Use this 7 Step Guide to develop a high impact LinkedIn Profile and smart Job Search Strategy.
LinkedIn is the largest professional network in the world with over 135 million registered members. It is the most business-oriented of the large social media sites, and can help you to establish connections that cannot be targeted using traditional job search methods.
LinkedIn is a very popular source of candidates for most recruiters too. It’s easy to use, it’s free, and they know that the most accomplished and tech-savvy candidates are there. If you’re not on the site, they won’t find you and yet recruiters are the gatekeepers for a huge chunk of the hidden job market.
Step 1: Create a Profile
Your LinkedIn profile is like a great resume, interview, and reference document all in one. Pay close attention to the content, layout, and organization of your LinkedIn profile as your profile may be the first impression that others have about you. At the very least your profile should always accurately represent your current situation.
Profile Checklist
Create your profile by going to the main LinkedIn site (Select the free Basic Account)
Use your personal email address to ensure you'll always have access to your account
Use a professional looking photograph
Omit personal information that may lead to identity theft (e.g., birthday, marital status, and personal address)
Write your resume/LinkedIn profile for the job you want, not just the job(s) you’ve had.
Include key words relevant to the type of job you are interested in and that others will use to search for you
Recruiters may search for skills rather than job titles so choose key words in the skills section that capture your all your important skills
Customize your professional headline. It is critical to have a compelling and engaging headline. This is what people who search see first adjacent to your picture.
Use your summary to expand on your headline.
Include your value proposition/elevator speech in your summary
Make sure your profile on LinkedIn highlights your accomplishments and not just what you were responsible for.
Use all available characters in each text field because search engines like high word counts and lotsof relevant keywords.
Claim your name as your Public Profile URL so you can be easily found
Make sure you turn on the checkbox under your contact settings that indicates you are open to career opportunities
Link your profile to all your other social networks. If an employer finds ANYTHING about you, they should be able to see EVERYTHING about you that proves you're a competent professional.
Final Check
Double check all spelling and grammar.
Think of an employer scanning your profile – what do they see?
Make sure your profile is 100% complete.LinkedIn research shows that members with complete profiles are more successful in securing employment and complete profiles show up higher in search results
LinkedIn Statistics @ July 2011 Operates in over 200 countries 1M new members every week 17.8M belong to groups 1.2M comments on posts to groups each week 2Bn people searches annually 1M companies have a company page 130,000 recruiters
Step 2: Get Connected
Once you have completed your profile the next step is to locate people who also have LinkedIn profiles and “establish connections” with them.
Connect strategically. Having a lot of connections is not useful if those connections can’t vouch for you or know enough about you to recommend you. There's also a limit on the number of invitations you can send. Each person gets 3000 invitations for their lifetime on LinkedIn. Once you use them up, that’s it.
You can only invite people to connect if you both share a similar organisation in your profile - an employer, business, group or association or educational institution. If you don’t have some commonality in your profiles you’ll be asked to provide the person’s email address as proof that you actually know each other. If you choose “I don’t know this person,” you won’t be allowed to send an invitation.
This is why having a complete profile is important. The more previous employers and organisations you include in your profile, the more you’ll be able to add people from your past, even if you don’t have their current contact information.
Don’t use the standard connection request. Customise your message so that people know who you are. If you receive too many "don't know" responses to your invitations LinkedIn will freeze your account.
Step 3: Get Recommendations
Gathering recommendations is more about quality than quantity. A dozen generic recommendations are not as valuable as a few specific recommendations about your experience, achievements and contribution.
When asking for a recommendation, ask a range of people who can talk about different aspects of your professional identity. Try to get at least one recommendation for each work related experience. Think about colleagues, supervisors, teachers and professors, as well as people who you've collaborated with in a volunteer capacity, i.e. sporting, church or community groups.
Think about what you want the recommender to focus on and who can best write that recommendation, keeping in mind that you can't edit what they write. Before you send out a request, approach each contact in person to explain the importance of their recommendation. Adding a personal touch to your request will probably result in a better response rate too.
Be sure to thank each of your colleagues who recommend you and consider returning the favour with a follow-up recommendation.
Step 4: Join Groups
Groups on LinkedIn are a great way to find people with shared interests and to connect with potential clients. There are hundreds of thousands of groups on LinkedIn and the maximum number of groups you're allowed is 50 so it’s important that you evaluate the groups before your join.
What are your goals in meeting people? If you are looking for like-minded professionals, try searching for your industry keywords. Once you have found a list of groups based on your interests, consider the following questions.
Who is in the group? Are they a mix of people that you know and don’t know? Knowing someone will help you integrate into the community more quickly.
How many people are in the group? Sometimes a small group of 30 is the ideal setting for good relationship building whereas a larger group that will expose you to a wide range of ideas and people.
How active is the group? You will find that many groups were started, but never maintained. You want to make sure you join a group that is active enough to keep you busy and involved. If you need ideas, try looking for these types of groups:
Alumni – For every college or university that you attended Companies – Many companies have official or unofficial groups for alumni Disciplines – Whatever your profession is there are plenty of groups out there to join Industries – Join groups that represent industries in which you have experience or would like to work in Big Groups – Join some of the bigger general groups for example Executive Suite and TopLinked.
Once you've chosen the groups you want to belong to you need to become involved. It pays to take a few days or weeks to read the discussion boards and the news feeds first. Then, begin by commenting on other posts before you start posting your content.
Once you join a group and participate you can connect to the groups users through Linkedin. If you are an active and valued participant in the group they are more likely to accept the connection. Remember that social media is all about relationships so your goal is to find professionals that you can relate to and THEN add them to your network.
Step 5: Job Search
There are two main aspects of LinkedIn that can be directly helpful to your job search.
The Company Search The Company Search on LinkedIn is especially helpful if you know of an organisation that interests you. Simply search for it on LinkedIn and you will see stats on the company, current employees, former employees and other interesting information. You can also use the "Follow Company" feature to stay current with organizations you have an interest in joining.
The Job Search The Job Search on LinkedIn is similar to platforms you might already be familiar with like Seek.com, but there are added benefits. In addition to your ability to search by job title and other keywords when you click on the name of the person who posted the job, you’ll find that you have a number of options (depending on the level of your membership):
You can see who in your network “knows” (or at least is connected to) the person who posted the job
You can request a referral from someone in your network who is connected to the job poster
You can check your connections within the company that’s posted the job and request an introduction by people in your network who currently work at the company
You can find a contact and set up an informational interview with someone in the area
You can research the target organisation and the people (e.g. the hiring managers)
This video from Pragmatic Learning (in India) talks you through the many different ways to Search for a Job, to Find references, to Apply for Jobs and to get the first lead on latest Jobs
Step 6: Get the Word Out
Once you've set up your profile you’ll want to get the word out to your network about your job search. The more people who know you’re looking, the more likely you’ll find a job. Be up-beat and positive and tell people what you’re looking for.
The easiest way to do this is to send a Status Update to your network. Before you do this make sure your privacy settings are set for your network only. You can message everyone within LinkedIn who you are connected to, but you can only send out a message to 50 connections at one time. Keep your communication balanced though as people will eventually ignore you if you “spam” them with requests for help
Step 7: Maintain your Profile and Presence
It’s very important to maintain your LinkedIn profile even after you have found a job. Don’t wait until the last minute when you need the network.
Track the statistics and use the data to refine your key words and update your profile. Check the number of times:
People click on your profile under "Who's Viewed Your Profile" on the home page You show up in a search under "Shown up in search results" on the home page
Continue to seek recommendations from colleagues and to grow your network as you meet other professionals in your industry.
Use Status Updates
Updating your LinkedIn status is a great way to communicate to your network on a frequent and ongoing basis. EVERY time you update your status, the home page of ALL of your network connections is “pinged” with your status update. Status updates are also distributed to your network via email when LinkedIn sends you your weekly “Network Update.” Your latest status update is always displayed on your LinkedIn profile.
Consider turning off your update notification in your settings when you're making minor tweaks to your profile though. People don't need to know when you update the little things. You can turn it back on at any time.
Your status update is limited to 140 characters — just like Twitter — so keep that in mind, particularly when cutting and pasting information into your status update “window.”
A Few LinkedIn Status Update Ideas Selecting the subject matter of the Status Update really comes down to your objective for social networking however two guidelines to keep in mind are, you want to demonstrate your professionalism and competence, and you want to add value to your network. Here are a few suggestions to help you achieve this:
Insert the title and a “shortened” URL to a blog article you read and really liked. Particularly one that is timely, informative and relates to your area of specialty in some way.
A link to a newsworthy web posting or news item. Focus on positive rather than negative news.
A brief piece of advice relevant to your brand or area of specialty.
A link to a great YouTube video (less than about 3 to 5 minutes) The video content should be consistent with your area of specialty.
An important announcement about you or your company. Try a brief “press release” type of communication.
A link to an article in which YOU were quoted.
Have you enrolled in a professionl qualification, attended a great course or conference
Have you been somewhere new - for an interview
Use LinkedIn’s Amazon Reading List application to mention a book you are currently reading – and provide a quick review.
Bloggers broadcast their latest blogposts
You can also send notes to people in your network when you see status updates or changes to their network
Answer LinkedIn Questions
Linkedin Answers is another way to actively participate and increase your presence. Answer questions in your field with thoughtful and helpful answers. Think your responses out carefully. Fact check and check for typos. Contribute by asking provocative questions too, that demonstrate your level of expertise.
Scan both questions and answers for people you want to connect with and message them through inmail or the QA system. Don’t be obviously self promotional. This is the age of “give before you get” and you need to be giving, useful and helpful at all times.
Two Useful Advanced Options
Showcase your skills and experience and make your profile stand out by installing applications so that you can:
Import your blog posts
Show off your Power point slides through Slideshare
The LinkedIn SlideShare App allows you to:
Post your professional presentations on your LinkedIn profile.
Browse, comment and favorite the presentations of others in your network.
See the latest presentations from your network on your homepage
Book: I'm on LinkedIn--Now What??? A Guide to Getting the Most Out of LinkedIn By Jason Alba Regularly referred to as "the bible on LinkedIn" because it was one of the first LinkedIn books in print this book is designed to help you get the most out of LinkedIn, which has become the most popular business networking site. It is one of "the big three" in the social networking space, along with Facebook and Twitter.
EXCELLERATE YOUR CAREER SUCCESS Contact Excellerate for a confidential obligation free consultation to determine how we can assist you to prepare successfully for your job search, to meet new challenges and take control of your career Call 0800 EXCELNZ (NZ only) or Email Us
