Getting a leg up when searching for a new job can mean the difference between finding the perfect fit, or going nowhere fast. LinkedIn is today’s gateway to a world of opportunity, so to squeeze the most out of it let’s take a look at some awesome hacks that go above and beyond the usual guides that beg you to use a professional-looking profile image.
9. Don’t be a John Smith
If you’re one of those people with a name that sounds like a million others out there, you’re going to be awfully hard to find. To combat this, use both your name and your email address as a part of your LinkedIn signature block. This will help boost your exposure in search results, helping employers find you more easily. You can also personalize it with your phone number.
8. Use Rapportive
Rapportive is a nice GMail plugin that places LinkedIn details of the person emailing you on the right side of your screen instead of the ads that are usually there. It can help you determine the best way to respond to their email or to approach your entire conversation with them, as well as connect with them on LinkedIn if you haven’t already.
7. Reconnect with Old Classmates
Classmates aren’t only good for high school reunions; LinkedIn.com/classmates can tap into your high school and college alumni network, uncover valuable details about their professional lives and connect with them.
6. Help Employers Discover You
Add your desired job title into your headline. For example: John Smith – Marketing Manager. Why? Because LinkedIn weighs your headline more highly than almost any other section of your profile in search results. You can also add the same job title into other sections to increase your rankings. Use them sparingly, however, or your profile will just look like a mess.
5. Create a Resume
Did you know that you can create a real, printable resume with LinkedIn’s Resume Builder? It’s simple and fast. Just pick a template, edit, and share on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter as a PDF, or print it out for your upcoming interview.
4. Build Your Endorsements
Endorsements can be helpful, even if they’re from someone who doesn’t actually know if you’re good at what they’ve endorsed you for. Endorse people and they’ll endorse you back, helping you appear higher in search results, as well as in more search results, based on what you’ve been endorsed for.
3. Join Groups
Joining groups is great for a variety of reasons. It allows you to message contacts that aren’t first-degree connections to you (hint: join a group that someone you want to contact but can’t is a part of). It can also be the perfect place to get recruiters to message you. And finally, it can help your visibility to insiders, stakeholders and luminaries in your industry. Participating regularly will help you gain even more exposure.
2. SEO-ify your Profile
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the answer to helping employers find you – and it isn’t nearly as complicated as it sounds. Look at job descriptions, put the text into a great tool called Wordle (which will present you with the most commonly used words in the description), and use those common words in your profile, namely in your headline and summary.
1. Reorder Your Profile
Recruiters and direct employers will look at your profile for such a short amount of time that it’d be foolish to think they’ll want to read your entire summary unless it’s absolutely captivating right from the start. Andy Foote over at Linkedinsights says that recruiters will look at six things: name, current job title & company, current position start & end dates, previous job title & company, previous position start & end dates and education. You may want to re-arrange your profile accordingly.
Related: 9 effective resume hacks for job hunters
LinkedIn image by Atelier_A/Shutterstock
Rapportive image: Rapportive.com
Resume image by Shutterstock
Shuffling image by Shutterstock