Before you begin searching for a job using LinkedIn it is important to ensure that the information displayed on your LinkedIn profile is up to date, accurate and is written for potential employers to see.
Preparation
- Make sure your profile is 100% complete. This includes using a professional photo!
- Ask colleagues, clients, employers for recommendations.
- Build your network of connections.
Job search
- Post status updates letting those in your network / your connections know you are looking for a job or ask if anyone knows of job vacancies in the profession you are interested in. If you are currently in a job and connected to colleagues you may need to be discreet depending on your circumstances.
- Join industry related groups and ask questions, join in a conversation. This will extend your search areas and show you are engaged with other professionals in the same field you are looking for a job in.
- Recruitment companies use LinkedIn to search for suitable candidates. Make sure you tick the boxes for "Career Opportunities" and "Job Enquiries" under Contact Settings in your profile. Note: your connections will see that you have amended your profile to show you are looking for "Career Opportunities".
- If you want to work for a specific company, search for it under Companies eg Microsoft. It has a tab for Careers within its company profile and adds jobs. It also has a short video advertising careers at Microsoft and details about preparing for a Microsoft interview with a link to its JobsBlog http://jobsblog.com.
- Do a search on LinkedIn. Click Jobs on the menu bar at the top or use the drop down menu to select Jobs and enter in the keywords for your job title. Using the Advanced Job Search can provide better matches eg location, recent job postings, company or within 25 miles of your location. For example, if you did a search in the job title for "Marketing" within a 50 mile radius, we got results for a Marketing Communications Manager at Experian. The full job description was detailed along with responsibilities and salary. A button appears to 'Apply Now' or you can Send an InMail direct to the person who posted the job. You can also forward the job 'to a friend'.
- Upgrade to premium LinkedIn and you can contact people on LinkedIn using InMail.
- Watch this video for a way to contact your 2nd degree connections http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eTDnSnDMgE
Remember - if you have any other social networking profiles, eg Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, etc that are publicly available for anyone to see, you might want to make them only available for friends to view. Employers often check job candidates out on these sites first.
Labels: job, linkedin, vacancies