How to find a job on LinkedIn

LinkedIn claims to be the BEST tool to help you land your dream job.  It can certainly help, but it’s not the only tool to help you progress your career, you should also be using Job Boards and Recruitment Agencies. If you consider your LinkedIn profile as your CV you are on the way to finding the perfect job for you.  

Finding a job on LinkedIn takes time, the more active you are the easier it is to build up your connections, as well as establishing your credibility and reputation. Basically, don’t create your profile and expect job offers to flood in!

The key factors to finding a job include:

Is your profile up to date?

Broadcast your skills and talents so that they are easy for recruiters to find.  When searching for candidates, recruiters use keyword searches to identify those who are suited for the job they are responsible for.  If your skills, summary and profile have the right keywords you will be more visible to recruiters. 

Is your profile up to date with your current and past work information?  Write a keyword rich summary about you, your employment history, interests, education, industry and volunteer work. While it's important  to show your professional side, recruiters/employers want to see the person behind the profile as well. 

Update your contact details along with a custom URL: ex: http://ie.linkedin.com/in/rachelashe

Should you have a photo?  Having a photo is very important; people are 7 times more likely to connect with you when you have a headshot as part of your profile.  Take into consideration the reason for having a LinkedIn profile, it's to encourage employers to hire you so putting up a photo of a night out with your friends is NOT the way to go.  Be sure the photo represents you as a professional and isn’t too casual.

Join groups that are relevant to you and participate. Build your reputation and show your expertise by posting in groups, asking questions and giving your opinion.  

Aim for 100% profile completion – completed profiles rank higher in LinkedIn searches.

How to find a job? Have the job find you! 

You might be surprised to know some of the most effective techniques have nothing to do with actually searching for a job on LinkedIn.  You have to position yourself to be found by recruiters and use the resources available such as groups, your LinkedIn jobs homepage, alerts and premium job seeker accounts. Increase your visibility online and help build your professional brand.  If I search for “Rachel Ashe” my LinkedIn profile link appears on the first results page.  If a potential employer has your CV I guarantee they are looking at your LinkedIn profile. It is standard procedure now so double check all your dates and jobs to make sure they match the CV you are sending out. 

Join Groups – this will allow you to grow your network and activity and some groups have a tab where jobs are posted regularly.

Jobs Homepage – Log into your LinkedIn account and click on the jobs tab in the top navigation.  A list of recommended jobs is provided for you based on the information, keywords and skills on your profile.  Use the filtering options on the left hand side to find the jobs that are most suitable.  There is the advanced search tab on the top of the page to narrow down your job search results.

Job Alerts - once you have completed a job search – Save it!  Then create an email alert to tell you about jobs you might be interested in.  It’s easy, straightforward and keeps you up to date on new jobs.

Company Pages – target the companies you want to work with, find them on LinkedIn and follow.  When a company posts a job it’s published as an activity update on the company page and on the careers tab within the company page.  Check out Hays LinkedIn Company Page.

Job Seeker Premium – if you are really serious about finding a job on LinkedIn you should consider paying for an upgraded account.  There are three levels - Job Seeker Basic, Job Seeker and Job Seeker Plus.  The paid account gives you more information on who is looking at your profile and allows recruiters to contact you without being connected.

Once you have the profile set up start looking at how to Write Your Cover Letter, Update Your CV and Prepare For Interviews.  

Get started on www.hays.ie!

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The Liverpool way?

What is the best way to recruit?

Liverpool Football Club have announced their new manager today, the most important position in the whole club and business. Whilst football recruitment is very different from what we are used to in the world of work, the manner in which this very public process has played out over the past few weeks has made me think of parallels in our business.

Let me start with a brief background to set the context. Liverpool Football Club is arguably the most successful team in the history of English football. In the seventies and the eighties they were the benchmark that other clubs in England and across the world aspired to, both on the pitch and in their business dealings. It was even given a name - the ‘Liverpool Way’. Unfortunately since that glorious period they have had an ignominious fall from grace.

They were bought over by an American conglomerate two years ago who have already been through two managers and have announced their third today. Two weeks ago they told the media they would carry out a rigorous process looking at all applicants for the position. They drew up a long list of targets including some of the best managers / coaches in football and subsequently received widespread criticism.

If you’re not a football fan, this may puzzle you. Why would you not look at all the top options available? Well as someone once said “football is a funny old game”. It can be very insular at times and a bit of a buddy network. So even though, as mentioned before, they are the most important person in the business, it’s typical for clubs to line up one or two targets very quickly instead of doing an extensive search of all the options available to them.

Whilst hiring a football manager for a top premiership club is very different to say, hiring a receptionist, there are similarities to hiring a CEO or a very senior person for a large multinational. There’s more of an executive search or headhunting process. I’m sure if IBM or Accenture were looking for a senior member of staff, they would search far and wide and aim for the very best. So why shouldn’t football clubs?

Nonetheless whilst hiring a CEO, CTO or CFO requires a very a specialised recruitment technique the modern day recruitment methods are catching up fast. The arrival of LinkedIn opened a whole new world to the recruitment consultant. So nowadays when a recruitment consultancy like Hays is looking for the right candidate for a financial controller job or a Java developer or a funds administrator they have a number of techniques. The extensive database of candidates is the first option. Then there’s the broadcast method of advertising, on job boards, in newspapers etc. But the arrival of LinkedIn has made the modern recruitment consultant a headhunter. They will actively seek out passive candidates, not only on LinkedIn but via a wide range of online resources searching for the ideal candidate.

Which brings me to my next point in relation to football. When seeking candidates, it’s not just about qualifications and relevant experience; just as important, if not more, is cultural fit. Sam Allardyce was hired as the Newcastle manager in 2007 and lasted 8 months. Alex McLeish was hired by Aston Villa and lasted 11 months. They had all the credentials but just didn’t fit in. The same thing can happen in the workplace.

Anyone involved in hiring when screening and interviewing candidates should judge whether a candidate is the right cultural fit for a company. This is where the value comes in using experts. A good recruitment consultant can find suitable matches to a job spec but it takes a great consultant to go beyond that and find a candidate who has that special magic that will ensure they will join a company and transform its business.

So Liverpool have hired Brendan Rodgers, a young ambitious manager from a smaller club. Ironically, at face value it looks like after all the media frenzy of the past two weeks they’ve followed every other football club and appointed the second man they’ve interviewed after a short review period, but I’ve no doubt, like any good recruitment consultant they’ve reviewed many, many options before putting through the two best matches.

Time will tell…..