Enhancing your job search through Social Media
The world of recruitment is changing, sites such as LinkedIn are already used by Recruiters across the UK to find potential candidates for some of the worlds largest organisations.
Having a presence on LinkedIn is becoming more and more important to ensuring you are being seen by potential employers and recruiters. To help you get started we've put together a Top Ten Tips of building your profile.
Top Ten Tips - Using LinkedIn to enhance your career search.
- Complete your profile 100%
LinkedIn keeps good track of your profile completeness. It is in your best interest to complete your profile 100%. Include past and current work history, a summary, skills you’ve learned, etc. LinkedIn will show you what you should fill out to get to 100%.
- Post a professional image of you in your profile
A professional image is defined as a head and shoulders portrait of you. Two reasons for this: 1. Adds to your credibility 2. Makes your profile more professional
- Complete your current title and summary
Your Title should be genuine – recruiters will check. Your summary should be a short, concise two or three paragraphs that should answer 3 basic questions: Who are you? What do you do and Who do you do it for? Within your summary use keywords that will help you get found in LinkedIn search. For instance in my summary I listed out several keyword phrases such as internet marketing. It is a service my company provides but it is also a phrase users on LinkedIn would search.
- Complete your past experiences and specialisations
Specialisations should answer this question. What makes you unique from everyone else in your line of work?
- Follow Industry Experts
By following industry leaders you will keep up to date with the latest news, topics and thought leadership in that arena. This will keep you up to date and in the know for any interviews.
- Join several groups
Primarily LinkedIn is known for its groups. Groups can be private or public. Find the ones that you are interested in to network, share experiences and in which you can learn and give your opinions
- Get recommendations from current or past companies
Recommendations are synonymous with references. Recommendations give recruiters insights on what you are like as a person, your work ethic, etc
- Be Active
Just like a website your profile is more likely to be viewed when you are actively updating and partcipating. Make sure you use all the tools available to keep your profile up to date and use the status bar to provide comment on interesting industry news.
- Edit websites to be actual website names instead of “Company website”
So many times I have come across “Company Website” within the Websites section. Change that generic phrase to the actual name of your company, blog, or Twitter handle
- Promote!
Use LinkedIn to become and active member of the online community relevant to your industry. Participate in group discussions, review white papers and look to network with potential employers via these methods. This will help you stand out from the traditional path of simply sending a CV through and hoping it lands on a desk.