Social professional networks are the fastest growing sources of quality hire, globally. Recent research says it has increased by 73 per cent in the past four years. As a job seeker, getting ahead of this trend would be beneficial to you. Of all the social professional networks available today, LinkedIn stands out from the pack.
LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional social network on the Internet, with more than 364 million members in over 200 countries. It hosts job seekers, recruiters, employers and other professionals from around the world.
Professionals are signing up to join LinkedIn at a rate of two new members per second.
There are over 39 million students and recent college graduates on this platform and they are LinkedIn’s fastest-growing demographic.
LinkedIn says in a recent blog that they are often asked what successful job seekers are doing on LinkedIn. In response, it says job seekers are already ahead of the curve just by using LinkedIn.
With over 300,000 jobs spanning nearly every profession, and with 90 per cent of the Fortune 100 and thousands of other businesses using LinkedIn to hire, the social network platform is the perfect place to jumpstart a job hunt.
However, most successful job seekers on LinkedIn aren’t just searching, viewing, and applying for jobs via the platform; they’re doing something more. As a result, LinkedIn analysed a group of over 4,000 super job seekers (LinkedIn members who viewed a job at a particular company and then joined that company within three months) and studied what they were doing on LinkedIn during those three months of job hunting.
Highlighted below are some of their findings, with areas of application to the job search process:
Use LinkedIn to get noticed by employers: One of the toughest parts of a job search is getting noticed by the right people: recruiters, hiring managers, and anyone else looking for top talent.
LinkedIn can help you showcase your unique skills, so that you can stand out from the crowd and differentiate yourself from other candidates. LinkedIn is a good personal branding platform. Hence, you need a LinkedIn profile.
Create a distinctive LinkedIn profile headline: Your headline is your personal brand’s tag line. It is the first and possibly only description of you that many people will see on LinkedIn; so make it count. As a fresh job seeker, avoid using phrases like “jobless and seriously job searching” as your LinkedIn profile headline. It speaks desperation, which may not work in your favour. Rather, use phrases like, “A fresh graduate looking for a career in finance” – it sounds more focused and professional.
Use a professional photo as your LinkedIn profile photo: a LinkedIn profile photo is an online extension of your offline self and it is vital to your personal brand on LinkedIn.
What recruiters and hiring managers see on your LinkedIn profile photo determines how they would address you. Avoid the use of pictures taken at a social event such as beach outing or a wedding. Keep it professional, a good headshot is a business or semi-business outfit and would do the magic.
#4 – Add relevant and unique skills to your LinkedIn profile: your LinkedIn profile is your online CV, so you have to take it seriously as such.
A recruiter or hiring manager would first make a judgment based on what they see on your LinkedIn profile before they request for your CV or call you for a chat.
So, it is important you add relevant job skills to your LinkedIn profile so that recruiters looking for candidates with your background can find you easily.
A little secret here is that recruiters do conduct a ‘job skills search’ on LinkedIn, in a bid to source candidates. Hence, the more relevant job skills you have on your profile, the better for you to show up in LinkedIn searches.
Use LinkedIn as a job search intelligence tool: there are loads of job and company information available on LinkedIn for the discerning job seeker.
A good way to use LinkedIn to your advantage is to follow companies you are interested in.
That way, you can stay up-to-date with the latest news, be well informed in conversations and interviews, and learn about new job opportunities that exist in such companies.
In sum, LinkedIn can help you grow your professional network, so that you are more visible.
It can help get your foot in the door at new companies, and expose you to new job opportunities.
In addition, LinkedIn would help you broaden your professional horizons, with you getting the hottest news in your industry, and insights from thought leaders.
More importantly, LinkedIn would get you connected to recruiters and hiring managers because it is not just what you know but who you know. Networking is a critical part of modern job search. http://www.punchng.com/i-punch/using-linkedin-in-your-job-search/ |
