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| LinkedIn is a lot like chocolate - more useful than it seems, and healthy too! (image source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Linkedin_Chocolates.jpg) |
by Megan Elliott, Social Media Developer
Chances are if you’re reading this, you have at least one
social networking profile. You’re connected to tons of people on Facebook and Google+,
get yourself into a whirlpool of crafty things to do on Pintrest, or hang out and chat with people on Twitter all day long. Have you made
yourself a LinkedIn
profile yet?
LinkedIn is
probably the most useful tool in your online job search toolbox. This is
where your professional life is on display for anyone to see, from recruiters
to human resources at that company you would give your eyeteeth to go to work
for – if you have a profile.
You
don’t have to be an especially tech savvy person to create a LinkedIn profile.
If you figured out Facebook, you’ve figured out how to fill in all the boxes on
LinkedIn. Plus, they walk you through the weak spots in your profile and can
give you suggestions on how to improve it. It is a good idea to get someone to read behind you and make sure that
you didn’t make any spelling or grammatical errors. Following the link above
should give you some really good pointers to make your profile stand out from
the crowd.
The search box in the top right is the most useful part of
LinkedIn, after making that profile so that you can be found and seen and
possibly contacted about a job. Your connections are awesome, that’s true,
because their networks are a good way to get you in contact with jobs, but you
can also follow the specific companies who might have jobs
available.
Those companies, from big ones to little ones, list their openings all the time on LinkedIn, and sometimes even before they update their jobs portal on their home website! Follow those companies, and you have an inside peek at those job openings, and you don’t have to use another job board to find them.
The latest news from LinkedIn is that they have updated their search engine, so you can actually search by job title (like “administrative assistant”). If you use the advanced search option, you can filter by company and people you know who work at those companies. You can also set LinkedIn to e-mail you results that match your specific search criteria – so you don’t have to do the same search each week.
One final thing to note about the power of a LinkedIn profile – and why you should always keep it updated – lots of hiring managers use it as a reference tool to see if your resume matches up with your work experience. The link above is a how-to guide on using LinkedIn to check up on job applicants.
How have you used social media sites to find jobs? Would you recommend that your friends create a LinkedIn profile after reading this? Let us know in the comments!
Those companies, from big ones to little ones, list their openings all the time on LinkedIn, and sometimes even before they update their jobs portal on their home website! Follow those companies, and you have an inside peek at those job openings, and you don’t have to use another job board to find them.
The latest news from LinkedIn is that they have updated their search engine, so you can actually search by job title (like “administrative assistant”). If you use the advanced search option, you can filter by company and people you know who work at those companies. You can also set LinkedIn to e-mail you results that match your specific search criteria – so you don’t have to do the same search each week.
One final thing to note about the power of a LinkedIn profile – and why you should always keep it updated – lots of hiring managers use it as a reference tool to see if your resume matches up with your work experience. The link above is a how-to guide on using LinkedIn to check up on job applicants.
How have you used social media sites to find jobs? Would you recommend that your friends create a LinkedIn profile after reading this? Let us know in the comments!
2 comments:
I cut and paste most things in MS Word before pushing things live, especially when I fill out job applications online. Word typically picks up most typos. If the photos are tasteful and pertinent, why not upload some interesting picts on Pintrest and link it to the company's website to better page ranking? Has anyone tried this and was it successful?
Very good points, Mykel! There are any number of ways to use social media, and other online tools, to help you in your job search. Using Word as a spell-checker is a nifty idea too!
As far as social media goes, I think it's just a matter of personal preference. Someone has written an article on how to use Pinterest for your job search though! http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-03-03/classified/chi-pinterest-job-search-20120303_1_social-media-job-search-employers
This might help if you are using Pinterest in your job search.
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