Career Trends: Points to remember while using LinkedIn to get your dream job

Edition: December 13th, 2021
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS

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• Excerpts from article published on the India Today Web Desk

LinkedIn is a massive database of companies, prospective employees and employers. If used properly, LinkedIn can do most of your research work, whether it is looking up for jobs, learning who works where, and the job field interconnections between individuals in your network.

Listed below are the points you should keep in mind when using your LinkedIn account to reach dream job:

1. Upload a smart profile picture

• The main thing that potential recruiters will view when coming across your profile is your profile picture and your headline.
• It will take them only a few seconds to decide whether or not to click on it to check out your entire details.
• So, your first impression must be strong enough to engage your potential employer.
• Your profile picture must show you in your professional best, where you should come across as smart and confident.
• Don’t go putting up selfies and casually dressed party or holiday shots of yourself.

2. Write a keyword-oriented engaging headline

• Your headline is possibly the single most important feature in your LinkedIn profile.
• Use important keywords and industry jargon that companies are likely to type in the search field to locate candidates.
• Also make it non-generic. Keep it snappy, creative and interesting. 

3. Carefully craft your job description and summary

• The job description areas for each of your jobs shouldn’t include every single thing you did there.
• Apart from your key achievements, highlight only those projects or skill areas which are relevant to your current job search.
• The summary should be short, focusing on only the important areas, and should not be in paragraphs.

4. Fill up all information areas

• Unlike your paper resume, LinkedIn profiles give you the opportunity to add audio-visual content and any important projects that you may have done.
• You can also add any social work you may have done and details of the patents you hold.
• These options give you the opportunity to be extra creative and highlight your skill areas with proper proof of your past work.
• A complete profile with more than one past job will automatically increase the chances of your profile being viewed.
• However, remember to keep tailoring your profile according to the changes you want in your future job role.

5. Build your network

• After you have filled up all the necessary information in your profile, you should start connecting with people.
• Friends, family, ex-colleagues and who can help in giving a push to your career won’t need an introductory message.
• But other prospective bosses, hiring managers and colleagues would have more chances of connecting with you if you drop in a personal courteous message, rather than the automatic LinkedIn request to connect.
• While attempting to connect to someone unfamiliar, you can select the ‘Get introduced’ option via your common connections.
• You should have at least 50 connections to increase your visibility on sidebars and searches around the website.

6. Join relevant groups

• Utilise the LinkedIn groups to the fullest extent.
• There are various groups on the website — entry level, industry-oriented or skill-based.
• These groups provide the platform to make further connections with people in the same area of expertise as yours.
• Moreover, you can discuss any job issue with experts or clarify any query that you might have.

7. Get recommended by connections

• Recommendations from people you are connected to help in giving you that additional push.
• Good recommendations will typically highlight your skill areas and add some personal information for the human touch. 
• The best way to receive recommendations is to write some for others in your network and request one in return.
• Some companies don’t even consider profiles without any recommendations.

8. Fetch endorsements

• Endorsements, which are basically a nod to your listed skill-base, aren’t as important as recommendations, even though they definitely add to your credibility.
• Networked connections can endorse one or more skills of yours, so make sure you list all the skills related to your career field.
• Similar to recommendations, you should endorse others and ask to be endorsed in return.

9. Research companies

• Use this platform to look up for details in your dream company and its employees.
• If the company has a history of firing its employees, you might have to rethink the direction of your career.
• Find out as much as possible about the people who might take your interview.
• Go through the possibilities of connections you might have with your prospective boss. It is very much possible that they went to the same university as yours or worked for the same company in the past.

10. Consider necessary add-on features

• While these premium features aren’t very important, they can help advance your LinkedIn profile and make it more view-able to others.
• The website has several add-ons available such as its news service ‘LinkedIn Today’, ‘LinkedIn Contacts’ and ‘LinkedIn Resume Builder’. LinkedIn’s paid ‘Premium Feature’ will allow you to send a fixed number of messages to people who are not on your network, along with better search facilities and profile visibility.

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(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)

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