Are your job search efforts applying through dozens of job boards getting you anywhere? Does it feel like you’ve applied to hundreds of available positions but still haven’t heard back about any of them?

Job seekers working solely through the job boards may be struggling because an estimated 85% of available jobs are filled through networking. That’s right, it really does pay to know the right people. 

Fortunately, you can take your job search to LinkedIn, a platform where networking and job opportunities spanning 200 countries and thousands of recruiters collide.

How do you use LinkedIn to power your job search and land that interview? Keep reading for seven simple, easy-to-follow tips that will help you leverage LinkedIn and get the job of your dreams. 

1. Connect With Peers, Employers, and Coworkers

We tend to think of social networking and job hunting as two separate things. When it comes to LinkedIn, the goal is to do a little bit of both.

Connect with the people you went to school with, any employers you’ve worked for, and any current or former coworkers. If you’re wondering, “How do I use LinkedIn to find a job in 2021?” remember that networking is key.

By connecting with others on LinkedIn, you open lines of communication to them and the people they know. Your network connections, may know of an open position or have one to offer themselves and discover, through your well-curated LinkedIn profile, that you’re perfect for the job.

(While you’re at it, don’t be afraid to ask people to endorse your skills. For example, if you list “writing” as a skill and a professor connects with you on LinkedIn, ask them if they’d be willing to vouch that you are, in fact, a strong writer.)

2. Perfect Your LinkedIn Headline and About Section

The first thing anyone will see on your LinkedIn profile is your profile photo. The second is your LinkedIn headline and About section. Together, these three things are key to grabbing the attention of recruiters and hiring managers. Both the headline and About section only allow for a small number of characters, which means that you really want to take advantage of the keywords that make waves in your industry.

If you don’t have a ton of professional experience under your belt just yet, use words like “aspiring” and phrases like “working toward a career in” followed by your dream job.  

3. Translate Your Resume to LinkedIn Formatting

So, you’ve gotten some help putting together a phenomenal resume. Now it’s time to translate that resume into LinkedIn formatting, which allows you to add to your story without being too repetitive.

Remember, you don’t need to describe every class you’ve ever taken or every task you’ve ever performed at a job. Recruiters may only spend 7 seconds looking at your resume and you should assume the same goes for your LinkedIn profile. Stick to the experience that is relevant to the field you want to enter.

Use short statements and bullet points to organize your text. In this digital age, many users will view your profile on mobile devices with small screens. So, you want to make it easy for them to read your content. Don’t use big blocks of text as they won’t get read with the reader moving on to the next candidate.

4. Learn How LinkedIn’s Job Search Function Works

How does LinkedIn help you find a job? Well, there are two ways but both are powerful.

The first is that a recruiter finds your profile while searching LinkedIn looking for great candidates whether they’ve applied for the position or not. The second is that, like other job boards, LinkedIn gives you a platform to search for current job postings, many jobs posted on LinkedIn are ONLY posted on LinkedIn, not on any other job boards.   

Ultimately, you want to be in that first wave of applicants as soon as a job is listed. One way to do that is to follow the companies you admire and want to work for so that you get notified of any updates they post, including job listings. You can also subscribe to job alerts that will also notify you when a job listing in your field goes live.

Remember, the stronger your profile, the better your job search results will be. 

5. Join LinkedIn Groups In Your Field

Asking to connect with people you don’t know in real life can be viewed as a bad thing. However, there are still ways to connect with people in your field even if you’ve never worked with them.

Look for LinkedIn groups in your field and join them so that you can participate in industry-wide conversations. Comment on posts made by other members and make your own posts to share your insights, opinions, and skills. This allows you to build trust and credibility with people who potentially may be looking for someone like you either now or at some future time.  

6. Use LinkedIn to Prep For Your Interview

As I mentioned earlier, recruiters use LinkedIn to seek out qualified candidates. As a result, they tend to have their own LinkedIn profiles that are helpful when preparing for your interview.

Do some digging and see if you can find out if your recruiter will also be your interviewer. If you do track down your interviewer, learn about their career path, experiences, interests, and skills. This can help you think about responses to their questions that will really engage their attention and help you stand out.

In the end, the question isn’t just, “How do I search for jobs on LinkedIn?” It’s also, “How do I use LinkedIn to nail the interview and land the job?”

7. Impress Recruiters With LinkedIn Articles

LinkedIn is more than just a job board. In a way, it functions as a professional social media platform, as well. That means that you have an opportunity to curate a “feed” that shapes your professional image.

Reading and sharing innovative and groundbreaking articles in your feed is a great way to stay ahead of the curve. However, you can also use LinkedIn to write your own content, which can really catch the attention of recruiters and companies. If you feel like you have something impressive to add to the conversation, don’t shy away from that “Write Post” button!

Master the LinkedIn Job Search and Network Your Way to a Job

Landing a job without knowing the right person isn’t always easy. That’s why I recommend tuning into the LinkedIn job search and perfecting your profile so that it can do some of the work for you. Take advantage of LinkedIn’s networking opportunities and make the connections you need to break into your field.

Are you not sure what your dream field is yet? Are you uncertain about how your experience stacks up? Schedule a free 30-minute phone consultation with me so that we can narrow down your aspirations and the qualities that make you a perfect candidate. 

The post The 7 Simplest Ways I Succeed With a LinkedIn Job Search appeared first on EZ Resume Services.

LinkedIn is a professional business network consisting of both job seekers and businesses that currently has over 722 million members. According to LinkedIn, there are more than 100 million job openings every month, with 35 million of them being filled by applicants through LinkedIn. Without a doubt, this professional social media platform is one of the best ways to find a job.

Today I’ll show you how to use LinkedIn strategies to find a job. These strategies have helped my clients improve their LinkedIn profiles and have raised their visibility to recruiters and hiring managers. But first, let’s see why LinkedIn is an excellent place to find a job.

Is LinkedIn a Good Place to Find a Job?

In this digital age, LinkedIn is the social media platform most companies use to search for candidates and recruit them to fill their hiring needs. One reason is the ease of accessibility, as it allows recruiters and hiring managers to search through hundreds of potential candidates with the click of a button. That means someone who has a strong, optimized LinkedIn profile is far more likely to be seen than someone who does not. For companies focused on LinkedIn, you are not even in the running if you don’t have a profile.

I recall the days job seekers would go from business to business, leaving their resume. Today, with the current world situation, most, if not all, companies on LinkedIn have transitioned their entire recruitment process online (advertisements, interviews, screening). This is another reason why LinkedIn is the best place to find a job and move your career forward.

Now, how do you use LinkedIn to find a job in 2021?

1. Profile Photo

Back in the day, I would dress up and make sure I looked my best when leaving my resume or going to an interview. Which made sense since I wanted to give my best first impression. In the age of social networking, the first impression a hiring manager gets is of your profile photo. 

So, if you want to stand out, in a good way, and make a positive impression, you need to have a professional photo. This doesn’t mean you need to find the best photographer in town and pay a huge sum of money for a package, I actually had a local photographer take mine in a 15-minute session that was very cost-effective! How should the picture look?  

•  400×400 pixels (To meet LinkedIn’s picture guidelines)
• High quality and High resolution
• Friendly smile

Having a professional photo will leave recruiters and hiring managers with a positive first impression of you as they search for candidates on LinkedIn.

2. Write an Intro (LinkedIn Headline)

Have you ever practiced your opening lines before meeting a potential employer? On LinkedIn, your headline is your “pitch.” Your headline is a short introduction to who you are and what you do. Don’t rely on the default description, that only blends you into the crowd. Stand out by communicating your uniqueness (skills, talents, strengths).

For example, instead of Training Professiona, at Company XYZl

Add some context that describes your expertise, like:

Training & Development | IT Software Trainer & Technical Writer | Organizational Development | | Project Management | ATD Certified | Technology Guru

The added details provide a much more effective picture of who you are and what you have to offer.

3. About Section Update

The About section is the next key area a hiring manager or recruiter will look at when reviewing your LinkedIn profile. Being found on LinkedIn is all about keywords and optimizing your profile for strength. The About section is one of the most heavily mined sections for keywords. If you leave the section blank, you essentially are invisible to recruiters and hiring managers.

Your About section should highlight who you are as a person, your values, your passions, and your career story. Create the content in short snippets not long blocks of text. Weave keywords relevant to your target throughout. Writing a LinkedIn profile is similar to writing a resume but not the same.

Need help? Click here to learn how we can help you.

4. Custom LinkedIn Profile URL

LinkedIn has a handy feature that allows you to personalize your LinkedIn profile URL. What do I mean? When you create a LinkedIn profile, you are assigned a URL (web address) with a bunch of random numbers and letters.

You can edit the URL to just your name, making it look much more professional. If you have a common name you may need to work on it a bit. Personalizing your URL will make it easier for recruiters and hiring managers to remember where to find you. Plus, it will fit and look much better on your resume, cover letter, business cards, etc.

To do this, follow these steps. Go to your profile, Edit public profile & URL and Edit your custom URL. Don’t forget to save.

5. Expand Your Network

Because LinkedIn is a social media platform for businesses and job seekers, having a large number of network connections increases your visibility.

Begin by connecting with former and current colleagues. You can also connect with people in your career area or industry. Engage in conversations and interact with posts that interest you.

I also suggest that you follow businesses that you are interested in joining in the future. Engage and interact with the companies posts as well. The LinkedIn algorithms will pick up on the activity and raise your mutual visibility. This will be a good thing to have happen when the company posts job openings.

6. Ask Past Employers for Endorsements

Another strategy that is helpful is to connect with people you have worked for previously. They can endorse you by leaving short feedback about your previous work. LinkedIn users with positive endorsements have more chances of landing a job than those with none.

7. Be Active in the Online Community

II don’t post as often or engage on social media as much as many of my colleagues, but if you want to be noticed by recruiters or hiring managers, you need to be active. Being active involves liking posts, sharing information, or posting on topics where you get to showcase your expertise.

Always aim for original content when posting. You wouldn’t want someone to call you out for using their content! 

8. Be Easy to Find

I find using SEO tactics also aids in being found. Research the top keywords for your industry and use them in your posts. Keywords can be topics of interest that are relevant and popular in discussion forums. Remember, LinkedIn is powered by keywords and the algorithms. If you are unsure what to use, try reviewing the topics and discussions that your peers are having. More serious content writers online even employ the services and tools offered by companies specializing in SEO marketing.

9. Show Your Work Experience 

Work experience is appropriate for both your resume and LinkedIn profile. However, neither of these are historical documentation tools. Therefore, only illustrate work experience that supports your job or career target. You can take a broad-brush approach on LinkedIn versus a very tailored approach with your resume. But you don’t need to go back to the beginning of time. If it’s not relevant, you don’t need to include it.  

10. Optimize the Strength Meter

Your aim is to get to All-Star Status, as this status is the minimum level you need to increase your visibility to recruiters and hiring managers. It’s not difficult to achieve so the sooner you get started, the better. Here are some of the requirements:

• Add a LinkedIn profile picture
• Add three positions to your Work Experience 
• Be Active
• Connect with 50 people

If you follow the previous steps, you will achieve it in no time.

Now You Know How to Use LinkedIn Strategies to Find a Job

I can confidently say that by following these 10 LinkedIn strategies, you will increase your visibility to recruiters and hiring managers searching for candidates to fill their openings. Keep these tips close, so you always know how to use LinkedIn strategies to find a job. Now it’s up to you to get your dream job!

If you need help with your resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile, contact me today! As I have first-hand experience helping clients find jobs on LinkedIn, I know everything hiring managers are looking for in candidates. Get the extra push your LinkedIn profile needs by using EZ Resume Services.

The post How to Find a Job Using 10 Top Proven LinkedIn Strategies appeared first on EZ Resume Services.