LinkedIn® Job Search Checklist
Building a LinkedIn® Profile
[ ] Photo: Add a professional-looking profile photo to be 7x more likely to be found in searches.
[ ] Headline: Stand out with a keyword-rich headline that describes how you want to be known on LinkedIn®.
[ ] Summary: Write a brief summary describing your professional background and aspirations.
[ ] Experience: List all the jobs you’ve held, along with brief descriptions of each role.
[ ] Education: Add all the schools and colleges you’ve attended.
[ ] Skills/Expertise: Add at least 5 key skills to your profile.
[ ] Recommendations & Endorsements: Get recommendations and endorsements from former colleagues, clients, managers, and classmates.
[ ] URL: Customize your profile URL and put it on your website, resume, email signature, and business cards to drive traffic to your LinkedIn® profile.
Using Your Network
[ ] Grow your network by searching your email contacts and finding people you may know.
[ ] See where your fellow school and college alumni are working and reach out to learn more about the company.
[ ] 100% complete profile = 100% more likely to get noticed. You can’t build connections if people don’t know who you are or see what you have to offer. Users with complete profiles are 40x more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn®.
[ ] Get Personal - As you build your connections on LinkedIn®, always customize your connection requests with a friendly note and, if necessary, a reminder of where you met or what organization (or person) you have in common. Sample Connection Request
[ ] Join the “In” Crowd - Another way to form new online relationships is to join LinkedIn® Groups. Start with your university group, then find volunteer organizations or professional associations you already belong to. As a member, you can comment on discussions and even find exclusive job listings.
[ ] Lend a (virtual) hand - As you build connections think about what you can do to support others. Comment on a classmate’s status update or forward a job listing to a friend.
[ ] Do your homework - Before an interview, or a networking event, use LinkedIn® to learn about the background and interests of the people you’re scheduled to meet, or access Company Pages to research organizations.
Job Search
[ ] Sign up to get email alerts about jobs you may be interested in (see the jobs tab)
[ ] Find jobs by keyword, title, company, postal code, function, industry, years of
experience, and date posted using advanced search.
Company Pages
[ ] Learn about a company’s products and services, employees, job opportunities, and more.
[ ] See how you’re connected to each company through your 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree
connections.
[ ] Follow companies you’re interested in to get updates from them on your LinkedIn® homepage.
LinkedIn® Groups
[ ] Join Groups relevant to your professional interests: alumni groups, industry groups, geographic groups, and more.
[ ] Use Groups to make connections, find job listings, establish thought leadership, and keep your pulse on hot industry issues.
Next Steps
[ ] Meet with a career advisor to learn more about using LinkedIn® in your job search.
[ ] Get answers you need in the LinkedIn® Help Center.
[ ] Learn how to attract more career opportunities at our free webinars.
[ ] See a complete list of job search tips on the LinkedIn® blog: www.blog.linkedin.com. Be sure to check the archives to search by topic: #linkedintips, #linkedinforstudents
Other Things to Consider with Social Media
Search Yourself
Try “Googling” your name or doing a Google™ image search. If you find something you'd rather employers didn't see, contact the site's owner and ask that it be removed or un-tag yourself if you can.
Clean Up Your Social Media Accounts
Make sure to set your privacy settings so that only confirmed friends can view your information. If you are worried about what these sites say, be safe and get rid of them altogether.
Top Concerns of Employers
- Information on drinking and drug use
- Provocative or inappropriate pictures
- Discriminatory remarks about race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc.
- Unprofessional screen or profile names
Bury Your “Digital Dirt”
Cover up your negative information by crowding it out with positive information. Search engines typically rank their results based on the number of sites that link to those pages. Try starting a career-based or professional blog or career-based web portfolio, make sure your LinkedIn® profile is complete, join online groups related to your career choice and comment on discussions.
**The key is to keep the new information professional and make sure the pages you want recruiters to see have more links to them than the pages you'd rather keep hidden.**
Be Mindful of What You Post
You don't know who might read tweets or posts on social media sites. Tweets and other posts may show up in Google searches and you don't want to be denied a job because you didn't think before you tweeted.
Network Before You Need To
Build your network well in advance of when you need it so you won't have to scramble if you are job hunting. Make connections in your industry and career field, follow experts, join groups on LinkedIn and join in on the discussions.