How to Find a Job Using LinkedIn

Introduction

Hello! It’s Kristine here with the Express to Impress podcast. Are you getting job offers through LinkedIn? With a polished and active LinkedIn profile, you will receive job offers and other opportunities! In episode nine, you learned How to Write a LinkedIn Profile That Stands Out. In this episode, you’ll learn how to find a job using LinkedIn.

Every week, I post a new episode to help you communicate effectively for success in your job search, job interviews, and the workplace. If you like my podcast, don’t forget to subscribe to receive notifications whenever I post a new episode. You can subscribe anywhere you download podcasts like Pandora, on my YouTube Channel, or my website at www.express-to-impress.com. 

Now, let’s begin!

According to the Society of Human Resource Management and Jobvite, a software and recruiting corporation, about 90% of recruiters use LinkedIn to find potential employees. That’s huge! Granted, from what I can gather, it seems they are likely talking about recruitment practices in the US But with 70% of LinkedIn users living outside the US, rest assured professionals and recruiters in many countries are using LinkedIn as a tool for hiring. If you’re unsure how popular LinkedIn is in your country, ask around, and let me know what you find out! Your time is so valuable, so it’s important you always approach your job search well informed and with a strategy.

By using LinkedIn smartly, you can find job opportunities and advance your career. In this episode, you will hear tips on using your LinkedIn profile to get new job offers. 

Let’s jump right into a story.

Story

In the story section of today’s episode, I’ll tell you about one of my clients I’ll refer to as Amelia to protect her privacy. 

Amelia was trained as an engineer and had a successful IT management career for a large energy company. She had advanced through the ranks and felt there was no more room to grow with her employer. While Amelia had a great job, she wanted a new challenge and kept her eye out for openings. She’d apply for a job just when something exceptional popped up. Though Amelia had some interviews, she didn’t receive any job offers while applying for jobs independently over a year.

She began to feel discouraged and started wondering what the problem was. English was her second language, and while she initially thought it was strong enough to get another job in English, she began to have doubts. She also wondered if her interview skills were as strong as she thought they were. So, she came to me, and I helped improve her resume, LinkedIn profile, written email correspondence, and interview skills. 

Something I really admired about Amelia was how she was continually learning! Although she had small children, she somehow made time to read books and complete courses to keep her skills sharp. It was evident that she was passionate about learning, and I knew that would be a huge asset to any employer.

So, we devised a way to generate proof that she is someone who truly invests time in learning and has interesting thoughts and insights related to all sorts of IT, business, and psychology topics. She would start writing posts on LinkedIn regularly, where she would announce to her network whenever she completed a book or course and share some interesting takeaways. As it turned out, her charisma shined through. At first, her writing contained many errors and wasn’t always clear. Together, we revised her LinkedIn posts, and it turned out to be an excellent opportunity for her to learn how to improve her English writing skills. Once she was happy with the LinkedIn posts, she would post them along with links to the resource or course certificate and include relevant hashtags so that people beyond her immediate LinkedIn network could read what she wrote.

Amelia gained new followers on LinkedIn, and landed a new job within a few months. Sharing relevant information with her network was one part of her job search strategy that helped her find a job while simultaneously improving her credibility and professional brand. 

Tips to Find a Job Using LinkedIn

There are so many ways to find a job using LinkedIn! Let’s look at some strategies. 

Grow your network. 

You will become more visible as a potential candidate as you grow your LinkedIn connections. So go ahead and make sure you have connected with your current and former colleagues, classmates, people you know through volunteering, and peers in your industry, like people you have met at conferences or collaborated with on projects.   

Use the LinkedIn Alumni Tool to find graduates of your school and major who work at a company that interests you. This will allow you to get an insider’s perspective on the company and learn about job openings. You may be surprised by how willing alumni are to help other alumni. You can also join up to 50 Linkedin Groups at a time to meet impressive professionals and continue learning. I’ve met some talented and generous people through joining LinkedIn groups that have led to client referrals, ideas for my podcast, introductions, and more! 

Search for Jobs on LinkedIn

LinkedIn has a job search feature that you can use to find jobs and apply for them. If you have the pro version, you’ll see additional interesting information to help you decide if you want to apply for a job. For example, you’ll be able to see how many people have already submitted applications and how you rank amongst those candidates. 

Allow Recruiters or all LinkedIn Members to See You’re Open to Work Opportunities

You can find jobs, and job opportunities can find you. How? By using the Open To Work feature, you’ll notify recruiters or everyone on LinkedIn that you are open to working. LinkedIn reports individuals who turn on this feature are twice as likely to receive relevant messages from recruiters. 

Get Introductions and Meetings With Important People

If there’s a company you want to work for, you can get your foot in the door through an introduction to someone who works there through LinkedIn. First, search on LinkedIn for an employee you’d like to meet. You will automatically see if they are a 2nd-degree connection. If you have a shared connection, ask the person you know for an introduction to the employee. If you don’t have any shared connections with the employee, check out their profile, and identify something you share in common. Don’t be afraid to send them a friendly message to request an informational or exploratory interview over the phone or through a video call. 

Share relevant information 

You can share your ideas or opportunities, write an article, or share a picture or video. Perhaps you could share photos from an event you planned or share a video clip from a workshop you led. You can write a quick note to introduce a useful article, video, or tool as well.

Follow Employers

Make sure you follow employers that are attractive to you, so you know the moment they post a job opening. Plus, if you get an interview with the company, you’ll be prepared to comment on important developments that they’ve shared on LinkedIn. 

How to Create a LinkedIn Profile That Gets You Job Offers Online Course

Now you know how to find a job on LinkedIn. I’m excited to tell you I’ve created a full online video course to walk you through updating and using your LinkedIn profile so that you get job offers! In my “How to Create a LinkedIn Profile That Gets You Job Offers” course, you will see examples of outstanding LinkedIn headlines, summaries, and photos. You will learn how to elevate your profile, engage with others, and maintain your privacy while using LinkedIn. Finally, you will get actionable steps to create an online presence to help you in your career.

Visit my website at www.express-to-impress.com to learn more and sign up. At just 45-minutes, it is the shortest course I offer. You can view one of the lessons in the course for free on my website. And great news! I’m offering 30% off until October 31 with code deal30. I can’t wait to see more people create stunning LinkedIn profiles that help get them jobs they love!

Tune in Next Week

Next week, tune in again to improve your English skills. You’ll learn definitions of phrases and idioms from this episode. If you’re a non-native English speaker working with native English speakers, you won’t want to miss it!

And if there is a communication topic you want me to discuss on the podcast, write me an email to tell me about it. You can reach me at hello@express-to-impress.com.

Thank you so much for listening to Express to Impress. If you liked this episode, please remember to share it with a friend!  See you next time. Bye!

 

Music By Lucas Knutter