Job Searching 101 On LinkedIn

At McMillion Consulting, I have the opportunity to work with all types of professionals from many different industries. While much of my training centers around prospecting, selling, visibility, and business growth, I occasionally work with executives who are on the job hunt. LinkedIn allows you to tap into the power of relationships, and for that reason, it can be an excellent place to land a new job.

I was in a recent conversation with a very successful leader who is actively pursuing her next career chapter. Surprised that she hasn't landed somewhere yet after five months, I knew the honest and straightforward advice I needed to give her: Put yourself out there.

Our network of connections wants to help us. They want to be the heroes in making the introductions to people and opportunities that could change our lives, but if we don't help them help us, our efforts will be futile. When it comes to LinkedIn, this means updating our profiles and becoming active on the platform.

Today’s tips are for those of you who are in the market for your next career gig. Before we dive in, I should note—private and public job searching are two different beasts. I’ve tailored my advice in this article to people who are publicly job seeking. If that’s you, check out my top three tips to attract new opportunities.
 

1. Use the #OpenToWork feature on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn offers a handy visual feature called #OpenToWork. When you activate this setting, you’ll see a bright green frame with the #OpenToWork label added to your profile picture. You can then specify the job titles in which you’re most interested. The feature also allows you to select whether you want the label to be visible to all of LinkedIn or just to recruiters. Since you are publicly looking for a new job, make your frame visible to all LinkedIn members. 

By activating the #OpenToWork setting, you’ll be clearly communicating to your network that you would welcome a conversation about a new position. This creates efficiency for recruiters and anyone with hiring authority trying to match openings with qualified candidates and helps you stand out among the hundreds or thousands of people who might pop up alongside you in a keyword search. 

In addition to turning on this profile picture frame, you should also consider sharing a post with your network about being open to new opportunities so that your network knows how to help you. You can even feature this post as featured work on your profile. You never know what will catch the eye of someone who’s looking for someone just like you to fill a need.
 

2. Leverage your headline. 

By default, LinkedIn will update your headline to your position title. You can, however, customize your headline—something I recommend, whether you’re a job-seeker or not. LinkedIn gives you 220 characters (with spaces) to make your headline even more powerful and descriptive to your LinkedIn network than just your current title. 

Consider adding keywords that relate to the opportunities you hope to attract. Just like Google loves keywords, so does LinkedIn. If you’re a candidate for sales roles, you might consider adding something like: “Experienced Sales Leader | Field Sales | Med Tech Sales | …” Then, go one step even further and add a phrase to demonstrate you’re looking for something new. For example, you could add something like “Open to New Sales Roles." 

3. Feature your resume. 

The Featured Work section is an often-overlooked portion of the LinkedIn profile, but it’s so powerful. Because it’s located toward the top of your profile, Featured Work is one of the first areas a visitor to your profile will notice, after your headline and profile picture. 

Here’s an example of a post being used as featured work for someone who is looking for a role as a software developer. Note the reactions and comments below the image; this is an indication that it is a post.

Make recruiters’ jobs even easier by providing them with your updated resume right off the bat. You can add a brief note, as well as your contact information, in the description, too. By featuring your resume front and center, you’re giving recruiters and your connections an easy way to pass along your information to key decision-makers with whom you might not already be connected.

Finding a new job can be stressful, but use these tips to give yourself more potential opportunities. If you’re interested in stepping up your LinkedIn game even more, sign up for our Put a Ring on It Challenge. When you register, we’ll share actionable ways to improve your engagement on LinkedIn and get more traction in just five days.