How to Use LinkedIn to Get a Job

LinkedIn is a quality social network for professional exchange, whether you are looking for a job or developing your online business.

Why is a professional LinkedIn Profile important? Linkedin is so much more, especially if you are looking for a job. There are over 57 million companies registered on LinkedIn. If you respect this network’s rules and professional culture, create quality content, and value your profile, your chances to get the job are good.

It is essential to interact through posts or private messages. By doing this, you will create a network that can help you develop new professional opportunities.

So how do you stand out on this platform and have a real job search strategy? ResumeEdge gives you its best tips on how to get a job on LinkedIn in this dedicated LinkedIn guide.

Does LinkedIn Help With Job Search?

According to the Jobvite Recruiter Nation Report, 87% of recruiters and hiring managers use LinkedIn to find the perfect candidate. As stated by LinkedIn, top recruiters are 60% more active on LinkedIn tools than average recruiters. Therefore, LinkedIn provides an excellent opportunity for job seekers, even if not to get a job, then at least talk to a qualified recruiter or hiring manager. This experience, in turn, will bear fruit in the future.

There are over 57 million companies registered on LinkedIn. Moreover, 69% of recruiters confirmed that their companies are constantly expanding and providing new job opportunities. As you can see, companies are present there, which allows you to contact them directly by contacting recruiters and hiring managers. According to official statistics from LinkedIn, about four people get a job every minute using this social network.

How to Use LinkedIn to Find Jobs

The best way to use LinkedIn for job hunting is to optimize your profile. We have put together some tips for LinkedIn job hunting that can help you work in the company of your dreams.

• Keep your profile updated

It won’t be enough for you to add the photo to be successful. You always need to keep up with the times, develop and acquire new skills. LinkedIn provides an opportunity to express your professionalism in the Skills section fully. Don’t miss the chance to choose from 45,000 skills at least top-10 relevant to you.

Related: How to Add Skills to LinkedIn

• Post a professional LinkedIn headshot

After creating your account, LinkedIn prompts you to fill out the first section of your profile: last name, first name, headline, and add a photo. You should upload your professional image. You don’t need a professional photographer for that, so you can ask a friend to take a picture of you. But it is better to choose a photo with natural light and a size of 3×4 against a neutral background.

This portrait is crucial. Research shows that profiles with photos generate 9x more engagement and 21x more profile views.

• Add keywords

Recruiters use the Linkedin search engine to find candidates that match their expectations. Specific keywords, which can refer to both skills and job titles, should be placed in different categories of your profile to optimize SEO.

Before adding these keywords, you still need to know which ones recruiters are looking for. Several techniques are available to you:

1. List your soft and hard skills.
2. Browse through a few sentences that interest you and use keywords from there if they suit you.
3. Linkedin regularly publishes a list of the skills most requested by recruiters. If one of them matches yours, move it to the top of the list.

• Pay attention to the headline.

If you’ve never directly edited your profile title, LinkedIn defaults to using your current job title followed by your company name. There is no need to write your business name in the header of your LinkedIn profile, as it takes up precious space.

Also, remember to rename your public profile URL to make it easier to display on search engines. You can change it in the editing interface of your profile by clicking the link below your photo.

• Announce you are looking for a job on LinkedIn

The right first step to gaining a new experience is to say that you are looking for a job on LinkedIn. LinkedIn has made it simpler to confidentially tell recruiters and hiring managers that you are open to work.

You can now define the vacancies you are interested in. Additionally, you can choose your favored place and date of employment. As a result, it will make you in the top search results. Over 30 million users have used this tool to find their careers.

LinkedIn came up with the idea to create Open-To Work. It means that everyone can say you’re looking for a job on LinkedIn. This feature also adds a frame with the #OpenToWork hashtag to your photo. It makes it clear to recruiters and hiring managers that you are open to new opportunities.

• Use LinkedIn connections to get a job

LinkedIn has over 774 million users. Some of them will be useful to you while looking for a job. You can network on Linkedin to get a job. When you expand your contacts, you raise your capabilities.

LinkedIn works on the connections system. First-degree connections, that is, people from whom you have accepted an invitation or who have accepted yours, are most important. Adding 1st-degree connections will also expand 2nd-degree, which is related to your 1st-degree connections. There are even 3-rd degree connections that are in contact with your 2-nd degree connections.

People you know on LinkedIn can help you grow your career. If you ask them to introduce you to someone who works for the desired company, this is an excellent opportunity to get a job.

• Ask you for a recommendation

The more people recommend your skills, the higher you will climb in the search engines, and the more you will increase your chances of getting noticed by recruiters. But beware, the most popular recommendations will come from your employer, clients, or colleagues. So discard those that come from your friends or even people you don’t know.

However, not everyone begins to validate your skills on their own. So feel free to ask your peers, former colleagues, or internship managers to do this on your profile. You can do this directly from the skills section of your LinkedIn profile.

• Follow the companies you would like to work for

Find businesses that interest you on LinkedIn. Often there, you can find the latest news and helpful information that will help you in the selection process for the position.

Keep a close eye on the updates and corporate culture of the company. During the interview, facts about the company will bring you undeniable benefits by showing you as an interested candidate.

• Use LinkedIn Advanced Search

LinkedIn Advanced Search, also known as Premium Search, is a collection of search filters available only to LinkedIn Sales Navigator or Recruiter subscribers.

Here are the four main differences between basic Search and advanced Search:

Total Candidates / Leads: LinkedIn Basic Search only allows you to search for Grade 1 and Grade 2 connections. Advanced Search allows you to search for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-degree contacts, significantly expanding your membership range.

Saved Searches: You cannot save searches to LinkedIn Basic Search while saving unlimited searches in Recruiter and Sales Navigator.

Additional Filters: Advanced Search opens more than a dozen other more convenient filters than basic searches for real estate listings.

Commercial use limitation: Free members only get a small number of profile views per day, while some premium plans are nearly unlimited.

•  Invite those who attended your school or university

You can view people who are graduates of your educational institutions. There is a high probability that they work in their specialty, and they have many valuable contacts.

• Join professional groups

With the Advanced Search, you can find groups that bring together people in your profession. In them, you can share experience and develop together and get acquainted with representatives of the company in which you would like to work.

Also, when recruiters are looking for suitable candidates, one of the practices is to look at the list of group members that interest them to find professionals in a specific field. Finally, feel free to dig through these member lists on your own and click on the profiles you think are relevant. As you probably know, every user gets notifications of who visits their profile. You can also start a conversation by sending an invitation.

• Be proactive

LinkedIn is the perfect opportunity to express yourself. And you will stand out from other users if you write articles that relate to your professional field. According to statistics, only one million users publish articles. This number represents only 0.2% of the total number of registered people, so recruiters and hiring managers can notice your professionalism. Articles are not the only thing that can be useful to you. It is also helpful to post videos, various invitations to events if you host them.

• Learn about your future team

If you’ve received an interview, it’s worth learning about the general atmosphere in the company and learning more about the recruiter or hiring manager, potential boss, and team. This will help quickly establish contact with both the recruiter or hiring manager during the interview and with the team.

Related: How to Contact Recruiters on LinkedIn?

• Make all crucial publications and announcements in the evening

Mashable found that only 8.33% of Americans use LinkedIn during business hours. Therefore, so people don’t ignore your updates and messages, it is better to do it after business hours.

Is LinkedIn Good For Finding Jobs?

Linkedin is a great job search tool that works for job seekers. Today it is a social network where you can chat and look for work using a search engine specific to Linkedin.

Remember to use Linkedin at its best. You have to respect all of the tips above. Be proactive by posting content, writing messages, writing an article, or even sharing one of your talents, information about you.

Show that you are an experienced Linkedin user who is comfortable with social media and have mastered today’s trends.

ResumeEdge can help you create a profile that grabs the attention of employers. We will match you with an experienced LinkedIn profile writer who integrates your skills and qualities into the social network. We will make finding a job through LinkedIn easier.