Did you know that finding a position has changed and it’s all about the hidden job market? Over 70 per cent of vacant jobs are now filled via LinkedIn across all industries, rather than being advertised.
LinkedIn is a great online resource for keeping up with developments in your industry and the news feed is similar to Facebook but with a professional focus.
The Easy Way To Find A Job On Linkedin
There are over 400 million professionals worldwide using the website.
LinkedIn allows you to tell your engaging story and position you as a professional. It’s not tailored to a particular job like a resume and has a ton of extra features that you can’t do in a simple two-page word document.
Recruiters
There are several reasons to use LinkedIn regularly with the main one being to connect with recruiters. In addition, you can build and maintain professional relationships, use the website to research and develop your career goals and keep up to date with developments in your industry.
Profile Photo
The most important objective of your profile photo is to look approachable and friendly, so a smiling shot is ideal. –
- You may like to wear similar clothes to what you would select for an interview. This may be the first time a person has heard about you so you want to ensure you make a great impression.
- Adding a photo to your profile can result in 14 times more views.
Your headline is the most important section and it’s best to use professional role titles
- In the summary section, you can write two to three paragraphs about yourself and list all the skills and strengths you have.
- The summary needs to be easy to read so aim for short paragraphs and bulleted lists.
- You want to sell yourself by explaining what you are good at and what you can offer.
- Talk about your main career achievements and your key accomplishments here. You may like to include your best contact details such as your mobile phone number and email address.
The experience section is similar to your resume, but you can add further information like video clips, documents, photos, websites, and presentations. The project section is like an online portfolio of the work you wish to highlight. Try to give specific examples of what you have accomplished and provide facts or numbers to quantify your experience.
The education space is for your degrees and major certifications. The skills section is a great visual representation of what you are good at and listing the keywords leads to 13 times more profile views. These are then endorsed by your network.
You can import all of your contacts from your current email addresses and invite them to connect with you on LinkedIn. Be strategic with your contacts and link up with people you have met in person, co-workers, peers in your industry, and your present and past clients.
Join any groups you want to receive regular updates from. These could include Alumni organisations, the company you currently work for, companies you’d like to work for, recruitment companies and professional organisations.
Recommendations
To give your profile more credibility, it’s great to ask for some recommendations from your current or past colleagues or clients. You may like to write a recommendation in exchange, but it’s best to ask them for guidance as they may have changed career direction since you saw them last.
You may like to customise your LinkedIn web address to make it easy for other people to find you.
- Then you can add your profile address to your email signatures and your resume.
- Don’t forget to promote your LinkedIn profile on your social media networks, like Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Instagram.
Keywords
The keywords you use in your profile are crucial to being found by recruiters, customers, and the media. You can use a word cloud generator like Wordle or TagCrowd to see which words are standing out and adjust your profile as needed.
After you have been using LinkedIn for a while you’ll find it becomes an indispensable professional address book.
People who complete their profile are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities. To maximise your exposure on LinkedIn you want to aim for an All-Star profile strength. Only 51 per cent of users have completed their profile to an All-Star rating. I spent all weekend on my profile and I’m still perfecting the words, but I did reach the All-Star rank.
Your LinkedIn profile is an essential tool for business networking and job hunting, so consider giving your profile some attention today. Here is my profile: https://au.linkedin.com/in/emmacrameri
