You need to know how to leverage your connections when searching on LinkedIn.

Whether you’re a business owner or a job seeker, you want to make the most of any connections you have.

Your search results are a direct outgrowth of your connections. Yet many people don’t have a clue how to get started searching effectively.

LinkedIn provides several kinds of search filters, even for those with a free account. Applying them helps narrow your search so you find just the people you need most.

Keep in mind that LinkedIn limits the number of searches a person with a free account can do each month. If you find yourself doing an extensive amount of searching, you might consider getting a paid account.

Whether you have a free or paid account, you need to know how to leverage your connections when searching on LinkedIn.

 

Searching Within Your Connections

 

  • Click on My Network in the menu bar.
  • At the top left-hand corner, you will see the word Connections – click on that.
  • To the right of the search box are the words “search with filters.” Click on those words.
  • Review the available options, which include location, current companies, plus all filters, which gives you the filters of industries, previous companies, colleges attended, and more.
  • Select the filters you want to apply, then choose the options within each one – you can select more than one option within each filter.
  • Apply as many filters as are appropriate for your search.

 

Search Using a Key Word or Phrase

Type the word or phrase into the search box and click Enter

  • Use Boolean operators such as AND, OR, NOT, or AND NOT between keywords to get more focused and productive results.
  • You can also enclose the keyword phrase in quotation marks. This means it will be searched as a whole rather than as separate words.
  • Scroll down and click on “search all results for… (whatever you typed into the search box).

 

Apply Relevant Filters

  • This process is much like searching within your connections.
  • However, you can change the connections filter to second or third level connections rather than just searching among your first level connections.
    • A second level connection is someone with whom you share at least one first level (direct) connection. A third level connection is someone who is connected to a second level connection, and there are no shared connections.

 

Review the search results

  • Look for recurring names when searching among second level connections.
  • They represent the most connected people within the field you are searching, making them potentially the most able to help you.
  • Email the connection(s) with whom you are best acquainted. Ask them to do an email introduction between you and the person they are connected to who you found in your search.

 

How About You?

What kinds of searching have you done on LinkedIn? What tips would you offer someone new to using the searching process?

 

About Joyce

 

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 45 and up, to become more effective using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. She works with business owners, nonprofit organizations, job seekers, consultants, and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.