LinkedIn Job Search Tips for the Experienced Worker
– Part 2

Posted in Career Search Tools & Education, Dynamic Training News, Latest Leadership Posts, Talent Development & Training on Jun 25,2013

No one is too old or too experienced to benefit from LinkedIn when conducting a career search. We covered the first five tips in Part 1, published May 28, 2013. Consider how you might utilize or adapt these additional strategies and tactics to your own search:

6. Join LinkedIn regional super groups. Just about every major metro area has at least one regional networking group. Most offer online and face-to-face networking opportunities. In the Groups search window, type in the name of your city and see if you there is a group right for you.

7. Let your fingers do the stalking on the LinkedIn pages. This idea comes from Jenny Foss over at the Daily Muse, who points out that this kind of stalking isn’t creepy. It couples the investigative power of LinkedIn with a three-step approach to get to employer insiders, hiring managers and interviewers (whom you don’t know). Build a relationship with this individual BEFORE asking for their help in your job search:

a. First, identify and thoroughly research someone on the inside of a target employer who is in a position of strategic importance to your search. They could be a person of influence, a hiring manager, or someone in HR. Not only look at their LinkedIn profile but search for their updates, group discussion postings and comments, plus Google them to learn all you can. Spy for the purpose of finding commonalities and learning things you can use to start a conversation with them.

b. Second, initiate contact and cite the commonality or item of interest. “I read your comment on such and such a discussion and found it interesting.” “We share the same interest in XXX group.” “I notice you do XYZ at [company]…how did you get started?” Establish a first level connection, then get involved in a discussion. Ask a question. Listen. Ask more questions. Listen some more. Same as you would when networking face to face.

c. Only after a relationship has been established and you’ve gotten to know them, should you ever ask them for assistance. Example: “I’m thinking of making a career change…who is the best person in your company to help me learn about (target positions)? Would you be kind enough to introduce me?”

8. Create a steady rain of meaningful updates. In cases where you are not in job search stealth mode, plan on at least five meaningful updates a week, and make sure your updates are visible to all. Some suggested tactics:

a. Schedule an Update each day on your calendar.

b. “Twitterize” your updates by linking your Twitter account to LinkedIn and manually select Share with LinkedIn and Twitter before posting each update (keep to 144 characters). This greatly expands your reach and visibility.

c. Broadcast your blog and great articles with compressed links. Bit.ly is a great free resource for making a long link title much smaller, in order to keep your update to 144 characters.

d. Make sure linked articles, YouTube videos, web pages, etc. are consistent with your personal brand messaging.

e. Show results in your updates. “Trained 16 people in XYZ this week.” “Presented at XYZ conference on XYZ topic to audience of more than ###.” “Achieved 136% of April’s sales quota.” “Completed XYZ course.”

9. Powerful add-on documents linked to your profile. Experienced workers should consider adding applicable documents that showcase their credentials:

a. Case studies – one to two-page document that outlines a problem your employer faced and how you solved it.

b. Personal Marketing Brief (PMB) – according to executiveresumerescue.com, the PMB is a one page document that creatively “summarizes and showcases your career search objectives, preferred employers and industries, job functions, career brand, experience, pedigree and achievements.”

c. Video interview – this is a professionally shot and edited interview segment posted as a link to your profile. Prospective employers can see your communication skills and presence when handling a topic of interest. Google “video interview” to identify companies who put these together.

d. Career Impact Matrix – a one-page chart that showcases 9-12 initiatives you successfully delivered. Start by describing each initiative, the scope of impact (metrics of how many people, $, customers, etc.), time horizon (1Q2012-3Q2013), and list bullet points identifying the specific impact to the organization.

10. Attend free LinkedIn webinars. LinkedIn has a whole series of free webinars that any member can attend. This is one of the best ways to learn about all that LinkedIn can do to assist your job search efforts. Click on the link associated with each webinar listed to sign up. Once you’ve attended, you may return at any time to view the recorded webinar and/or download the slides. Don’t forget the numerous tutorials on YouTube – just type in LinkedIn tutorial and the current list will appear.

Experienced workers can take their job search to the next level by employing all ten LinkedIn job search strategies!

Boyer Management Group works with employers and job seekers alike to help both become more successful. For job seekers, we offer the world’s first assessment to measure an individual’s knowledge and awareness of current and emerging career search best practices, along with the educational programs to support higher ed curriculum, career coaches and individual job seekers. For employers, we offer world-class talent acquisition and onboarding tools and programs. To find out more, please visit us at www.boyermanagement.com, or
call us at 215-942-0982.