Using LinkedIn Effectively

For a jobseeker or job changer, LinkedIn can offer a valuable tool to get to know the world of work and to learn about opportunities and networks that are more in reach than you might think.

But first, how did LinkedIn start and what is its purpose?

LinkedIn launched in 2003 and is the largest career development social network in the world with 774 million members across more than 200 countries.  As of 2015, most of the company’s revenue came from selling access to information about its members to recruiters and sales professionals.

LinkedIn offers useful resources to job seekers: providing information, acting as a noticeboard to highlight your unique value, giving you access to organisations and job sectors at the push of a ‘Follow’ button and making your information public to recruiters who may be looking for what you have to offer. It gives you quite a bit of control over your jobseeking.

Individuals use LinkedIn for professional networking, connecting and job searching.  Companies use it for recruiting and for sharing company information with prospective employees.

Steps to a strong Profile

• Choose a Professional Photo – the right clothes, a clear background and good lighting are important

• Write a strong Profile Summary – Make the most of the character limit in this section.  Use short, compact sentences, avoid jargon, write in the first person and use keywords.

• Improve your Profile – This is your bulletin board that contains your work experience, education, skills, endorsements and recommendations from others in your network.  Include relevant keywords that you think search engines and hiring managers might look for. 

• Make connections - Let LinkedIn make suggestions to you from your address book and from your pool of contacts.  Most people will be happy to get a LinkedIn request and grow their network: after all, that is why they are there!  Think about people you’d like to reconnect with professionally or people (including public figures) you are curious about.

• Your skills list is important – it shows employers and recruiters at a glance what you are able and qualified to do. If you endorse other people’s skills, it helps you to reconnect with them and invites them to visit your page and endorse yours.

• Grow your network - Start to like and respond to the content that other people post.  Pay attention to the 2nd and 3rd numbers on people’s names on your Newsfeed.  These are people you may already know or may be one degree of separation from. 

• Use LinkedIn Recommendations and Endorsements – These will never hurt your profile.  One of the best ways is to endorse others in your contacts as this helps you to get noticed.  

• Change your LinkedIn URL to something simple related to your name and add it to your CV.

• Post some content – perhaps some articles that you read and would like to share.  Photos are popular.  Don’t be afraid to show your personality but keep your content clean, professional, relevant and work appropriate.

• Use LinkedIn to job search – follow your occupation or career themes as hashtags that are relevant to your industry, your country, your location.  Use the search function and the buttons at the top of the search page to look for Jobs. Think about organisations that would give you an insight into what you are aiming for.

• Use LinkedIn to learn about organisations - Look up organisations you are interested in and follow their pages or suggested follows.  If you are active on other social networks, compare their pages on those networks to LinkedIn. Assess which networks they are more likely to use for job postings. If you are preparing for an interview, LinkedIn can be a great resource to you when you’re researching the organisation.

• Tweak your Profile – Set a reminder in your diary to update your LinkedIn profile every 3-6 months until it becomes a habit.  Update with key projects, successes, some activity on your Newsfeed or anything that feels more relevant now than it did 6 months ago.

Although it can have its fair share of targeted marketers and cold call messages, LinkedIn has managed to preserve its core function and professionalism with less scope for fake profiles or trolling than other platforms. Which means that, while not perfect, LinkedIn can feel like a more focused and safer space than some other social media platforms.

If you start using LinkedIn along the lines of what is suggested here, your page will naturally become active and alive and - most importantly - useful to you. Why not try it and see how it goes!

Some Useful Resources

How to Use LinkedIn Effectively (thebalancecareers.com)

Top Skills to List on LinkedIn (thebalancecareers.com)

Customize Your Public Profile URL | LinkedIn Help

6 Ways to Use Your Phone to Improve Your Job Search

Most people would say their favourite gadget is their phone.  For many, it is their only gadget.  2017 research found that nearly 90% of Irish adults own a smartphone, with the top three uses being email, social media and news/weather.  28% of people check their phones all day, every day.

Your phone gives you a chance to contribute to wider conversations, it allows you to focus on your strengths and interests and it builds your knowledge.  For most people, it’s indispensable.

But a smartphone is probably also your kryptonite.  Job searching can pull down your emotions and your fatigue to the point where you are not thinking clearly and are losing your potency of thought.   A phone can exacerbate that fatigue. 

Here are 6 ways to use your favourite gadget to centre your search and raise the quality of your thoughts again.   

1.     Follow the Path Already Travelled

There are people already doing what you would like to be doing. List five organisations you would love to work for and follow them on all your social media pages. Look for inspiration, industry knowledge, opportunities.  Go directly to Career Opportunities listings on their websites instead of waiting to see them on job sites.

Search for jobs on job sites that have a more personal handprint.
JobAlert.ie is a smaller Irish job site with strong employer engagement.
Activelink.ie is a specific site for the community and non-profit sectors.
Jobs.ie have a 4.6 star rating on their app and you can apply directly to the employer.

Look for professionals within those organisations that may have a public profile that is worth following on a platform you already use.  Look at the About Us section of organisations, or take a look at their list of board members.  Consider small recruitment start-ups.  Do they have CEO’s with strong public profiles?  You may see opportunities by following the individuals as much as the organisations.

By bringing new voices into your newsfeed, you may spark an idea you haven’t had before. 

2.     Name Your Themes

Quieten the noise by knowing the themes of your job hunt and following these as hashtags across social media. 

One of your themes is the sector of work you are looking for.  Follow this theme using hashtag functions on social media, in particular LinkedIn.  Build your knowledge.

Jobseeking is another theme.  #Jobsfairy and #Jobfairy are useful follows across social media.  If you find a good resource for jobseeking in your context, follow that resource directly and keep an eye on it.

Another theme is a community that you may belong to.  Do you have characteristics which define your job hunt?  Are you a career returner?  Have you moved to or returned to Ireland?  Are you looking to juggle work with home life or a sideline? What about your age group?   Your location?

Use these keywords to find support and communities to join on Instagram and Facebook.  Look for groups and organisations that ‘get’ you and your context.

3.     Instagram and Facebook

Consider separating your professional self from your other social media personas.  Instagram is surprisingly effective for setting up a work-focused page.  It is better to have a separate Instagram page that has 25 priority-focused follows than to add them into an already busy feed.  The imagery that floods your feed generates calm, motivation and ideas.  And going there to jobseek is a conscious decision that you make.

JobAlert.ie provide targeted job listings by county.  So you can follow ‘Galway Jobs’ or ‘Tipperary Jobs’ on Instagram or Facebook, making it easy to spot new opportunities.

Replenish your energy.  Follow local groups that spotlight your area with free initiatives like your Local Development Company, your local Council or innovative responses to things you care about.

Is there a Facebook group for your profession in Ireland?  This is a place to generate ideas and build connections within your industry.  When you are contributing to a discussion, aim to be a helpful person who stays on point.

4.     LinkedIn 

LinkedIn should be an app on our phone so that when you move to kill time on social media, you get into the habit of opening LinkedIn as much as any other app.   

All you need is a simple LinkedIn profile with all sections complete and a professional-looking photo (not a holiday snap).  At the top of your profile you can click to show recruiters you are open for work, and you can control who sees this.

Start to say hello on LinkedIn as you would in real life.  Add a short note to an invitation to connect. Comment on people’s posts.  Build a network.  Start to look for people whose message you connect with or who are living out your dreams.  

Use LinkedIn like Facebook: comment and share and like content. Done right, your LinkedIn feed will look like a vibrant Facebook-like newsfeed with a professional orientation.

5.     Zoom

Job searching is an isolating experience.  Try combatting that by scheduling a Zoom call over coffee with a good friend.

Make it someone who won’t give you platitudes but will be happy to offer you practical help such as endorsing your skills on LinkedIn or introducing you via email to a friend who works in your field.

Make it someone you have fun chatting with!

6.     Know When to Fold

You may want to try scheduling times of the day when your phone is not with you. You can see it as a placeholder for something else in your day.  Put your phone out of your reach so that you have to consciously stretch for it. Choose the radio, a podcast, a book, a chat or some quiet reflection instead. Change the habit and see how it makes you feel.

Finally, if you spend a lot of time on a network that has yielded no opportunities, it is time to rethink that and reassess where you spend your energies.

Job searching is an act of putting yourself out there for external approval.   It takes its toll.   By valuing your time and how you spend it, you are showing yourself a kindness.