Harness LinkedIn’s Networking Power
Many people turn to LinkedIn when they need help finding a job, whether they’re itching for a position change or looking for fast employment after a layoff. That’s the wrong time to start using LinkedIn. To harness the platform’s networking power, you’ve got to groom your LinkedIn presence while you’re employed. Like your resume, LinkedIn should be a reflection of what you’re working on, where you’ve worked, and who you know. Your LinkedIn profile can actually complement your resume, creating an online presence that allows employers to seamlessly explore your resume and your work history through this online.
Connecting on LinkedIn
Since LinkedIn allows you to search for connections by entering your email, you won’t have trouble finding people to follow. You can also search by company, university or browse the site’s suggestions of people you may know, generally people your connections know.
While most casual LinkedIn users know how to add connections, don’t overlook the Groups feature. Join Groups that reflect your interests, like alumni groups for schools you attended or professional-interest groups. The “Groups You May Like” feature connects you with a click to groups that share your career interests, and you can also search for specific Groups. Be active on Groups and participate in discussions to stay current in your field. When you’re ready to make a career move, put out feelers in Groups.
Getting recommendations
Don’t be shy about asking for recommendations on LinkedIn. Once you connect to coworkers, clients, fellow college students and peers, ask them to write you a recommendation. LinkedIn even has a template for you to make the process easier! Collect recommendations from schoolmates and coworkers across ranks. If you’re reluctant to ask your current employees, look to connect with peers in professional organizations, past employers, past coworkers, and others. If you’re not yet in the corporate world, it’s still important to connect with your college friends, classmates, and professors. They may be the links you need in landing that first job. Reading others’ rave reviews gives potential employers a vision of your work style, achievements, and personality. The reviews can reinforce your resume accomplishments by calling attention to the same traits you highlight. Think of LinkedIn recommendations like less formal references, and ones that you get to curate and groom.
Integrating with your resume
Ramping up your LinkedIn presence is only one part of the equation. In order to draw employers’ attention to your LinkedIn profile, you’ve got to market it. Sure, you can assume potential employers will look for you on the site–and they may–but promote your LinkedIn presence yourself. You’ve worked hard on it. Display your LinkedIn URL on your resume. Create a signature for your personal or professional email that links to your LinkedIn profile.
Benefits
Not only will using LinkedIn at a higher level allow employers to learn more about you, it helps demonstrate your competence with social media. If you tweet, use an RSS plugin to display your Twitter feed on LinkedIn. When you put in the time to master all the features of this site, including searching for connections, joining and participating in groups, and following discussions, you gain skills you can use across social media sites.
LinkedIn might not be the first place to start when job searching, but the website is full of resources that will be essential to ramping up your search. Get familiar with the tools, and use them often to start building your professional network. There are dozens of job searching networks online but, when used correctly, LinkedIn can be the one that makes a real difference for you.
Lindsey Paho is a professional technology writer. She lives in the Indianapolis area and is currently working on her Master’s Degree. Lindsey writes on behalf of Colorado Technical University.