Now Is My First Time Using LinkedIn To Find A Job

Now Is My First Time Using LinkedIn To Find A JobNow Is My First Time Using LinkedIn To Find A JobI joined LinkedIn because someone invited me back in 1998. But Ive never done anything with my profile.A report released in the first quarter of 2017 says 128 million Americans use LinkedIn. A good number of those members joined simply because they received an automated invitation in their email from someone they knew. That person likely had just joined, and (knowingly or unknowingly) told LinkedIn to send invitations to their entire contact list.So you got invited, you joined, and because LinkedIn is not a fun social media platform, it has no gossip, no jokes, and very few memes, you likely went on about your life. Maybe you built a few connections along the way. Maybe you built mora than a few you can have 1,000 LinkedIn connections and still not really be doing much of anythingUntil the time comes for you to find a job you know, that thing you had for several years, that you landed back before LinkedIn was even a thing.Well, today is a new day. In 2017 LinkedIn is virtually required in order for you to conduct an effective job search. If youve tinkered with LinkedIn a few times, but never put real time and attention into it, then lets talk about 3 key things you need to do to leverage LinkedIn so you get more responses to your resume, reach the decision makers, and score more interviews.1) Smile for the cameraLinkedIn profiles with photos get 21 times more views and 36 times more messages. Thats according to statistics released by DMR in September 2017. Remember that LinkedIn is social media people need to see who you are in order to be comfortable with you.If you have a recent professional photo, by all means use it. If not, a cell phone camera photo will be more than fine. Have an adult or teenager take your picture outside in the daytime. Check your background to make sure youre standing in front of 1 thing. For example, if youre at home, make sure youre s tanding in front of bushes, not bushes, and the car, and the house.2) Extra Extra Read All About ItHave you seen an old movie with a boy selling newspapers on the corner? He says, Extra Extra Read all about it then the camera will show some important, dramatic newspaper headline. Your LinkedIn profile has a headline. Thats also important, so be sure to use it.LinkedIn gives you 120 characters. Instead of wasting this prime real estate telling people what your job title is, saying youre seeking new opportunities, or telling people that youre a results-oriented executive, showcase what your expertise is and what you can actually DO for your next employer.3) Feature Your Excellent ExpertiseLinkedIn offers a Featured Skills & Endorsements section that you need to use to its maximum power. Too often, however, this is an area filled with meaningless terms, mostly because people in your network dumped them in there for you. Many times when you initially sign on to LinkedIn, a popup will ap pear asking if you want to endorse one of your contacts for skills X, Y, and Z. Its easy to simply click yes without even thinking about it. Thats what virtually everybody in your network is doing for you.The problem, however, is that the skills do not accurately reflect the impact you can deliver to an organization. While you may have management, leadership, and process improvement skills, these general traits apply to most everyone. Translation they do nothing to differentiate YOU.Explore the skills section to discover what it offers. When you begin to type in a skill, for example, marketing, LinkedIn will display a dropdown menu featuring 10-12 more specific skills that include the word marketing. This is where you can customize your list of skills to suit you to a T.Featuring a picture, differentiating yourself in your headline, and customizing your skills all make a big difference in your visibility and credibility on LinkedIn. Take these steps to capture the attention of the r ecruiters and decision makers who are searching for what you have to offer.