What You Are Doing on LinkedIn is Killing Your Job Search
LinkedIn, the world's largest professional networking platform, is a powerful tool for job seekers. However, if not used correctly, it can also be a hindrance to your job search. In this blog post, we will discuss the do's and don'ts of using LinkedIn for job hunting, the type of content to share, when to post, and best practices for boosting engagement and profile views.
What LinkedIn is For
LinkedIn is a platform designed to connect professionals across various industries. For job seekers, it is a tool to:
Network: LinkedIn allows you to connect with professionals in your field, including hiring managers and recruiters. It's a platform where you can build relationships that might lead to job opportunities.
Showcase Your Professional Brand: Your LinkedIn profile is like an online resume. It's a place to highlight your skills, experiences, and accomplishments.
Learn and Grow: LinkedIn offers a wealth of information and learning opportunities. You can follow industry leaders, join professional groups, and take advantage of LinkedIn Learning courses to enhance your skills.
Job Search: LinkedIn has a robust job search feature, allowing you to find and apply for jobs directly on the platform.
What LinkedIn is Not For
While LinkedIn offers many benefits, it's important to remember what it is not for:
Personal Social Media: LinkedIn is a professional platform. It's not the place to share personal updates or non-professional content. It’s important to note that in recent years personal posts receive the largest engagement, but with recent algorithm changes within LinkedIn, these posts will no longer receive the engagement users have been successfully obtaining. Note: It’s perfectly acceptable to post about a job loss, your experience navigating the job search process, the negative impacts of a job loss, etc. Personal social media pertains to photos of your dinner, a night out with friends, or discussing a disagreement with your spouse when it’s not related to your career, your network’s interests, etc.
Spamming: While it's important to be active on LinkedIn, avoid spamming your connections with too many posts or messages. This includes abusing messages.
Negativity: Avoid sharing negative posts or comments about your current or past employers. This can reflect poorly on your professional image.
Content to Share on LinkedIn
When it comes to sharing content on LinkedIn, focus on posts that add value to your network. This could be industry news, professional insights, or thought leadership content. Sharing relevant content shows that you are engaged in your industry and can position you as a knowledgeable professional. Sign up for Google alerts on topics of interest to see what others are posting about. You can also share that content on your page. Thought leadership content is evergreen or sharing someone else’s content with your perspective to lead the conversation. Make sure you credit the person you are sharing if are not linking them to the direct source.
When to Post on LinkedIn
The best time to post on LinkedIn depends on your network. However, generally, weekdays during working hours tend to see the most engagement. LinkedIn's analytics can help you determine when your posts get the most engagement. Social media posting tools like Later will help you determine when your network is most active.
Boosting Engagement and Profile Views
To boost engagement and profile views, consider the following best practices:
Complete Your Profile: A complete profile is more likely to appear in LinkedIn search results. Make sure to fill out all sections, including your headline, summary, work experience, skills, and recommendations. Consider adding items to your featured section - blog posts, website, publications, etc.
Use Keywords: Incorporate keywords relevant to your industry and job targets in your profile. This can help you appear in search results when recruiters or hiring managers are looking for candidates with your skills. LinkedIn is rolling out an AI profiler builder tool to help guide you on creating a headline and about section based on your experience section. It’s a good place to start, but like with any AI, you want to add your tone to the writing.
Stay Active: Regularly post updates, share content, and engage with your network. This can increase your visibility on the platform. When commenting on other posts, refrain from “Great post"! or “Great share!”. These responses fail to add value to the conversation. Commenting on a post will push that post into your network’s feed but it will also get you in front of 2nd and 3rd connections that may want to follow you for the content you publish on LinkedIn. Pro tip: 3X per week seems to be the minimum when looking to expand engagement.
Join Groups: Participating in LinkedIn groups related to your industry can help you connect with like-minded professionals and increase your visibility.
Personalize Connection Requests: When connecting with new people, personalize your request with a note about why you want to connect. I recently received this request from someone who :
Random LinkedIn User: Looking forward to connecting!
My response: Hi Maria, before connecting, can you please share how we will be of value to each other’s network? And can you confirm that you will not send sales messages to my inbox?
Thanks!
Don
Random LinkedIn User: NO RESPONSE!
LinkedIn continues to be a crucial tool for job seekers. However, the way you use it can make or break your job search.
