Are you a job seeker trying to figure out how to make better use of LinkedIn? Here are some LinkedIn tips for job seekers to help you land a great job.

Recently I spoke at the 905 Professional Transitions Group and shared LinkedIn tips for job seekers. We spent nearly two hours together in a very interactive and lively session. In this blog post, I’ll share some key points I made as well as tips members of the group offered.

Many thanks to Tom Kaufmann, who has been facilitating this group for eight years, for being such a gracious host. Tom is a Realtor with Your Castle Real Estate. Thanks also to Jim Derman who recommended me as a speaker. Jim’s business, The Entrepreneur’s Source, helps people find the right franchise for them.

 

Enhance Your LinkedIn Profile Headline

This may be the single most important section of your profile, so make it the best it can be.

  • Using your LinkedIn mobile app, go to your profile and click on the pencil icon by your photo. Scroll down to your headline, where you can add up to 100 more characters than you can on the regular website.
  • Be sure to include key words and phrases that relate to the kinds of jobs you are seeking.
  • Avoid using the term “Seeking New Opportunities”

 

Make Creative Use of the Sections Within Contact Info

You will find Contact Info toward the top of the screen in the computer view, to the right of your profile headline. For your mobile app, scroll to bottom of your profile to find it. Use the computer to make these changes.

  • Customize your LinkedIn URL to include a reference to your profession. This URL is at the top of your contact info sections. For example, my customized URL is https://www.linkedin.com/in/joycefeustelsocialmediatrainer/
  • Create a website where you can feature blog posts, white papers and videos as well as text about your background. Then put the URL to that website into one of the three available fields for websites in the contact info section.
  • If you are the organizer for a Meetup group, include the URL to that group in another field. In my profile, I have the URL to my Meetup group, which is called called Simplify Your Social Media, https://www.meetup.com/meetup-group-simplify-your-social-media/

 

Add Media to Your Profile

  • You can add media to the top part of your profile, just below your summary. You can also add it to each of your positions in the experience section, and to each education listing.
  • You can add a PowerPoint, a Prezi presentation, a PDF, a YouTube video, or a link to anywhere on the internet. (FYI, you can’t add a PDF to a post or comment on LinkedIn.)
  • One fellow in the group suggested making your resume into a PowerPoint to make it more interesting and engaging than a PDF.
  • FYI, the visual display of a PDF isn’t necessarily that great. However, recruiters have told me that it helps to attach your resume as a PDF. That way, folks from an HR department can “parse” for the terms they search for.

 

Enhancing Your Experience Section

  • You have up to 100 characters in the title field for each position. Consider adding a few key words after your official title.
  • Add leadership positions in volunteer organizations – both ones you hold now and ones you once held.
  • Include a testimonial for each position.
  • Add media to at least some positions. PowerPoints, Prezi slides and videos work are excellent choices to add.

 

How About You?

Have you been finding LinkedIn to be a useful job searching tool? If so, what tips would you share with other job seekers? If not, what has been frustrating you? Maybe I, or one of your fellow readers of my blog, can help.

 

About Joyce

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