A friend of mine lamented this morning that she may need to find a new job. I chirped back, “Oh, how fortunate that you’ve decided that on the same day LinkedIn has added new job application features.” She shrunk a bit before admitting that she didn’t really even have a completed profile on LinkedIn. And probably couldn’t remember her password. For shame. If you work for a living (as most everyone but celebutants do), you should be on LinkedIn and before you need a job. Here’s why.
- It takes a long time to find a job. WSJ recently reported some pretty sobering numbers. Among those is that the average length of “official unemployment” is now 24.5 weeks. (That is not a typo.) In other words, if you think you might need to look for a job, the time to start looking is now.
- It’s generally agreed that the most powerful tool you can have to finding employment is your network. It is the age of who you know.
- Your network needs to be nurtured, and that takes time. Don’t just add people to your network and then ask them for a job. You need to foster that relationship and be in the front of their minds. Then when something comes up, they’ll look for you. That puts you in a much stronger place than asking them.
- By the same token, building up your profile and making connections on LinkedIn takes time and effort. You are not going to be able to add all 300 people from your Outlook contacts list all at once. Why not? Because you need to personalize your connection invites. I hate receiving the standard “add you to my network” message – and so does everyone else.
So, once you’ve decided that I’m right, how do you get started?
- Complete your profile. This includes adding details about your experience, skills, and adding a picture. Not the one from your vacation. One where people can see your face and picture you kicking ass on the job.
- Invite people to connect with you. Start with people you know. You can get in trouble if too many people say they didn’t appreciate your very random invitation. As mentioned above, personalize your invite. Send messages to your network, comment on their updates, and otherwise interact with them. You don’t invite people to a party and then send them into different rooms. Interact.
- Join some groups as appropriate. Sometimes it helps to see what groups your colleagues are in and join those. Being in those groups and participating in the discussions will expand your reach.
- Answer some questions. For some reason, LinkedIn has chosen to hide its answers sections behind some generic drop-down menu, which just irks me to no end, but I did manage to find it, and I answer questions. Doing this demonstrates your expertise and shows that you like to help people out. These are both great qualities in job applicants, so answer away!
- Use LinkedIn Learning Center to master LinkedIn. There are hidden nuggets everywhere.
- Lastly, make it a habit and build it into your regular day. If you want to be one of the lucky ones who doesn’t go 24.5 weeks without a paycheck, I think you’ll find it worth it.
Tags: economy, job hunting, LinkedIn, social networking | Category Web & Tech
