How to job search successfully on LinkedIn

The 7 essentials you need to get right to job search successfully on LinkedIn and land your dream job are:

1. Keywords

Keywords is where to start – get your keywords right and you’ll get found more often by potential recruiters and employers.

Think about the keywords from the potential recruiter’s point of view. What would she or he search for in order to find the right person for your dream job? For example, keywords for a project manager might include project management, risk management, stakeholder engagement or agile leadership.

If you’re a User Experience Designer, your keywords might include user experience, UX, wireframing, end-users, accessibility or usability.

Your keywords then need to be sprinkled throughout your profile – in your headline, your summary and your experience.

You can use these same keywords on your CV too.

2. Headline

The headline on LinkedIn will default to your current job title however you can change this.

Your headline needs to say something about WHO you are, WHAT you do and HOW you do it. You need to include some of those essential keywords in your headline too.

You can break up your headline using | or *.

The purpose of your headline is to hook the curiosity and draw people in so that they read more about you.

The example below is from a software developer – notice how they’re using keywords to describe their specialist skillset and experience:

3. Photo

Next up – your photo. This is your first opportunity to make a personal connection with the person looking at your profile.

If you have a professional headshot, great use that.

If not, don’t worry, it doesn’t need to be a professional headshot.

However it does need to be a photo of you – not you and your partner/friend/baby/dog. You need to be looking at the camera. Natural and smiling so that it looks like you’d fit right in which means you need to to be dressed appropriately for the sectors or jobs you want.

4. Summary

This is the second most important piece of ‘real estate’ on your LinkedIn profile.

This is your amazing golden opportunity to showcase the best of your skills and experience so that the prospective employer is keen to interview you for your dream role.

A summary is never too long – use all the space available. The current character limit is 2000 characters.

Much of what I tell you about your summary will apply to your CV too.

• Describe the best of your skills and experience remembering to include your keywords.
• Use Action Verbs to describe what you’ve actually done, not just what you’re responsible for. If you’re stuck for inspiration, check out my free download of 99 Action Verbs.
• Use numbers to quantify your achievements e.g. £, # and %. The human brain scans numbers more easily and they’ll help to impress the recruiter and put your achievements into context.
• Demonstrate your value to the business e.g. what did you improve, reduce or negotiate. For example “Collaborated with the Head of User Experience to design a clean and modern interface that increased usability by 26%”.
• Use bullet points and give the text room to breathe i.e. plenty of white space.
• Name drop prestigious or well known companies that you’ve worked for. Yes you’ll have these in your experience too, but the whole point of the summary to encourage the reader to view the rest of your profile.

5. Network

First and foremost, LinkedIn sets out to be a professional networking platform. When you’re actively job hunting, your network can produce absolute gold.

When you think about networking, think of it as being of service to others. How can you be helpful? How can you share your knowledge and expertise?

Networking is about creating connections, having conversations and building relationships.

The bigger your network, the more people will know about you and your expertise. The more likely you’ll get found for your dream job.

6. Recommendations

Recommendations on LinkedIn are important because it’s the social proof that you are who you say you are and you do what you say you do.

We all want to work and employ people that we know, like and trust. Getting somebody else’s recommendation is the next best thing.

A good recommendation helps to build that trust.

Often people tell me that they don’t know who to ask. Ask your manager, your manager’s manager, your co-workers, clients and suppliers. Anybody who’s worked with you or alongside you in a professional capacity.

The other reason that people get stuck with recommendations is that they find it hard to get others to write recommendations. First, don’t be afraid of sending a reminder if you’ve asked for a recommendation.

Second – make it as easy as possible for the person you’re asking. Generally people want to help by writing a recommendation but they get stuck if they don’t know what to say.

Tell them to focus on something specific – a skill you have, a project you’ve worked on together or remind them of a piece of feedback they’ve given you previously.

But if you don’t ask, you won’t get a recommendation. Pluck up the courage and just ask.

7. Expertise

The final piece in the puzzle to job search successfully on LinkedIn is to demonstrate your specialist knowledge and expertise.

One way to do this is to share articles you’ve read in the press or podcasts on relevant topics. Don’t just share the article, add a comment or ask a question when you share it.

Even better, write posts or your own articles on LinkedIn. When you write your own articles, think back to those keywords and what you want to be known for.

Comment on other people’s posts or articles when they are writing about something pertinent. Try to avoid the bland “great article” – what can you say that contributes to the discussion?

How to job search successfully on LinkedIn

To summarise, the essentials you need to get right to job search successfully on LinkedIn so you land your dream job – start with identifying your keywords, craft a powerful headline, upload a good photo to create the personal connection, update your summary to showcase the best of your skills and experience, start networking, ask for recommendations (your social proof) and use content and articles to demonstrate your expertise.

For even more practical straightforward help, join me on Monday 18 April for my online class on How To Successfully Land Your Dream Job On LinkedIn. I’ll go through all these essentials in more detail with examples PLUS you get the opportunity to ask your questions in person.