How To Use LinkedIn To Get A Job

Did you know that many recruiters use LinkedIn exclusively searching for candidates to fill jobs? Yes, I say exclusive because they may post a job, legally they have to, but they don't even look at the 200, 300, 400 people who apply to that job. They go to LinkedIn only and search for candidates that way. With that said, having a LinkedIn profile is so important for job seekers and using it in the right way is even more essential. We're going to touch on LinkedIn profile optimization, networking advice, job searching and that easy apply button, sharing your expertise and utilizing your connections in the best way. My name is Sarah Camillo. I'm a certified career coach and resume writer with 15 years of recruiting experience. When I was recruiting, I used LinkedIn daily and so I'm going to share those ways that those candidates stood out to me so that you can do the same. All right, let's dive in. Step number one, optimize your profile. So your LinkedIn profile is pretty much like your online resume, but yet better because you have the ability to use more profile sections that allow you to share more about you and your background outside of just your resume. And it's important to know that there are five different stages for LinkedIn. So you start off with the beginning stage, intermediate, advanced, expert and then all-star. You need to get to that all-star status. Getting your status to all-star is how recruiters find you and how they find your profile. So when you get to that all-star status, you are 40 times more likely to be contacted by recruiters on LinkedIn. So LinkedIn, the algorithm on LinkedIn is designed to give those with the all-star status the priority. So I've linked an article in the description below to help you get to the all-star status. So besides the all-star status, I'm going to quickly run through other ways to make sure that your profile is fully optimized. Number one, make sure your profile is public. Some people have it on private and think people are going to find them. Well, they're not. You need to make sure your profile is public, including your profile picture so that recruiters can come to you. If it's not public, you may as well not even have it. Number two, upload your resume to the settings to make applying a little bit more efficient. You go to your settings and privacy, then you go to data privacy. There's a section in there called job seeking preferences. Go to that section, make sure your resume is in there. Make sure you signal that you're interested in recruiters at companies that you've created job alerts for. There's a setting in there. Make sure that that is turned on as well. Next, the open to work section, which is under your profile picture. Make sure that that is turned on. You don't have to use a little banner that says open to work, but I do recommend the other option, which is allowing recruiters to see that you're open to work. That way, they get a signal that you're looking and they can reach out to you. It just increases your chances a little bit more. Next is your profile photo. Use a professional and approachable headshot. Make sure that it is bright, you can see your face, and make sure it's somewhat current, at least in the last one, two, three years, three at the max, just to make sure it still looks like you because first impressions do matter. Next is the headline. So that is right under your name. So LinkedIn defaults to listing your current job title in your current company, but you have a chance to edit this and have this really showcase your expertise. So say you're a digital marketing specialist, you can include that and then also include SEO expert or content strategist. Say you're in HR, you want to include a little bit more about employee retention or employee engagement. Things like that to just add a little bit more pizzazz to your headline. Next is the about section. So a couple years ago, LinkedIn increased the number of characters allowed in this section and allows you to write a little bit more about yourself outside of your resume again. So put some accomplishments in there, put some things that you don't want to get missed later on under your experience. You want to highlight some things about you and your experience there. Even if you want to write something a little personal about yourself, go for it. You can use that section just for that. Recruiters like to read that section. That is the reason that LinkedIn expanded that section. Now the skills section. This section is so important because these are the keywords and phrases that recruiters are using to come across your profile. So the max used to be 50, now it's actually 100. So you want to audit that section. You no longer need things like Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel. You want to use some other relevant terms, keywords that you're reading in job descriptions, trendy terms and phrases in your industry. Things like that that recruiters are going to use to land on your profile page. And lastly, this is just something little, this is optional, but you're actually able to customize your URL. So you can get rid of those random digits at the end and customize it to your name. It's under edit your profile. Go ahead and do that. All it does is show that you pay attention to details. Step number two, build your network. Listen, just one LinkedIn connection could change your career. I repeat, just one LinkedIn connection could change your career. So your next job is closer than you think. It's reported that 70% or more people have landed jobs through networking. So you want to use LinkedIn as a network. It's not just a profile. It's not just a social media platform. There's no time to be shy. You can expand your network by connecting with previous co-workers and colleagues that you used to work with. You'd be surprised. They are excited to hear from you too. Or previous classmates from college or high school. See where they're working. Reconnect with them. That's what this platform is for. Reach out to other industry professionals that you come across. Maybe you've joined the same webinar or event through LinkedIn. Go ahead and connect with them and just kind of compare notes, building your network and start a conversation with them. Join different groups on LinkedIn too. Now, keep in mind, there are some groups on LinkedIn that are really, really active. You're going to see some activity every day. And there are some that have been around for a long time and they're kind of stagnant now. So go ahead and join them. See if there's any activity. If not, you can leave them and look for other ones. And also engage with people's posts, especially recruiters and especially those other individuals who have companies that are on your targeted company list. If you like and comment on their posts, the more they see your name, the more they're going to be like, who is this person? They're really engaged and they may check out your profile and reach out to you. Ultimately, you always want to keep it professional and conversational. But again, the more that they see your name, the better. I'm going to say it one more time. It only takes one LinkedIn connection to help you get that next job. Maybe it's your next connection that you make, or maybe it's a connection you already have. So use that network. Step number three, the fun part. Search and apply for jobs. Now, keep in mind, LinkedIn should not be the only place that you're job searching. While it's a very good site and it holds a lot of jobs, not every single company posts every single job on this board. So make sure you diversify your job search. But still, LinkedIn is still a great place to job search. So let's talk about it. LinkedIn makes it easy. So use the job searching tool. You can filter by location, by industry, by company. There's all different filters to really customize it for your own job search and make it as efficient as possible. Keep in mind, you can also filter it by the date posted so that you're not seeing the same jobs all the time. I highly recommend setting up as many job alerts as possible. Connect with different companies so that you're notified when they post new jobs, either by the title or just by the company. Search for the career interest section. So that allows you to post and really tailor your own job searching too. This is a new feature. So search for career interest section on LinkedIn. What that does is it allows LinkedIn to then send you other jobs your way too. Other relevant jobs relevant to the types of jobs that you've been searching for. Also, reach out to recruiters on LinkedIn. That's what this platform is for as well. Now, are you going to hear from every recruiter you reach out to? No, you're going to barely hear from any of them. You're going to hear from about 30% of them probably. But it only takes one, right? So if you slowly start building relationships and starting conversations with recruiters, you don't know where that will lead to next. So some of the job postings also include the recruiter's name. Go ahead and reach out to them and say, hey, I just applied for this job. I see that you're a recruiter for it. I'm a fit because of this and this. You want to keep it very brief, but you also want to let them know you're interested in the job. What you don't want to do is reach out to a recruiter on LinkedIn and say, hey, does my background fit any open jobs at your company? You don't want to make them do the extra work. Do the work for them. Share that you're interested in different jobs. Share the job number as much detail as you can. And then wait for them to reply. And hopefully they reply. You would be surprised how many senior level roles are filled through networks, through referrals and recommendations versus just the traditional job applications. So use LinkedIn as often as you can to find those jobs and reach out to people, make connections. It only takes one. I'm going to say that a lot, obviously. Now, if a recruiter isn't listed on the jobs that you apply for, that's OK. Go to the search bar and search for recruiter at X company. And then you're going to get a list of different recruiters. You're going to try to find recruiters that specialize in your area. If you're in IT, typically they're called technical recruiters. Sometimes they'll say recruiting for marketing positions. Sometimes they list them. Sometimes they don't. So ultimately, if it's a big company, try to find at least a couple of recruiters to reach out to. Reach out to them separately. Reach out to them together. Sometimes there is a little competition between them. So if you reach out to them together, one of them is going to say, oh, I'm going to be the better recruiter and respond. So you never know how it'll go. Try all different methods. Just do the outreach. Do not be shy. And remember, this outreach isn't about asking for the job outright. It's about opening the conversation. So ideally, there's a job open, and you say, I'm interested in this job. Here's why I think I'm a fit. But keep in mind, too, even if there's not a job open, and you reach out to a recruiter at a company that you really, really are interested in, go ahead and open the lines of communication that way and say, hey, are you going to be hiring in any marketing positions in the next three to six months? And then see what they say. You never know. It's OK to start off slowly and build a conversation, build a relationship that way, and then see where it goes. Again, you're not going to hear from all of them. You're not going to hear back. But don't take that personally. They'll get back to you, hopefully, when they can. And then if they do, even set a cadence like, hey, do you mind if I reach out to you again next month? Whatever that is, you just want to slowly build a conversation and build a relationship with them. Last note on this, when you do this, make sure you keep your message concise, professional, and direct to the point, highlighting any shared connections, shared mutual interests, if you can. And then that will increase your chances of a response as well. Step number four, showcase your expertise. You can stand out by proving you're an expert in your field by posting regularly. Start with one day a week where you post your own thoughts on something new in your industry. Share an article and share what resonated with you in that article. Just start a conversation. Get people talking. Nobody's going to judge you. I know some people are not comfortable doing this. Nobody is judging. Nobody cares. Just get comfortable doing it. Again, the more people see your name, the higher your chances are of getting somebody or getting a recruiter to reach out to you. And this is also a chance to engage with recruiters or other industry thought leaders. So if you're targeting a few companies and recruiters are posting, making posts about either open jobs or other things going on in your industry, go ahead and comment. Great point. Like anything that you can engage with them, again, always keeping it professional. But again, getting your name in front of them is going to be really valuable for you. And keep in mind, LinkedIn now has a tool for AI. So if you aren't sure how to write something or what it sounds like, go ahead and use their tool. It'll help to enhance what you're trying to say, maybe make you feel a little bit more comfortable with your post. And then when you're feeling really ambitious, go ahead and write articles, getting them to publish long form content on topics in your industry. That's another level. But go ahead and go for it if you're ready. Step number five, use your LinkedIn network for referrals. So this is a topic that's been talked about over and over and over this year. Referrals are one of the top ways that people are finding jobs these days. Here's how LinkedIn can help you. Go ahead and ask people for those informational interviews or just having a conversation, meeting for coffee, meeting over Zoom and having coffee together. Whatever that looks like, just to get to know more about their job, more about their company, more about their day to day. Or if it's somebody you haven't talked to in a while, and you're interested in their organization, you can ask them for a referral. Get to know their company and then say, hey, I found a job at your organization. Would you be comfortable referring me to it? Be polite, approach them as if you're doing them a favor. You have expertise and skills that you can bring to their company. Companies like to hire referrals. So take advantage of that. And who knows if their company may have a referral bonus and you're doing them a favor and they're making a little money on the side. So if you do either of these, if you do these informational interviews or have those side conversations or ask somebody for a referral, show your appreciation, give them a $5 e-card to Starbucks. Give them something like that just to show your appreciation. They're going to be more likely to remember you and do this for you again in the future too. Those are my top tips for LinkedIn. If you have any questions about this, you're not comfortable with something, you need more clarity, comment below with any other questions that you have. LinkedIn is all about connection. It is a way to build your network. It is a way to help you get your next job. Do not be shy. Nobody's judging. Nobody even cares. So go ahead and put yourself out there. Do whatever you can to get noticed. So if you found this video helpful, please like and subscribe if you haven't already. Comment below with any other questions or topics that you have for future videos. If you want any help with your own LinkedIn, go ahead and sign up for a one-on-one consultation that can help you with that. I'll see you in the next one.