INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF GETTING A NEW JOB USING LINKEDIN

I have just completed the chapter of the compilation book IGNITE YOUR COURAGE. As the space dedicated to the story is limited and I omitted useful stuff, I decided to create a few blog posts which will help you in your job search journey.

I am a candidate who sent roughly 50000 applications throughout my career. One of the best tools for finding a job is LinkedIn. It can easily be accessed here: https://www.linkedin.com/

I firstly heard about LinkedIn in a workshop from a job fair in the Netherlands. Basically, there are jobs that are not published anywhere and that can be accessed only via this platform.

What you can do on LinkedIn is to firstly create a Profile or a virtual CV, where you can add your photo, the contact details, work experience, education, extra-curricular activities, skills, trainings and hobbies. You can copy-paste your CV if you want. Please make sure that the first three bullet points under each role should list the most important tasks or achievements. You can add a Professional Summary in the ABOUT section before listing the experience, so that the recruiters or HR managers can have an overview of what you’ve done so far. Make sure to also add the skills relevant to your industry. Your contacts can endorse you. The endorsement is visible to your network. Choose if your profile is public or hidden too.

Second of all, you can create a network of contacts. The bigger, the higher the chance to find a job that you love. I started adding university colleagues and teachers from both Romania and The Netherlands, family members, friends and acquaintances on LinkedIn in 2013. I started adding recruiters, other employees from HR and people with whom I collaborated later and, as a result, the network started growing steadily to almost 17000 members. I invite you to do the same.

Third of all, LinkedIn has a feature for searching for Jobs. You can select the preferred location, experience level (internship, entry level, associate etc.), and job type (full-time, internship, contract, other). It helps you access job opportunities that you can’t elsewhere. Please try it. It is useful.

Fourth of all, I am impressed at how easy it is to contact recruiters directly on LinkedIn. If you upgrade to PRO, you can easily send private messages to recruiters and increase your chance of getting hired. Recruiters are searching for candidates in the database using keywords. If your profile is interesting, they will send you a private message with job opportunities. I had a few such interactions which resulted in offers.

Fifth of all, add the #OPENTOWORK frame to your profile photo and the jobs in which in which you are interested, to let recruiters know what you are searching for a job. You can as well post a message informing your contacts that you are searching for a new role. Some companies might get back to you with an offer or suggestions.

Sixth of all, I am reposting jobs shared by other members of my LinkedIn network from time to time. It can help candidates get hired. I advise you to do the same.

Seventh of all, spend time improving your skills or learning new skills. LinkedIn Learning is a library full of nice and useful courses. Once you finish a course, you will receive a certificate which can be shared with your network. Some courses, for example Excel ones, have an assessment. The results can be added to your profile. Learning new things will definitely pay off.

Last but not least, join groups on LinkedIn and network. It might land you an offer.

Now I can see the value in building my LinkedIn network. I added people who I meet at various events, both face-to-face and in person, colleagues from the companies in which I worked, and I accept requests from people who seem trustworthy. As I mentioned before, my network has almost 17000 contacts. Every week I am spending time adding new people, especially the ones with HIRING or OPEN TO WORK frame. It helps match candidates with companies.

What is your favorite feature of LinkedIn? Please share in the comments.