Launched in 2003, LinkedIn already had one million users by 2004 and has grown steadily since. Today, LinkedIn has 875 million users worldwide, with 194 million located in the United States.
The success of LinkedIn isn’t surprising when you consider that an enduring strategy for landing a new job is referral-based. Leveraging your network has always been the best way to learn about new career opportunities, and now, that network can be extremely vast and nimble.
But, even as they look for a new job, there are various reasons people avoid leveraging the full potential of LinkedIn. However, the world’s largest professional network — 20 years and going strong — is still one of the top sites for job seekers.
Widely used by recruiters and hiring managers, LinkedIn is an efficient way for candidates to explore new career opportunities without taking too much time away from their current position.
So for a job seeker, what are some best practices for getting the most out of LinkedIn?
Start with your profile
Chances are, you already have a LinkedIn profile, but it might need updating. If you’re new to LinkedIn, no worries; it’s an intuitive, step-by-step process that you can do incrementally. In either case, try to look at your LinkedIn profile through the lens of a hiring manager for the job you want, not the job you have.
Profile photo
If you don’t have a professional headshot that was taken recently, it can be tempting to go through old photos and crop one. Even if your intention is to use it temporarily, it can be easy to forget about updating an out-of-date photo that doesn’t show what you look like now.
It’s best to take the time to get an updated photo. The good news is you don’t need to pay a professional photographer or use a fancy camera. A friend using a good-quality phone can capture a great headshot. Here are a few tips:
- Wear clothing you typically wear to work. Solid-color clothing (not prints) work best.
- Do not wear sunglasses; however, if you typically wear clear glasses, you should wear them for your photo.
- Find a setting with natural light and a simple background.
- Have the person taking your photograph stand close enough so that when cropped, the photo will retain a high resolution and not be fuzzy or grainy.
- Although serious expressions may work for certain professional roles, most hiring managers agree that people should be smiling in their profile photos.
- Once you have captured lots of images to choose from, it’s time to edit. Crop the photo to a square of mostly your face (some experts recommend that your face should fill 60% of the photo).
- Any edits or filters should be applied sparingly—you want to look authentically you.
Background photo
The background photo is the very horizontal image behind your profile photo. This can be an opportunity to highlight your location with a scenic photo or show the type of work you do. LinkedIn also has background graphics available that can convey your values. There is a built-in cropping tool, so you don’t need to edit a photo to a certain size before uploading.
Headline
The Intro section provides you with a prime location on your profile to convey what you do — or what you’re about professionally — in a human, creative way. By simply putting your current title in the Headline field, you’re missing out on the opportunity to grab the attention of recruiters and hiring managers.
Other fields in this section are straightforward and easy to update, including your name, pronouns, current position, education, and location.
About
Similar to the headline, the About section is an opportunity to engage your connections and recruiters with a first-person narrative that describes your professional why. Why you chose your career, why you love doing what you do, or why you are valuable to organizations, projects, and teams.
Not only is simply pasting the summary from your resume boring, but it can convey a lack of initiative.
Other sections
Building out other sections including Experience, Skills, Volunteering, and Honors and Awards is straightforward, and much of the content can be taken from your resume. LinkedIn will help you with the Skills section by suggesting commonly searched skills.
Personalize your URL
One of many cool features on LinkedIn is the opportunity to customize your URL. You can simply customize the back half with your name, or you might include your profession (for example, /johnsmithwrites).
#OpenToWork
If you are able to be transparent about your job search without fear of a current employer seeing that you are looking for a new opportunity, the Open To feature is a great way to show your availability. When you click on the Open To button on your profile, you can select the type of work (on-site, hybrid, and/or remote), locations you’d like to work in, start date, and types of jobs (contract, part-time, full-time). You can even choose to display your #OpenToWork status only to recruiters.
Build your network
It’s important to remember that people are on LinkedIn because they want to build their professional network. It can be daunting — especially for introverts — to send invitations to potential connections, but most people appreciate receiving invites and accept them.
Scrolling through the People You May Know section is a great way to build your network. You can find this functionality in the right sidebar when you’re viewing your profile.
Find a job
Now that your profile is looking good and you’re building your network, it’s time to start your job search. Click on the Jobs icon at the top of your LinkedIn screen to get started.
Even with the free version of LinkedIn, the jobs functionality is robust. You can click through the functions on the left sidebar to get acquainted with all of the things you can do with LinkedIn Jobs, but there are a few key ones that have immediate value without a lot of time spent on your part.
Set job alerts
This is where you can let LinkedIn know what types of jobs you’re interested in applying for. Do not be afraid to set alerts for jobs you’ve never held before but you’re interested in doing.
You can set the frequency of alerts to daily or weekly, select how to be notified, and opt to be notified about similar jobs.
Job application settings
To save time when you start applying for jobs on LinkedIn, you can upload your resume in this section. You can even upload more than one resume if you have different versions tailored for different roles.
Search and filter
Once you’re in Jobs, a great way to get started is to simply type a job keyword or title in the search bar. The search will generate a list of jobs, and you can use the buttons across the top to filter all of the jobs by posting date, experience level, company, and on-site or remote positions. Clicking on Easy Apply will display jobs that do not require lengthy applications and generally take only a few minutes to apply for.
When you find jobs you’re interested in, you can apply for them or save them so you can apply for them when you have more time to do so. LinkedIn will send you reminders about saved jobs to help you apply before the job is filled.
Consider Premium
Although the free version of LinkedIn is undeniably one of the most powerful online tools for finding a job, the Premium version is even better. Depending on the type of job you’re looking for or how urgent your job search is, investing in Premium can accelerate your search and increase your visibility to recruiters and hiring managers. According to LinkedIn, candidates who use Premium get hired twice as fast.
If you’ve not used Premium before, you can try it free for one month, and after your trial it’s $29.99 per month. Some of the valuable features of Premium for candidates are its abilities to:
- Reach out to recruiters directly.
- See how your skills compare with the skills needed for a specific job. This can help you refine your skills in your profile.
- See how many people have applied for a job and how you compare with other candidates.
- See a more comprehensive listing of who’s looking at your profile.
Stay active!
Even after you land your new job, staying active on LinkedIn can be a fun and rewarding experience. It’s a great way to stay connected with former co-workers and keep up with business news.
Like so many things in life, you get what you give. And taking just a few moments each week to congratulate a connection on a new job or accept an invitation can help you sustain a meaningful professional network.
