The Power of LinkedIn .. and Why All Job Seekers Need a LinkedIn Account

Did you know many employers will look at your social media accounts before they decide if they even want to invite you in for an interview? And, in the business world, the social media account that many employers look to first is your LinkedIn account.

You can have years of experience, a great personality that will match the organization and stellar references. But, that can all be overlooked if potential employers see:

• No LinkedIn account

• A partial LinkedIn account that you never went back to finish

• A LinkedIn in account that is unappealing, just shows the basics of your resume or looks unprofessional.

As a career coach, I ask people all the time if they have a LinkedIn account. 9 out of 10 people will say they have an account and I get excited because they must know this is the #1 professional networking tool. That excitement, however, is often short lived because they almost immediately follow up by saying: ”… but I don’t use it”.

SAY WHAT ??

There are many ways to stand out as a candidate. This article will show you how using LinkedIn can be an easy way to advance your career.

So … what is LinkedIn?

I have the most success when I describe LinkedIn as being “like a professional Facebook account”. It is an online place for you to network and connect with professionals in your industry, or the industry where you want to advance your career in. Similar to your resume, you are able to highlight your professional work and volunteer experience, show expertise and accomplishments in your industry and brand yourself as a leader to potential employers.

Before you create your LinkedIn profile you want to decide how you want to portray yourself to potential employers and anyone else who may look at your account. This is referred to as your personal brand and everything you post on your social media accounts should reflect your personal brand. Most people will focus on professional content, instead of personal content, unless personal content relates to enhancing your personal brand. Many examples of this can be seen on accounts where people will show their commitments to community causes or post content that celebrates accomplishments of others.

Why would I want to use LinkedIn? Can’t I just send in an application like everyone else?

There is a hidden job market that you may not know about as a job seeker. When I say hidden job market, I mean that employers are now proactively searching for candidates on sites like LinkedIn. Sure, they may still advertise jobs on various sites, but the best employers and employment agencies are headhunting and looking for professionals who can fit immediate and future company needs.

Companies also look to their current employees to gather candidate referrals. Their own employees know the business and what types of candidates will thrive in their industry. If you are a candidate who takes the time to network, and build professional relationships with LinkedIn contacts, you are the person that employees will refer to their company when a position comes open. You will have that professional relationship built and will be comfortable asking questions about the opportunity or asking for a virtual introduction to the right hiring contacts.

The job market has become more competitive and there could be hundreds of people applying for the same job. Think about the following example:

• 200 people can apply for the same position as you.

• The ATS (applicant tracking system) may initially reject 50 of these applicants because they don’t have the right amount of education or experience … you are now competing with 150 other candidates.

• The recruiter has 150 resumes to look through and they will spend, on average, 6-7 seconds reviewing resumes to shortlist the top 40 that stand out. If your resume passes this stage, you are now competing with 40 other candidates. (* Read this article to ensure you know how to make your resume stand out.)

• The recruiter may send out pre-testing for the position to those remaining 40 candidates and half will pass the testing. If you make it past this stage, you will be competing with 20 other candidates.

• At this stage, recruiters may take the opportunity to look at your social media accounts to see which candidates they want to spend time doing a telephone screen with. If your LinkedIn account is descriptive, engaging and professional, you may be one of the lucky 10 people to make it to the telephone pre-screening shortlist.

• If you make it past the telephone pre-screen, you may be one of the 5 people invited to the in-person interview. This is where you will have the chance to wow the company and stand out so that you are the person they want to offer that one job to.

It’s exhausting thinking about all of the steps your application needs to make it through to get to the interview. AND, before the interview, the actual hiring manager will most likely also look at your social media accounts or get a summary from the recruiter.

Have I convinced you yet on the importance of having a good LinkedIn account in order to stand out to employers?

Keep reading for tips on how to get started:

So how do I get my LinkedIn account started?

You want to make sure you know what your goal is for your LinkedIn account. Do you want to build your account to show your expertise in your industry so it is geared to future employers? Do you want to build your account to show leadership and expertise at your current company? If you are using your account to appeal to future employers, you want to ensure you are using content that will appeal to them. If you are building your account to progress in your current company, you will want to ensure you are using company language that supports your company mission and vision and paints you as a leader in your company .

Here are a few main sections you will build as part of your profile:

Header Section: You want to ensure that you have a professional looking profile picture (an iPhone does a good job), a good background photo and a description that will make you stand out from other accounts. This section will form your first impression for anyone looking at your LinkedIn profile.

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About Section: This is similar to your “professional summary” section on your resume. I always coach people to stand out by making sure their resume is not boring. Like a resume, you want to ensure this section stands out. If someone just reads this section, you want to make sure it is interesting, professional and exciting so it makes them want to read more about you!

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Experience Section: This is similar to your experience section on your resume. When you read my other articles, and follow me on social media, you will know that I DO NOT condone anyone who just copies and pastes their job description into their resume. That same principle applies to your LinkedIn page.

Make this section engaging and talk about your main tasks at a high level. Then, focus on writing a few big accomplishments that will be sure to impress future employers. Make sure to quantify the accomplishments as much as possible.

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Other Sections: Once you learn how to network and market yourself on LinkedIn, you will be able to start showcasing yourself using your activity section (posts you like, comment on and share will appear here), skills & endorsements section (peers can endorse your professional skills here) and your interests section (employers can see if you share similar industry interests).

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When you have your page set up, it’s time to start making connections. Don’t be shy when connecting with companies and contacts. You will find, more often than not, that people are willing to connect with you and accept your invitation to connect. If you aim for 500 connections in the first 6 months you will be doing well. Don’t be afraid to follow a company page and then connect with their employees who you would value as part of your network.

I always suggest that you spend 10-15 minutes each day on LinkedIn interacting with posts. Like a post, comment on a post and share content that fits in well with your personal brand values. Once you start building contacts and professional relationships you will then have your own network of contacts. You can then message them when you need to information share, ask a question or ask for a virtual introduction with a shared contact.

The power of LinkedIn is AMAZING! Why limit yourself to in person contacts when you can reach many more contacts in this giant virtual space.

As a career coach, I can work with you to build your LinkedIn page so it stands out from the thousands of other candidates. Remember, there is a hidden job market and your profile should stand out so recruiters can headhunt you for your dream career!

Contact me for a free consultation.

Tell me how you have had career and networking success using LinkedIn?

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