How to Use LinkedIn to Land a Job

LinkedIn is a fantastic networking platform to look for a job. It is the only platform where people with different careers can connect and help each other find jobs.

Unfortunately, many job seekers don’t know how to maximize LinkedIn to help them find the job they need. Instead, they copy and paste their resume hoping they magically will be contacted with job offers. But here is some bad news, it is not going to happen.

If you are tired of applying for jobs after jobs and getting nowhere, then you are in the right place. In this blog post, you are going to learn some tactics on how to use LinkedIn to land the job of your dream.

After reading this post and applying the strategies that you learn from the post, it won’t take you a long time to land a job. That’s a guarantee because the tactics you’re about to read are tactics others have used to land their dream jobs.

What You Need to Get Started

If you want to find a job on LinkedIn, then you need these three things;

• An optimized LinkedIn profile
• Good communication and networking skills
• An optimistic mindset.

So, here are 5 strategies each of which will bring you a step closer to a new job opportunity or a new career.

1. Set Up a Great Profile

It all starts with a well-optimized profile. It is the first place recruiters will go to find information about you. Your profile should show your personality and not just a place to stamp your resume.

There are a few elements to an optimized profile. They include;

• A professionally looking profile picture. If you don’t have a profile picture or if it’s outdated, then go to a studio and get a good shot you can use for your LinkedIn profile. Make sure your picture is showing your face. Your face should take up 60% of the image.
• A well-written about section. This is where you create a summary of yourself that tells your story. This is not the same as a biography. This is where you talk about your passion for the career, your skills, and strengths, how you got into the field, past jobs experience if any, your soft skills, etc.
• Your skills in the skills section. Adding your skills to your profile is an effective way to get your profile to show up in LinkedIn search results. But this can only happen when your skills have endorsements. To make this count for you, after including your skills in the skills section, invite your friends and family members who are on LinkedIn to endorse your skills.

Having a great profile is just a piece of the puzzle, there are still other tactics that come to play, and this leads us to the next tactics.

2. Be Active

LinkedIn is not just a platform where you go and stamp your resume and job experiences because you know recruiters use LinkedIn as part of their search for candidates. You have to be active. ‘Active’ here doesn’t mean always being online. You have to be putting yourself out.

LinkedIn is not an online resume. It is a social networking platform where to stay relevant, you have to be connecting with people and become a source of value to people.

Most people just create an account, fill in the necessary details like their skills and past job experiences, and go. No single post on their feed. They only come from time to time to either update their profile or check if they have a message or try to see if they can find a post with a job offer.

You will not get your desired result with this kind of behavior. Sometimes, recruiters want to read your post. They want to be able to confirm with content on your feed if you are truly a great fit for the position you are applying for.

That’s why most recruiters will request you drop a link to your LinkedIn profile. They are not just checking your profile details; they are checking your connection and your feed to rate you.

So, to stand out among other applicants, you need to position yourself as someone very knowledgeable in your field. Share content that gives value. Talk about yourself and include photos. Talk about past experiences. Talk about what you’re presently doing. Connect with other people in your field and build connections via inbox.

Get to know them and let them know you are looking for a job. You can never tell if the person you are talking to in your DM has a job vacancy where they are working and can connect you to the job.

Also read: How to Use LinkedIn to Grow your Business

3. Subscribe to Job Alerts on LinkedIn

Use this tool to always get a notification for jobs you’re interested in. When you subscribe to job alerts, you will always get notified when any company post jobs that match your ideal criteria.

How do you do this?

When you log into LinkedIn, look for the Jobs icon. Touch or click on it and search for your desired job in your desired location. When a list of jobs position shows up, you will see a message telling you to get job alert for that particular search by turning on a notification. Turn on the notification and you will start getting alerts for that position and location you searched for.

4. Join LinkedIn Groups in Your Industry

LinkedIn groups are one place you can land a job. Joining LinkedIn groups in your industry helps you connect with members who can tell you more about their career paths. You also gain career-development information from people posting in the group.

Don’t just join the groups to consume content. Make sure you are also contributing to the group. This will help you get noticed even if you are not just looking for a job but looking to market your business.

Make connections with other members and get to know them. Introduce yourself to them via inbox and let them know you are seeking a job. Be careful not to look too aggressive with your intent so they don’t block you. Let your conversation be fun and interactive.

5. Show You’re Open to Work

If you have noticed, some profile pictures have a banner stating, “Open to Work”. What that means is that the person is looking for a job. You can include the LinkedIn #OpenToWork feature in your profile picture to tell potential recruiters that you are open to work.

People use it because it is working. It is free and so you should include this strategy in your LinkedIn job search.

Conclusion

LinkedIn is a powerful tool you can use to land your dream job if you use it right. If you can apply these strategies shared in this post correctly, you may never have to search for another job again.