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Nowadays LinkedIn represents an amazing professional networking platform, a search engine and a very powerful job board. The fact that a full 94 % of recruiters use social media, especially LinkedIn, to fill open positions, should get you excited.
So here are the basic tips to help you make the most of this game-changing platform to get your future dream job.
- Make sure your profile is complete and up-to-date.
Your LinkedIn profile is the way to establish your online professional identity; it gives you the chance to demonstrate your talents and skills to the right people. So, take your time to complete it, do it carefully and choose the right keywords that describes better your field.
Your LinkedIn profile should be set up to be discoverable through searches on LinkedIn and leading search engines. Members with a photo on their profile or one listed education are seven times more likely to be viewed while candidates with at least one listed position are twelve times more likely to be viewed for potential opportunities.
- Build a strong network before you need it.
Building a strong network is more than crucial. It should be composed of professionals, people you know and trust or look up to, and you can utilize this network for recommendation, or introduction into a new job or opportunity that interest you.
No matter how the global economic situation is going or what your career is doing having a solid network is a form of job security. Don’t wait until times are tough to develop your network.
The “magic” number of connections to have on LinkedIn, is 50. By connecting to at least 50 trusted contacts (past co-workers, clients, professors, friends and family) you will have more chances to get in touch with people and companies that will help through your job hunt.
- Get the word out.
Be straightforward and tell your network that you are actually looking for a new job. Spread this information and use your LinkedIn status update to let people in your network, know that you are available and actively looking for a new position.
Ask for a referral, get more recommendations and approach recruiters or members of your network that might be working in the future company that you want to work for, or ones who know the hiring service responsible.
- Get LinkedIn recommendations and endorsements.
Strong and valuable recommendations from people who have worked with you, highlight your strengths and shows that you were a highly regarded employee. You can directly reach out to your past colleagues and managers to get recommendations from them. If you want a recommendation that will make you stand out from the pack, precise at why you’re asking for the recommendation (to get more clients, to find a new job, etc.)
Endorsements are also an amazing way to shed the light on your strongest skills. To gather up some of your own, you can go through your trusted connections and endorse them for skills.
- Get straight to the people that do the hiring.
Constructing strong relationships with hiring managers and recruiters in your area will make you top of mind when new job openings come across their way.
You can do this by doing an Advanced People Search (click on the hyperlink that says “Advanced” next to the search box in the top, right-hand corner of any LinkedIn page) for the title “recruiter” or “HR Manager,” or other related titles and narrow the search down to your post code.
Try also to find people you have in common and if suitable, ask them to introduce you or reach out directly using InMail messages.
- Check whether a company is hiring.
If there are some companies in which you are interested or dream of working for, you should follow their LinkedIn pages. This procedure will help get updates on new hires, opened positions, job opportunities and even promotions or changes that occurs within the company. All those updates will be available in your homepage when you login to your LinkedIn account.
- Turn your profile into a portfolio.
Don’t make your profile look like a mirror to your resume. Instead of repeating yourself, using broad and generic words to describe your skills and experiences, show real examples of your work such as photos, videos, designs, articles, statistics or presentation that demonstrates better you actions and accomplishments.
For recruiters this will give them a great, visual display of your work to date – and is a great way of standing out from the crowd.
Find out more tips on our blog : https://www.pentabell.com/article/en/blog
