LinkedIn has become an invaluable career tool, with over 610 million users worldwide and thousands of recruiters searching user profiles every day. Talent is high in demand, and recruiters know a good candidate can be hard to find, therefore learning how to use LinkedIn to your advantage could lead to valuable new opportunities.
In 2018, there were more job openings in the US than people to fill them, with the Recruiter Nation Study reporting 6.3 million unemployed people versus 6.9 million open jobs. As competition ramps up, hiring becomes far more competitive – and with recruiters are increasingly looking for new ways to acquire talent, the ability to use every tool to your advantage becomes crucial.
The Future of Recruitment
Automation and big data will shape the way recruiters hire in 2020. According to the Global Talent Trends Report, these are the top considerations:
Soft Skills – 91%
Hard skills refer to tangible abilities relating to qualifications or experience, like accounting or copywriting. Soft skills are more about general disposition and character, like how someone creatively solves a problem, deals with stress or works in a team. 91% of recruiters say soft skills matter as much or even more than hard skills.
Work Flexibility – 72%
Remote working and flexible hours have become increasingly popular global workplace trends, and 72% of recruiters say companies use these perks to attract talent. Employees who are self-motivated, flexible and able to communicate effectively will stand out when it comes to hiring.
LinkedIn is by Far the Most Popular Social Tool for Recruiters
Around 87% of recruiters find it the most effective way to evaluate prospective candidates, compared to 43% who use Facebook and 22% who use Twitter.
Recruiters rely heavily on LinkedIn to source and further investigate job applicants, which means knowing how to use it to its full potential is vital when it comes to getting ahead of the pack in this digital age.
LinkedIn can also help users build authority within their industry and develop a strong and relevant professional network. To help you achieve this, we’ve compiled a comprehensive guide to mastering LinkedIn, and subsequently, your career.
Nail the Basics: How to Optimise a LinkedIn Profile
- Select a good profile picture: Almost half (41%) of recruiters say seeing a picture of a person before meeting them influences their first impression. The image you choose should look professional, shouldn’t feature anyone else, and should ideally have a neutral background.
- Upload your CV: LinkedIn offers a feature that allows you to do this in a rather neat, user-friendly manner. This is an absolute must.
- Request references: There is a function on LinkedIn specifically designed for this as well. These can prove extremely valuable. Just be sure to ask people you know well and who can offer an informed, credible reference.
- Identify the industry you are targeting: This will help LinkedIn tailor content to your interests and goals.
- Capitalise on your current connections: Update your profile regularly and be sure to connect on LinkedIn with contacts at your current place of work. One day you will move on, as will they, but having them as a part of your network may open the door to opportunities for either, or both, of you later.
- Optimise your profile for search: Ensure your profile headline includes the words that recruiters and companies hiring are most likely to search for.
- Include work samples: LinkedIn is more than just a CV. Be creative and use it to its full potential. Add examples of previous work in the form of videos, documents, images, presentations and links to various sections of your profile. This is a great way to communicate how great you are at what you do without actually having to say it.
- Finish what you start: Completed profiles are significantly more likely to be viewed.
- State your specific skills: Being specific and listing the skills you have (and that you use at work) means that your connections can endorse these skills. Endorsed skills lend you more credibility in the eyes of employers. Referees can also reference them, which gives you even more credibility as a potential candidate for a relevant position.
- Customise your URL: LinkedIn allows you to customise your profile URL to make it look more professional – and far easier to share.
- Use a background photo: This will give your profile a touch more personality and help you to stand out. Just make sure it’s a fairly professional photo, as LinkedIn is a professional social network.
- Create a Profile Badge: LinkedIn allows you to promote your profile page on your own blog or website. This is a good way to help you grow your professional network. A Profile Badge links from your blog or website to your public LinkedIn profile. There are a number of different badge designs users can select from. You can also configure their own.
- Be identifiable: Make sure others can see who you are if you look at their profile. Go into settings to manage this feature.
- Review your profile: Check that your profile is both current, correct, and complete. This includes checking spelling and grammar.
Do’s and Don’ts
Do: | Don't: |
---|---|
Connect with people in your sector: Attend industry events to meet people in your sector and connect with them on LinkedIn later. | Link to personal social media: LinkedIn is a professional network, so it’s advisable to keep it separate from your personal social media platforms. |
Join groups that match your career interests: This will help you keep up to date with the latest issues and insights relevant to your industry. Users can ask questions within groups, which is a great way to form relationships and further develop your network. | Be too shy to ask for endorsements: It’s perfectly acceptable for you to message contacts you know well and ask for endorsements on skills you are trying to highlight – as long as you genuinely possess those skills. |
Follow the companies you would like to work for: The majority of companies today have a LinkedIn presence. This can be a great way of learning about what they do and don’t value when preparing for an interview, and also if or when they are hiring. | Ignore recruiters: It’s impossible to tell what the future holds for certain, so be sure to keep your lifelines open. If you receive a message from a recruiter regarding a job opportunity, don’t ignore them. Reply and let them know that you aren’t currently looking for anything, but keep the door open for future opportunities. |
Use LinkedIn’s job board: LinkedIn allows you to search for jobs by keywords, industry, location, company, experience level, and more by using its ‘advanced search’ feature. | Ask loads of people for recommendations all at once: Try and time your requests so it seems like they are rolling in organically. Once a month is recommended. |
Get endorsed: As you do this for your connections, so your connections can do this for you. These skills will then show up on your profile. | Spam your audience: Turn off profile updates so your audience isn't flooded with every single adjustment you make to your profile. |
Ask for an introduction: It’s advisable to request an introduction with someone you haven’t met yet but would like to, who is a 2nd degree contact. On the profile of your 2nd degree connection, press the triangular drop-down arrow located near the top of their profile, choose the ‘get introduced’ option and select a mutual connection the two of you share. Ask the mutual connection to provide you with an introduction to the 2nd degree connection and offer an explanation as to why you would like to meet them. | |
Connect with recruiters: When you are job hunting, one of the most valuable moves you can make is to connect with recruiters who make placements within your industry. It wouldn’t hurt to mention that you are willing to reach out to your network should the recruiter need any other candidates for positions as well. | |
Make it obvious that you’re on the hunt: LinkedIn’s Job Seeker facility (which is free for the first 30 days) will provide you with a ‘Job Seeker Badge’ on your profile. Not only does this indicate to potential employers that you are on the hunt for new opportunities, but it also allows you to see who has been viewing your profile. The result? Valuable insight and ultimately the upper hand. |
LinkedIn Etiquette Best Practice
Even though LinkedIn interactions take place online, it’s vital to remember that you are dealing with real people, and developing real relationships. The strongest relationships are generally a result of consistent, genuine effort and communication over time. This informs etiquette in real life as well as etiquette online, including on LinkedIn.
- Play by the rules: Be familiar with the purpose of the platform and use it accordingly. Your tone, how you approach and relate to people, as well as what you share, all play a part in determining how successful you will be on LinkedIn.
- Don’t only ask for favours: As in real life, people are unlikely to respond positively if the first thing you say to them is, “Can I have a job?”. Consider asking them how they got to where they are, or what they feel you should do to get to where you want to go. This indicates that you are willing to learn and put in the effort, as well as puts you on their radar if or when something comes up for which you may be suitable.
- Don’t just connect: Don’t send a request to someone to connect unless you have a legitimate reason for doing so.
- Always @respond: Using the @ before a person’s name when responding to comments on your Page or in Groups helps to keep discussions clear and directed.
- Be genuine and personal: Being intentional and going the extra mile communicates to others that you genuinely care about and take an interest in them. When sending somebody a request to connect, don’t send the standard “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” message. It’s less likely to be accepted and more likely to be labelled as spam.
- Recommendations: You should only ever ask for recommendations from people you know well, and can provide you with genuine, credible recommendations.
- Don’t send requests more than twice: It’s annoying. LinkedIn does automatically send out a reminder to somebody you have sent a request to a few weeks later if they haven’t yet accepted it.
- Always check a user’s contact policy: Always be sure to look at somebody’s profile for any specific requests about messages. Some people have preferences concerning who contacts them, and how they do so.
- Turn off your activity during profile updates: If you don’t, you will effectively bombard all your connections with loads of unnecessary (quite possibly unwanted) updates.
- Congratulate people properly: LinkedIn tells you when people begin at a new position or celebrate a work anniversary. If you’re going to congratulate them, do it properly and send them a short, meaningful message as opposed to a generic “congrats”. To network effectively you need to show some effort.
- Endorse others: Make a point of endorsing those you have worked closely with. It goes a long way.
- Provide recommendations: Be generous with the number of recommendations you give, but be honest in what you say. If you are too busy to respond to every recommendation request, consider asking the connection making the request to write it themselves and have you approve it.
- Don’t recommend people who haven’t earned it: Giving recommendations to people you don’t honestly feel you can recommend can harm your credibility. You also don’t want to burn any bridges either by being overtly rude in your response or by ignoring the request altogether. Simply respond by mentioning that you don’t feel you are the right person to issue this recommendation and wish them luck.
- Send a great recommendation request: When asking for recommendations, be as specific as possible. The more information you share, the easier you make it for your connection to give you a great recommendation.
- Always say thank you: It takes time and effort to recommend people on LinkedIn, both of which are often in short supply. A little ‘thank you’ goes a long way. Send anyone who recommends you a personal message to thank them for recommending you, or consider returning the favour by writing a recommendation for them.
While LinkedIn can be an extremely powerful tool when it comes to further developing your career, it’s no quick fix for finding employment. Using LinkedIn effectively requires active engagement, know-how and a little dedication. But with a strong profile and active networking efforts, LinkedIn can be massively beneficial to those trying to further their career.
It can help keep recruiters (and others who may be looking to hire) remain aware of you, and it serves to retain all your information within the public sphere. If you aren’t yet on LinkedIn, or haven’t been giving the platform the attention it deserves, now is the time to brush off those rusty passwords and set both yourself, and your LinkedIn profile, up for success.
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