Back To Career News

Do These 7 Things on LinkedIn and Get Hired in 3 Months, Says LinkedIn [infographic]

Topics:

LinkedIn published an infographic outlining a study they conducted on 4,000 job seekers who were able to land a job within three months of applying by doing a few simple things on the social network. We’re here to walk you through some of those steps so, you too, can be like the cool kids — or, at least the ones that land jobs in three months.

linkedin

(Image Credit: koka_sexton/Flickr)

If you haven’t heard already, LinkedIn can be a job seeker’s most effective resource for landing a dream career in today’s fast-paced, digital world. However, you need to know the tricks of the trade in order to make your social job search on LinkedIn a success. Lucky for you, said professional social network is helping demystify these tricks in a nifty infographic, based on its study of 4,000 “super job seekers,” who viewed a job listing and then joined that company within three months. Here, we expand on three of the seven super-job-seeker habits from the study and show how to implement them on your own LinkedIn profile.

Do You Know What You're Worth?

Add New Skills

Why: According to the study, approximately 91 percent of these members had five or more skills listed on their profiles. Listing skills on your profile allows recruiters and potential employers to find you more easily via searches, and it also allows other members to rate those skills according to their experience working with you, which is equivalent to a mini-testament to your credibility — like fancy badges on your profile.

How: Sign-on to your LinkedIn account and navigate to your profile. Scroll down to “Skill & Endorsements” and click on “Add skill” at the bottom of that section. There is also an “+ Add skill” button that appears at the top of the section too, you just have to hover over the top-right of the “Skills & Endorsements” section for it to appear. Start typing in your new skill in the given box, you’ll notice LinkedIn has suggested skills to choose from based on what you’ve entered. You can either select one of the pre-set skills in the drop-down list provided, or type in a new skill if you cannot find one that matches. Once you’ve completed that, click “Add” to post to your profile. It’s a piece of cake!

Add a Professional Profile Photo

Why: Why Your Profile Picture is Making You Look Dumb (and How to Fix It) explains why that profile picture showing you standing on a bar-top and holding a red party cup isn’t considered a professional profile photo. Remember, you’re trying to land a job on LinkedIn, not a date. LinkedIn’s study showed that 89 percent of the 4,000 participants had professional profile photos. They say a picture says a thousand words, which is why your profile picture should portray your professionalism, while also letting the recruiter know that you were responsible enough to take a professional photo at all.

How: Business Insider constructed an in-depth and comprehensive video that walks you through the steps for taking a professional LinkedIn profile photo, so you should probably watch it.

Join Industry-Relevant LinkedIn Groups

Why: The study revealed that, of the 4,000 LinkedIn members researched, 82 percent of them joined and were active in LinkedIn Groups that were applicable to their given industries. Groups are a great way to stay current in your industry and also show off your expertise via your posts, responses, and interactions with other members. Groups also serve as an effective way to expand your network with like-minded professionals, and, by doing so, you’re more likely to come across job posting or valuable information posted a group’s forum vs. for the general public to see. You’re much more likely to get a referral by a fellow group member who posts a new job opening at his/her company and recognizes you thanks to your credible responses and posts.

How: No need to reinvent the wheel, here, so take a peek at LinkedIn’s “Finding and Joining a Group” tutorial.

View the infographic, inclusive of all seven “super job seeker” habits, below:

Tell Us What You Think

How have you leveraged LinkedIn or other social networks to land the career of your dreams? Share your insight with our community on Twitter.

Leah Arnold-Smeets
Read more from Leah

Leave a Reply

avatar
  Subscribe  
Notify of
What Am I Worth?

What your skills are worth in the job market is constantly changing.