LinkedIn has become a de facto place to go to for finding jobs. Whether you are a recent college grad or a veteran with several years of experience if you do not have a profile on LinkedIn and don’t know how to make the best use of all the available features for job search you are missing out on one of the best tools for finding jobs. Unfortunately, many people don’t understand how LinkedIn works and how to make best use of all the features. Below we highlight some of the key feature you can leverage.
Search for Jobs
LinkedIn has rapidly become the leading job search platform where members from every industry and job function can:
- Quickly find career opportunities in any location
- Receive automatic recommendations and notifications based on job searches
- Apply to positions using just the LinkedIn profile
- Save interesting jobs for later resume submission
So many people are capitalizing on LinkedIn, from getting LinkedIn training for sales teams to individual entrepreneurs using it as a content marketing platform to job seekers using it to empower their career. For them it starts with the resume.
The process is actually quite simple:
Convert LinkedIn Profile to a Resume
One convenient built-in profile feature is the “save your profile as a .pdf” button:
The resulting document looks very nice and could work as a quick resume.
But if you need a more traditional resume-like appearance, you’ll want to try the LinkedIn-approved tool at http://resume.linkedinlabs.com/. “Turn your LinkedIn Profile into a beautiful resume in seconds. No more messing around with multiple Word and PDF documents scattered all over the computer. Pick a resume template, customize the content, and print and share the result to your heart’s content.”
Search for Recommended Jobs
LinkedIn’s “Jobs You May Be Interested In” feature shows jobs that match your profile in one or more characteristics. Find this feature by clicking Jobs at the top of your homepage.
Here, you can set your preferences for company type, size, industry, and location by clicking on the icons, top right of page, and answering the screen prompts.
Jobs recommend to you are based, in part, on information listed in your profile, and the preferences you set here. If you are not getting the recommended jobs you’d like to see, try changing your filters – remove or add filters to change the results coming to you.
Advanced Search for Jobs
The advanced job search available on the Jobs page can help you to run a more extensive or custom job search.
You can also receive daily or weekly email alerts based on job suggestions.
Jobs on Premium Account
The job market is a crowded one, and standing out from the crowd is crucial. With a Premium LinkedIn account, your profile will help you stand out with these highly useful features:
- A larger photo
- A gallery of stock images to quickly create a compelling profile banner image
- 2x more prominent listing v. other search results, meaning that more info is displayed from your profile in a search
- Move to the top of a hiring manager’s list when applying to open positions as a Featured Applicant, placing your job application above those submitted by non-Premium members, and increasing the chances of having your resume viewed earlier
- Filter job listings by estimated salary range, homing in only on those that meet specific criteria. Salary estimates for each job posting are provided by PayScale and viewable for companies located in the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia
- Zero in on more of the right types of people by fine-tuning a search with additional filters, such as seniority, and interests, company size, greatly reducing the time it takes to find recruiters, target companies and industry leaders
- Save up to 5 filtered searches, and get weekly email alerts when someone new matches your search criteria
- Access a complete list of members who have viewed your profile in the last 90 days v. non-Premium members who can see only the last five people
- See meaningful insights, such as the keywords used to find you, and the locations and industries of your viewers; extremely helpful in improving your profile and getting found more often by the right people
- Get access to InMail – contact any member directly, even if you and the member are not 1st connections, or you don’t know the member’s email. It’s a terrific way to follow up on job applications, request introductions (up to 25 introductions to insiders at your target companies), and make new contacts. LinkedIn states that InMails are 2x more effective than emailing or cold calling.
Applying for Jobs via LinkedIn
Applying for a job through LinkedIn rather than through the company’s website? You can attach your resume to the application, as well as clicking on the “apply through LinkedIn” button.
Here’s how:
- In the job application window, look for Resume/Cover Letter section and click ‘Upload a file’.
- Find your resume stored on your computer and select it.
- Your resume will be uploaded when you submit your application.
- You must perform these action on a desktop or laptop
- Resumes cannot currently be attached via a mobile device
- File size is limited to 5 MB, and Microsoft Word or PDF format only
If you want to attach your resume when applying, but hit submit and forgot to attach, you can’t go back, as this would be considered reapplying and is not allowed. If this happens, LinkedIn recommends that you contact the job poster directly…if contact information is provided and you have access to InMail.
Once you’ve applied to a job opening with your profile and attached resume, the recipient will be able to view your resume and can choose to share it and your application with others at their company, for hiring purposes.
In some application scenarios, the hiring company will reroute you to their job board or website to finish the application process.
BONUS TIPS!
Think it’s overkill to submit your resume and “apply with LinkedIn”? Think again.
A well-optimized profile helps to garner interest from recruiters and hiring managers.
But you can also tweak your resume to better match the position for which you are applying. This can lead to better responses because your resume will match the position more closely when run through the company’s Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), impressing more employers.
