LinkedIn is the largest network of professionals in the world. A platform that you have to be on if you are interested in looking for work both nationally and internationally.
Knowing how to use LinkedIn to search for a job as well as having a good profile prepared on this platform will be the two fundamental keys to access the job you want.
To do this, here we have prepared a step-by-step guide so that you know everything you need about LinkedIn and can use this tool to find job opportunities in dozens of countries around the world.
What is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is a social network for professionals founded in 2002 and launched to the world in May 2003 by Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue, Konstantin Guericke, Eric Ly and Jean-Luc Vaillant.
In October 2008, when it had more than 25 million registered users, it entered the United States Stock Exchange, being one of the first social networks to appear on the stock markets.
Currently, LinkedIn has more than 500 million users in more than 200 countries, including executives of large companies.
What is LinkedIn for?
LinkedIn is the best web tool to establish professional contacts, make yourself known in the professional field, and of course, look for work.
On the other hand, companies use it to meet and select personnel, in addition to sharing company information; news, events, news, etc. A tool that is part of many recruiters to select their ideal candidates.
SEE ALSO: Best Ways to reach out to recruiters on LinkedIn
As you can see, the operation of LinkedIn is bilateral, both for users seeking employment and for companies seeking employees. LinkedIn is the ideal place to make this connection.
How LinkedIn works to effectively search for work
As you can see, it is vital to know how to use LinkedIn to search for a job in addition to creating a good profile that stands out and be found by companies.
Here are some tips for using LinkedIn effectively.
Online CV
LinkedIn is an online curriculum; you can show all your data so that companies know you and know your career when visiting your professional profile. Perhaps, this is the best-known functionality of this network for professionals, but it goes far beyond a simple online resume.
If you are going to look for work through LinkedIn, make sure before having created your profile properly, this is your resume, your visible face for companies.
A LinkedIn resume is very powerful since companies will be able to access updated information on it, you no longer have to be sending dozens of resumes and even delivering them by hand. Just visiting your profile will suffice.
Maximize your presence on LinkedIn
Taking this evolution into account, it has become very important, especially for professionals who are actively looking for a job, to create a profile on LinkedIn. However, there are some “rules” that must be followed in order to get the most out of this tool.
Above all, we should not consider LinkedIn as a site where we only put our CV and wait to be contacted. LinkedIn is much more than that, it is an active forum for networking and knowledge sharing, constantly changing.
Customize your URL
LinkedIn gives us a URL when we make a profile and it can be personalized with your first and last name. If you want to change the URL, you can do it through the Edit menu, clicking on Settings of your public profile.
Indicate that you are actively searching for a job
You can put some keywords to identify and find you (nurse, Java developer, ELE teacher, psychologist, architect …)
Stand out with your profile
You must demonstrate that your profile is attractive and unique: To achieve this, you have to highlight the keywords that identify your profile and emphasize the objectives achieved in your professional experience.
Upgrade your skills
Edit your profile, add skills and knowledge that identify you in your area. This option also has an additional advantage because your contacts can look for you for your skills, which will give us greater possibilities when they look for us.
SEE ALSO: How to Maximize Your LinkedIn Endorsements
Participate in groups
Look for interest groups and become active members and interact with other professionals. If you have a large number of contacts, you can create your own group and invite professionals who can provide information and data of interest.
Add value to your profile
Add sites that offer information about your work. Also, if you have a website or blog, you can add the URL to your profile.
Make contacts
Remember, it is often better to make quality contacts than to have a large number of contacts.
How to find a job with LinkedIn
There are different options when looking for a job on LinkedIn. Below you will find some ways to use this tool for your job search both nationally and internationally.
LinkedIn: login or registration
The first thing to do is log into LinkedIn, or register if you haven’t already. To do this, you must access LinkedIn and log in, or register by filling in the data.
Use the job offers search engine
One of the most prominent places in this tool is its job search engine. Here you can access job offers for all areas in more than 200 countries.
Search job openings with LinkedIn
Now you just have to put what you are looking for and the destination where you are looking for that job. One piece of advice, if you want to work around the world, you can click on the option “Around the World” and you will see job offers to work in what you are looking for around the world.
Here is an example of searching for job offers as a tour guide around the world.
Search employment with LinkedIn
The selected word has been: «Tourist Guide» and the destination «All the World».
There you will see two well-differentiated columns. On the left side you will find all the job offers. And on the right side, the information about the job offer you select.
As you would soon realize while doing that, there are a series of functionalities that you can use to better refine your job search with this tool.
Find a job with LinkedIn
For example, in the top bar, you can select job offers by publication date, LinkedIn functionalities, Companies, or level of experience, in addition, you can access other types of filters to further refine by clicking on “All filters”.
Then, in the left column, you have some extra options such as sorting the job offers by relevance or publication date and activating job alerts (be careful, this can be very interesting so you don’t miss anything).
SEE ALSO: How to use LinkedIn to find a Job
In the right column, you will find all the information about the job offer you select. You can save it to request it later or request it directly.
Generally, at the end of each job posting, information about the company that posted the vacancy will also appear.
In the Groups there is employment
If you are actively looking for a job on LinkedIn, it is very important to participate in the groups since many opportunities, news, and job offers are published in them that do not appear in the search engine of this tool.
There is also added value, in many of the groups, there are also company managers and recruitment professionals. More than enough to join and follow a few groups.
Work your network of contacts
It is very important to work and take care of your network of contacts because new opportunities can arise from there and LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to be in contact with almost anyone.
You don’t have to contact everyone, that’s a mistake. You must work on creating a network of valuable contacts. You can locate human resources personnel, headhunters, recruitment companies, companies where you would like to work, or people with whom you would like to work.
When you send your invitation proposal to connect with that contact, remember to personalize it appropriately, it is not worth sending it to everyone.
Conclusions about looking for work with Linkedin
LinkedIn is a powerful job search tool. You must know how to use it and position yourself as an expert to be selected.
To do this, take care of your profile, make contacts, participate and look for opportunities that you are really passionate about. Do not apply for job offers just for the sake of it. Prepare yourself well, make relationships, talk, show your worth and everything will come.
Finding a job is not easy but with this tool, you will have many possibilities.
And you, do you use LinkedIn? Have you found a job through LinkedIn?
Let us talk in the comments.
