much broader relationship-building process.
Continue to Leverage LinkedIn in Your Job Search
While I can talk about LinkedIn for days, it’s not a magic formula; it’s just one part of the equation. Just because you have a fully optimized profile doesn’t mean job opportunities will appear out of the blue. Using it intentionally, though, can truly transform your overall outcomes. Remember the key ways to leverage LinkedIn in your job search:
- As a marketing platform to present your professional brand.
- As a search engine to research companies, opportunities, and people you should know.
- As a networking platform to meet movers and shakers in your industry or target industry and cultivate relationships.
- As part of your application process to proactively and reactively improve your chances of moving to the next step.
When you put all these components together, you’ll see that LinkedIn is an invaluable resource that you can use while looking for your next role as well as after you land.
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Need help navigating the job-search process? There’s a reason I named my company Your Career Advocate: I’m here to guide and support you from initial application through salary negotiation. Learn more about the options.