Posted by Nathaniel Fleming on Tuesday, February 15, 2011 · Leave a Comment
LinkedIn is a professional social networking site designed to encourage business oriented discourse among employers and employees. The site is known internationally with over 90 million users. LinkedIn can be used in countless ways and it can really aid in the job search. It can allow you to market your company or it can just keep businesses connected and updated on current news. But a site that allows you the figurative virtual ears of 90 million people is a site that should be understood and utilized to its maximum capacity.
LinkedIn allows you to exchange information with companies without explicitly asking for a job. Starting a discourse with a company can be really helpful in getting your name out there. It also allows you to look for jobs without seeming desperate in any way. It also allows you to explore whether or not this is a company you want to work for. Once you have started a discussion with someone in a company you can bring up your interest in working there. The importance of connections and networking in today’s competitive job market cannot be over emphasized and LinkedIn makes it really easy to connect to employees within companies without seeming too desperate for employment.
How you set up your LinkedIn homepage can also make a difference in the job search. Make sure it says you are open to new career opportunities. Try to include words in your profile that employers would likely search for if they are looking for someone in your field. Make sure your profile highlights your accomplishments and doesn’t just blandly list past jobs. Be bold with your statements. People tend to downplay their accomplishments in fear of bragging. But resume pages, like LinkedIn, are a place for you to brag about your accomplishments. Potential employers will never know the valuable experience you have unless you tell them. Also get creative with your experiences. Really critically analyze what you’ve done at past jobs and make sure you haven’t overlooked specialized skills that you learned there.
Try typing in the names of companies or organizations that you are interested in working for. See if any of your friends on LinkedIn or friends of friends have connections at these companies. If you find some links, reach out! Once again, be bold. Asking a tenuous friend about a company or job can only help.
Network, Network, Network. Reach out to old friends via LinkedIn. It might be weird contacting people you haven’t talked to in a while but if you really want that job it should be worth your while. Plus, people generally want to reconnect with old friends, they just don’t want to reach out. The more connections you have on LinkedIn the better chance you have at happening upon the job of your dreams.
When it comes down to it, the job search is all about getting yourself out there. Whether it’s in person or on the Internet you should always be advertising yourself.
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