I continue to hear positive comments and results on using LinkedIn. If you are a job seeker and don’t have a profile already on LinkedIn, I would consider doing so soon. It is a very easy process of going to the website, http://www.LinkedIn.com and signing up. Once completed you can complete your profile, answer questions, invite others to connect with you and search the vast content for potential contacts.
The bio you include on your profile is very important and should include many keywords about your skills, experience and education. Include social, volunteer and professional information. If unsure of how to write one feel free to visit mine at http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/krisplantrich. I continue to make changes and add credentials and information to help potential clients (or in your case recruiters, hr personnel or hiring managers) find me.
An immediate benefit of LinkedIn is the ability for people to find you. Key words including professions, industries, experience, skills, expertise, education, location, alumni, volunteer affiliations, church affiliations etc are ways for others to find you. More and more recruiters are turning to LinkedIn to begin searching for potential candidates. They tend to prefer those that are currently employed so it isn’t necessary to say you are interested in work.
Related benefits include your ability to seek out contacts in the same way, according to what you are looking for. It is a great way to meet people as a job seeker. You can also increase your exposure through offering invitations to connect to others. This will place you on the profile of each person you connect with.
Answering or asking questions can increase your visibility because all members of LinkedIn can see them. Just reading the questions is a great source of information, a great feature worth having. There is even a place to include your resume if you are able to without concern of a current employer seeing it.
There are also groups you can join through LinkedIn related to just about every industry and geographic location. Find a few that are of interest, join, and post a new member greeting note of some kind to get your information out there. It won’t take long for others to find you.
It is free and being used extensively by recruiters. If you aren’t LinkedIn you should be. If you aren’t sure how to get started, email me and I will send you an invitation. Or if you want to practice sending invitations, I am always available to practice on.
Shine On!!
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