linkedin for job search

5 ways to use LinkedIn for job search

June 2, 2020 By Katherine Burik

LinkedIn is the gold standard for business social networking these days.

LinkedIn has made it easier to connect and build relationships with people you meet, giving you advantages in job search and career growth. It is not a perfect medium, but it is the best we have right now.

This is particularly important for job seekers since networking is a more successful method of finding a job than submitting resumes to job postings. A strong optimized LinkedIn profile can tip the scales in favor of one candidate over another. Why miss out?

Here are five ways you can use LinkedIn for job search:

Establish a personal brand. Your personal brand are those characteristics and accomplishments that make you different from other people who do the same thing. Your LinkedIn profile is the perfect platform to distinguish yourself. You can put your personal brand in pictures, descriptions and content that illustrate how you are different. Without LinkedIn, you must rely on submitting your resume to job postings, a job search strategy that does not work in your favor.
Research companies & people. The key to a solid job search marketing plan is identifying target companies. You can research those target companies by exploring the company pages. Most companies have a company page where they share ideas, propaganda, and news. By clicking on the “See all XXX employees on LinkedIn” clickable link, you can use the advanced search functions to find people who might be your boss or colleagues. You can learn a lot about a company and their people from this resource.
Connect with people. Making social connections is at the heart of social media. LinkedIn encourages you to add more connections and talk to them regularly. Expanding your network makes you more visible and opens you up to opportunities you never would have imagined. Set goals for yourself to add a certain amount of connections each week and month. My goal is to add 50 connections per month, or 600 per year. That goal keeps me active and provides a steady flow of new ideas and opportunities.
Become a thought leader. You enhance your reputation and visibility by sharing content on your profile. Posts and articles you write or record on video, and the content you find, are shared with all your connections in the daily feed. This is a chance to remind people you still exist. SlideShare provides a platform for you to share PowerPoint presentations you create in PDF. All this keyword rich content is attached to your profile, making you more findable.
Learn & grow. Professional development keeps us fresh and relevant. LinkedIn offers formal learning through its LinkedIn Learning platform, available with the Premium membership. I use that service to research topics and prepare presentations by simply entering the topic in the upper left search box and exploring the resources that appear in the results. You can also find and connect with experts who attach interesting books and articles to their profiles. LinkedIn Groups offers information sharing in specialty areas. LinkedIn also offers certifications after you take online courses. I saw a job seeker’s profile recently where he had taken 20+ LinkedIn courses, receiving as many certification badges that add to his credibility. This is particularly important in high tech professions.

Do not miss an opportunity to find your ideal job and be found by hiring managers in LinkedIn. Check out The Interview Doctor’s free LinkedIn training, “How to Use LinkedIn to Get the Job You Want” for job seekers.

Five Ways to Use LinkedIn Groups in Your Job Search

September 30, 2016 By Marta Goertzen

LinkedIn Groups are your networking key to the kingdom.

Until you have explored and joined groups you haven’t fully utilized the networking power of LinkedIn.com. Occasionally when I work with a candidate having trouble with his/her search, I find they have not fully explored groups.

Here are some reasons why groups can be useful in your search:

Expands contacts. LinkedIn protocol allows you to send an invitation to connect to people who are in groups with you. Being in groups allows you to connect with more people and allows other people in the group to connect with you
Interesting discussions. You can post questions or comment on questions other people post. This raises your visibility and lets people see how you think. Assuming you make a good impression, it makes you more desirable.
Jobs are posted in groups that might not be posted anywhere else. You can respond directly and perhaps get a leg up on the competition who might be looking at Monster. You might also become aware of companies hiring people in your field.
Increases your visibility. The more people who know you are looking for a new position, the more likely you can land that job. Recruiters use LinkedIn as their top choice to find candidates. They look in groups.
Offer more ways to search for people, companies, and jobs. LinkedIn’s search tools are very powerful, even if you do not purchase the expanded services. You can see who is looking at your profile and search for companies in your industry. You can talk to people who already work at those companies and get inside information on who to speak to in your field.

Consider joining groups related to your education (college alumni association, college interest groups, sorority or fraternity groups), your previous employment, special interest groups related to your job, groups related to your industry or the industry you want to work in, special interest groups related to some special characteristic about you (maybe your age, sex, race). Be careful about groups related to your religion or politics so you don’t inadvertently alienate potential employers.

LinkedIn groups are a must in every job search. How do you use LinkedIn groups?

If you would like more tips on a successful job search, check out a replay video of our job search training – it is free and has tons of job search tips in it.

Job Search Lessons Shared after a long search

April 12, 2016 By Marta Goertzen

What works and what does not – Job Search Lessons Shared after a long search.

Radiology was fine for a while. Until it wasn’t. Abby wanted something more.

Abby loved radiology, loved the interaction with the clients. But medicine has been changing over the last ten years. She got laid off from her original hospital. The latest large hospital system implemented a new scheduling system that essentially put her on call with reduced hours and lower pay.

Abby was ready for something more. More challenging, more stimulating, more reliable. So she got her MBA and discovered she loved the business side of medicine.

She had no idea how to find her new job in her new career. That is when I met Abby. We worked on her resume and got her set up in LinkedIn. But Abby had trouble with the whole networking thing. It was a totally new way to look at job search. She was not comfortable.

She started to accumulate LinkedIn connections but it was slow.

She enrolled in a promising program for emerging leaders in the hospital system that looked like networking on steroids. Monthly meetings with department heads and executives that combined stimulating ideas with interaction with the right people. She worked on some project teams and shared some of her ideas with the hospital’s thought leaders. Now she was really networking!

The program was great. But the payoff? Nothing.

Abby applied for at least five positions in the hospital system with no response at all. Crickets! No acknowledgement from the leaders she met. Not even a “no thank you”. Nothing.

The hospital system was sending a strong message that despite their words, their actions were telling her Abby was not valued. She did not fit. She needed to think outside the hospital.

Abby was also getting the message that job search via the application process is frustrating and often ineffective for the job seeker. It was time to network in a different way.

To fill the down time from her reduced schedule and still continue to network, Abby started volunteering at the local Visiting Nurses’ outpost at another hospital she worked at years ago. It started as a way to give back, to pass the time and learn new skills. She liked the impact the organization had on the community.

She liked the people. She fell into an easy rhythm with the clients and the organization’s leaders. When a leadership position came up she got the job! Networking really works!

Abby looks at her story as a question of fit. At her last hospital even after a few years she was still an outsider. She was never really accepted. Even the emerging leaders program did not bridge the cultural mismatch.

She didn’t volunteer to get a new position but volunteering exposed her to new people with new ideas in a culture she really loved. Abby says, “Of all the organizations I have worked for these past 4.5 years, none of them have been the right fit for me like [this one]. I won’t be in the hospital but will be a part of [this hospital]… So excited for this!”

Abby’s story shares some critical lessons:

Cultural fit is critical. Even participating in an “emerging leaders” program did not bridge the cultural fit. Abby was never going to get promoted at that hospital because she did not fit. She needed to find an organization that values her for who she is.
A foot in the door is not always valuable. Abby says, “The biggest take away I see from it is don’t think just because you have a foot in the door somewhere that it’s going to land you something else later in that company.”
Volunteering is valuable networking. You never know who you will meet who can be helpful. Plus you have the added benefit of contributing to a good cause while you network.
Networking wins every time. It is not what you know but who you know that makes the difference. Being the most qualified is no guarantee of advancement unless you can build relationships with people to demonstrate your fit.
Patience is a virtue. It took Abby almost two years to find the job she wanted. In the meantime she worked strange schedules, finished her MBA, got very frustrated but persevered. Volunteering made the difference for Abby but the real lesson is Abby’s patience.

Congratulations to Abby for getting what she wants!!!

Know what you want, be patient, be aware of cultural fit and continue to network and you too will land the right job for you!!

Lots of ways to Connect on Social Media

March 18, 2016 By Marta Goertzen

Katherine, the Explorer, here with another adventure in social media connecting. It all started with an email from a friend who helps job seekers:

Hi Katherine, Hope all is well. Can you please tell me about these types of LinkedIn solicitations? Ralph

Ralph attached an invitation from a LinkedIn connection to join “Opportunity.com”. The note said:

Hi Ralph,

You have been invited by John Smith (United States) to become part of Opportunity. Use Opportunity to discover sales leads and job opportunities or to network with the exact types of people you would like to meet based on interests, age, gender and more.

Join over 20 million professionals from over 190+ countries who use Opportunity each day to discover hidden business opportunities happening all around them.

My initial bias about these services is if it is too good to be true then it probably is. The reviews on Opportunity describe it as affiliate marketing to grow lists and networks. It is hard to see from the reviews how this kind of service can be useful for job seekers. Also I am skeptical of anything that takes a job seeker away for growing their network around their target job. It is hard enough to get them to do that much less participate in another lead generation service.

But being curious, I signed up to see what happens!!

I entered my email address. Then you are confronted by four choices: “Find sales leads”, “Find a job”, “Find employees”, and “Grow my network”. You can only pick one. Just to see what happens I selected “Grow my network”.

Several screens ask for basic contact information, your interests outside of work, the age group you target and kinds of professions I like to work with. I completed my profile with my LinkedIn URL, added a photo and I have an account.

The algorithm started thinking and suddenly I see a page that says I have 763 “Unlabeled Leads”, 923 local potential leads, 2,388 potential state leads, 5,990 potential national leads and 12,513 potential worldwide leads. I flipped through some of the names and no one sounds familiar.

I notice that in the corner under the picture of me I can add another of the services. In the “Job Seeker” section I can add my profile. In the “Hiring Manager” section I can add a description of the jobs I am filling. So this can be a matching service?

Why use Opportunity.com when you can utilize the Interview Doctor’s Talent Exchange? We put hiring managers and candidates together for an immediate connection over an open position.

It is a little unclear what to do with any of this information. I clicked on “Basic” and suddenly everything makes sense. The Basic package, which is free, offers the ability to connect with up to 10 unlocked leads in 5 regions within a 50 mile radius. That is not much. So really I don’t have 763 or 923 potential leads. I have a list of people but I can only unlock 10 of them with the Basic package.

The ability to connect with more people and do much with this information requires a premium membership of $5 or $10 per month. I don’t want to do that. I don’t pay for LinkedIn today; why pay for another service?

What to do with this info anyway? Connect with people, find common interests, and build relationships. How is this different from LinkedIn? You can do a lot with LinkedIn’s free package, more than you can do with Opportunity.com’s free package.

My number one business goal is to grow my network and list so I can find more clients, build relationships and grow my business. But with limited time and resources, it is unclear to me why I would make connections and build relationships outside of LinkedIn when other services duplicate the LinkedIn’s methodology and so many people are available on LinkedIn.

Getting back to Ralph’s initial question about using this service for job seekers, my point is the same.

Job search is about build relationships with people who can introduce you to other folks as you get closer to your target companies.

We have trouble convincing job seekers to do this in LinkedIn. How in the world could we get job seekers to take these steps in another service too? Or even instead of LinkedIn?

So Ralph, let’s redouble our efforts to convince job seekers that LinkedIn is a great place to build relationships and connections to network for a job!

I will follow up on your leads and ideas any time you like. What is the next thing you want me to explore? Katherine, The Interview Doctor, at your service!

Create an Approachable LinkedIn Profile

January 12, 2016 By Marta Goertzen

I receive at least ten LinkedIn invitations a week. Some of these folks I know, some I do not know.

Some of the people are not US based, hailing from all over the world. Many of the folks who ask to connect with me have only a few LinkedIn connections. I am glad to be part of their LinkedIn expansion.

I wonder sometimes what makes these nice folks to want to connect with me. We might never know the answer to that question. It is interesting to consider how to increase your LinkedIn reach.

I think it has to do with being approachable. Here are some ideas to make your LinkedIn profile reflect your best possible self:

Sound like someone people will want to talk to. Your profile should be in the first person. Pretend you are at a business cocktail party. What story do you want to tell so people will remember you? Be sure your profile shares your story in the way you want.
Have something to offer or say. Actively demonstrate through attachments and accomplishments what you have done and what you have to offer to people who connect with you.
Be interesting and authentic. Don’t pretend to be something you are not. Be proud of what you have done. You can choose to be boring or you can choose to be interesting. Which person do you want to talk to?
Have a friendly photo. Don’t just take a quick selfie. Get a professional photo wearing professional looking clothing and hair style that reflects the role you want. Studies show you get a better response with a picture in which you are smiling and making good eye contact.
Be visible. Be active in Groups. Comment and participate in conversations about subjects with which you are familiar. Reach out and engage your connections in conversations.
Build relationships. Uncover how you can be helpful then reach out with information and ideas that other people can use. Exchange emails with your connections about ideas that are important in your profession or ask questions about situations in other people’s profiles. It will be hard for other people to resist responding.

It is commonly believed that if you have no expectations of return when you give information or your time, then you will receive more than you give. Maybe not immediately but eventually you will reap the rewards of more connections and stronger relationships that lead to opportunities you cannot imagine today.

It all starts with the impression of openness you leave from your LinkedIn profile. What can you do today to make your profile more open and approachable?