How to Use LinkedIn to Get Your Next Job

This article is based on a Link?Ability LinkedIn Live with Hannah Morgan in which she discussed recent new Linkedin features for job seekers and current trends for those looking for their next role.

You can watch the entire event here .

What are the essential features on profiles that job seekers need to do well?

The headline is always the most important thing. It has to clearly identify what you are looking for, so this can be challenging.

The basic formula is:

?? the job title you are seeking;

?? three hard skills that qualify you for that role (it could be a certification, a technology, or a skill);

?? the value you deliver, known as your value proposition.

LinkedIn, even for the free users, lets us see how many people are looking at our profile. Before you make any changes, go to your profile and write down these three numbers: post impressions, profile views and search appearances. After two weeks check those numbers again. If they are much higher, you will know it's working.

Next is the About section.

Imagine you're sitting down with a recruiter or hiring manager and they ask you to tell them about yourself. This is your chance to explain how you got to where you are today in your career, the things you are great at doing and some of the successes you’ve had.

You don't want to wait until an interview for them to learn important information such as:

?? What inspired you to get into your career?

?? How did you get where you are today?

?? What lights you up about the work you do?

?? What are the things you really love doing?

?? What problems do you love solving?

Write your About section in the first person (‘I’ not ‘he, she or they’). Using personal pronouns helps people get to know you and hear your voice in writing.

Next is formatting.

Avoid one big block of text because that's not how people process information. Use short sentences, and perhaps bullets or emojis. Make it easy on the eye and easy to skim because nobody reads everything.

Make it easy for people to contact you. Not everybody subscribes to the LinkedIn recruiter or can message you, so add your email address.

?? Pro tip: Complete your Contact info section to make it even easier to get in touch with you.

How can jobseekers use visuals on profiles to stand out from other candidates?

Check out Hannah’s book: The Infographic Resumé on Amazon

We are visual creatures and learn through visuals. Here are some that apply to your career you could use:

?? A photo of you winning an award;

?? An article you wrote in an industry publication;

?? An image of a professional event you attended or spoke at;

?? An infographic of your career highlights;

?? A PowerPoint about yourself.

Your Featured section is the best place to put visuals and is another way for people to get to know you.

Visuals stop skimming, focus readers and catch their eye. They stand out because the vast majority of people do not use them in their LinkedIn profile.

Is video a good way to stand out as a jobseeker?

Not everyone is comfortable in front of a camera, and when that’s the case, they don't come across as genuine. Often they don't know what to say so they read the summary from their resumé, which is not helpful.

If you want to make a video, it's a brilliant idea. A lot of creative marketing people use video for their job search. Because it comes naturally to them and they think creatively about their message, they do it well.

Video is a good skill to have to advance your career, but be thoughtful about it.

?? Pro tip: Show other people the video you've recorded and ask for an honest opinion. It can be hard to recognise what’s good and what isn't, what's authentic and how it comes across.

How important are recommendations on profiles for jobseekers?

If you ask recruiters whether they look at recommendations, most will say they don't. They might use them as a candidate tie-breaker but most are not concerned about that at the screening stage.

That said, it's never bad to have them and not just for jobseekers – for anybody trying to move up in their career or looking for a promotion. Hiring managers are going to look at what people have said about you.

Recommendations are always good and we should keep adding them. Giving them is the best way to get them, of course. Plus your name, photo and headline then appears in their profile as per this image:

How are market value filters useful in LinkedIn job searches?

This term coined by Kevin D. Turner relates to the use of words and phrases that can be found in LinkedIn’s database and part of the LinkedIn search functions.

The first place we come across this is in the work experience section where you’re asked for the company name. When starting to type the name make sure to choose the right one from the drop-down options because there can be different versions.

?? Pro tip: Search for the company name beforehand to check you know which is the right one. The clue is often in the logo.

The next place market value filters come into play, and this is even more important, is when you start to type your job title.

LinkedIn has tried to create universal titles for jobs because every company calls its people something different, which becomes confusing. When you start typing your job title, pick the one that most closely matches yours from the drop-down menu. Be specific.

For example, take the title ‘project manager’. If I say I'm a project manager, people have no idea what kind of project manager I am. So I’m going to choose from the drop-down menu one that shows I am a training and development department lead.

It’s okay to include more descriptive information after you select the closest job title from the drop-down. You may add the department, division or type of project you were working on to help the reader understand.

Another place this is important is the Education section. Make sure you're using the correct school or university and the right degree from the drop-down menu.

Also check that your profile shows the right location as per LinkedIn’s database.

LinkedIn allows people to use ‘Career break’ when you're in between jobs. However, not having a current job can hurt the strength of your profile. LinkedIn prefers people to have an active role, and if you don't your ranking falls below those profiles that are actively ranked. While adding Career break is better than nothing, if there is no pressing reason to end your current role, leave it active.

Remember, your profile is not your resumé. When choosing a Career break option, choose one of the positive ones such as professional development, personal goal pursuit, relocation or travel.

?? Pro tip: Once you’ve made the changes suggested here you may think your profile is finished. But, you will need to check it on a regular basis to make sure all the links are working and everything you've put in the drop-down menus is still on LinkedIn's list so you are still coming up in searches. Keep an eye on the numbers mentioned above to check they are still tracking upwards.

Features LinkedIn offers jobseekers

Beneath the About section and in each role in the Experience section you can list skills. These are added to the Skills section where you now can list 100 skills (up from the previous 50).

When you look at a job description, it might say, ‘you have three out of the 10 skills matching this job description’. If you have a paid Premium account, you can see all those you don't have. That allows you to add those skills to your profile so you are a better match.

Premium also tells you which jobs you're a good match for based on your skills and those the job requires. This might draw your attention to jobs you might not have thought would be a good fit.

Go to the Jobs tab and follow the instructions. You can specify the kind of job you’re looking for. Think of job titles as value market value titles – more is better – and list 3-5 times as many as are closely related to those you want.

You can list part-time, full-time, remote etc and then say to recruiters, ‘these are the kinds of jobs I'm interested in’.

Then look at the jobs that are recommended. Some of those will be based on your preferences, but sometimes they're jobs LinkedIn thinks you should be looking at because they're similar. That could be a great way for you to catch jobs that you might not have thought of. Sometimes they're junk, but you just never know.

We now know how long a job has been up on LinkedIn because there's a timestamp. That's important for jobseekers because if a job has been up for three months and you're just applying now, your chances aren't good. You want to be one of the first people to apply in the first week, so taking these steps mean you’re more likely to see all the new jobs added in the last week.

Don't get discouraged when you see that 1000 people have applied for a job because it doesn't mean that 1000 people have completed the application. It only means 1000 people have clicked the Apply now button.

Many people just want to read more detail or see what's really being asked for. If you have Premium, it tells you a lot about the other people who have applied for that job, e.g. their background, skills and educational attainment. Don't get too hung about this. Focus on whether you’re going to be a good match for the job.

When filling out a job application on LinkedIn, scroll to the end and click the button that indicates you are interested in working for that company: ‘I'm interested in other jobs at this company’. Recruiters can see this and separate those people who are more interested from those who are not.

At the top of a job posting you will often see ‘Meet the hiring team’. You can see the HR people, or the person/people responsible for that job. LinkedIn gives you the option to message them and if you have Premium it allows you to use AI to word it.

I would highly recommend that after you've applied, you send a message to that person explaining? why you are interested in that job and how you are qualified.

Applying and following up saying ‘I've applied and this is why I'm interested’ will make you stand out.

Do you need Premium to apply for jobs or is a free account just as effective?

If you're willing to do the work, it's possible to achieve great things on LinkedIn, particularly if you've got a great profile and are active. But Premium makes it easier to apply for jobs and find skills to add to your profile.

Also with Premium, when you look at who's viewed your profile, under ‘Interesting viewers’ you can see people who can help you find a job, who works at a company you follow, is an influencer on LinkedIn, or a senior leader with your job function in your industry. That is valuable data.

LinkedIn is the only social media platform that lets you know if somebody has looked at your profile. Use this feature for its fullest benefit. If somebody has looked at your profile and they're at a company you’re interested in, why would you not send them a message and say, ‘I was so excited to see that you looked at my profile. I'd love to answer any questions that you might have, or maybe we can have a quick chat’.

Finally, on the topic of Premium, take advantage of everything you can with the free version and see if you make progress. But if you don’t, or would like to send more InMails, then upgrade to Premium. LinkedIn will give you a 30-day free trial.

?? Pro tip: Listen to our recent LinkedIn audio event about the Premium features and grab our PDF of all it offers here. https://linkability.biz/latest-news/audioreplays

How can jobseekers use the AI features LinkedIn offers?

There are so many, two of which are resumé feedback and job assessment. You can use AI to ask questions like ‘what is it like working at this company’ on a job post and ‘who are some of the people I could network with inside that company?’. You can ask conversational questions.

There's one more free resource to pay attention to. On the LinkedIn jobs page, on the side menu there’s a checklist for getting a job. Do everything on that list because I guarantee you haven't done all of those things.

What are some strategies for using LinkedIn to land a new job?

We have all heard that we need to network more and this is where LinkedIn can be a wonderful tool. But be purposeful about who you reach out to. The first people to connect with on LinkedIn are those you already know – past colleagues, previous customers or clients, those in your business networking group, etc.

In your connection invite message, you can say something like: ‘It's been a long time and I’m currently building up my LinkedIn network. We should have done this long ago so I’m looking forward to connecting.’

You should connect with people on LinkedIn who you know offline because you don't know who they know. Your message may prompt them to send you a message asking you what's new. When they do that, you can say you'd love to hop on a quick call. You’re looking for a new job and want to run some ideas past them. Then see what happens.

Next, go to the My network tab on your LinkedIn profile and see who LinkedIn recommends you connect with. There will be a lot of people you're missing out on who you likely already know. Find people you went to school with or who you have engaged with on LinkedIn. Your goal is to build a network of people you already know.

Once you've done that, you can start reaching out to people you would like to know, such as people who work inside companies you want to work for. They are either a peer or the hiring manager, maybe both. But before you connect with them, go to their profile and see how active they are on LinkedIn. If they haven't posted anything ever, connecting with them may not be fruitful and they are less likely to accept an invitation to connect.

If they're posting on LinkedIn and have posted recently, before sending them an invite to connect, go to the Posts tab on the Activity section of their profile and add a comment (value-added and longer than 15 words). Do that for a couple of weeks and then send them the invitation to connect. This works because everyone who posts on LinkedIn looks at the comments on their posts. Because they know who you are, they're more likely to accept your invitation to connect.

The other way to grow your network is to attend professional events related to your occupation. In the My network tab scroll down to headings like ‘Online events for you’ and sign up for a couple.

When you attend a LinkedIn live, there's a Networking tab in which you can see who has signed up for the event. On an audio event you can also see who’s attending and access their profiles direct.

Reach out to those who appeal to you explaining that you share a similar professional interest and were both at the event.

One of the things that has made life more difficult for people in the last year or so is the fact the number of personalised messages you can send with your connection invite has been dramatically reduced to between 10 and 20. That's why commenting on people's posts is so valuable. If you can't send a personalised message with your invite, if the person recognises your name from their posts and the comments, they are more likely to say yes.

It's also another reason to have Premium because you don't have that same restriction on the connection invite messages.

What mistakes do people make when jobseeking on LinkedIn?

A lot of people rely on Easy apply and while there's nothing wrong with using it, it becomes too easy.

Easy apply just takes information from your profile, so if you haven't made changes such as adding skills or information that shows you're a match, your application is not going to get the attention it deserves.

The other thing that people rely on is the job board to feed them all the jobs they need to see. That doesn’t happen for a variety of reasons – maybe you’re not using the right job title, maybe the job is not remote, maybe it isn’t listed on LinkedIn.

Here are some workarounds.

Say you want to work for Microsoft. ?If you type Microsoft in the search bar, you can use the advanced filters for ‘Hiring now’ to show you who in the company is hiring currently. Not every company will pay for a job ad on LinkedIn, so a recruiter may have created a post that links to a job posting on their website or wherever they have it advertised.

If you go to the search bar and type ‘I'm hiring’ or ‘We’re hiring’ in quotation marks you’ll see all new posts for the past week about jobs not posted on LinkedIn.

The mistake is relying on LinkedIn to be all things to all people. It is just a tool. It is the place you can go to build relationships and research companies. If you go to a company page, you can see all the people who work there and filter by where they went to school, where they live, their job title or job function. This is rich data if you’re smart and focused in your job search.

People try to get there quickly, but it’s a process. It takes time, a strategy and being thoughtful. No-one is going to give you a job just because they have a job open. They want to hire the right person.

Two final secrets

?? If you want to connect with somebody who is not active on LinkedIn, use an email-finding tool. It is better to use email rather than LinkedIn messaging because it is only of use for people who are active.

?? Join or build a community of fellow jobseekers because looking for a job is isolating and can feel lonely. You need a group of people you can bounce ideas off. Support and learn from one another. Research shows that people who are part of those groups stay motivated and find jobs faster.

Watch our full live with Hannah: