LinkedIn is a powerful tool that is underutilized by many who use the platform. With over 130 million U.S. users alone, the number of people who can be reached through the site is broad. The Jobvite Recruiter National Survey found that nearly 90 percent of recruiters conducted candidate searches on LinkedIn. There’s more to do on the site than simply update it like on online resume. Here are a few ways to strategically use the site while you may need to be looking for a new job due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Monitor “Who’s Viewed Your Profile.” This handy tool LinkedIn gives you is a quick way to figure out who might be interested in your credentials. It’s like having leads handed to you as a salesperson. People have been known to locate jobs just by reaching out to the people who looked at their profiles first. Initially, you might simply drop a line and say hello to anyone you don’t recognize who looked at your information. It might lead to a dead end or a lifelong connection.
Respond to others’ posts. Taking the time to like and comment on other people’s posts can turn into a job in itself when you’re not doing it for fun. Use this feature as a strategy to stay in touch with other people. Take the time to learn about what they’re up to and what’s important to them and leave a thoughtful comment. These actions definitely stand out and many times, people will remember you by how you respond. You never know when a comment could turn into a relationship.
Stay in touch with alumni. One area people sometimes forget or underutilize is staying in touch with alumni—this could be either from high school or college. People tend to love helping people they went to school with, so make sure you’re following your educational institutions to start. Then, look for people you remember who either work in your industry or the one you want to be a part of. Make it a goal to ask someone out for a coffee and catch up, or introduce yourself to someone new.
These three tips will get you started on more fully using LinkedIn, but they are just a start. As a minimum, follow these tips to begin making new contacts. You can also be proactive by reaching out to people through searches and using other features LinkedIn has, but responding to posts and getting in touch with alumni is a good place to get your feet wet. You’ll likely be ahead of the other 133 million users of the site just by following a few simple tips.
If you are interested in learning more about updating your LinkedIn profile, contact me at amy@careerresourcesllc.com.