In the previous post, I discussed how making a professional-looking Facebook profile is important for employers who want tosee a more personal side to you as a candidate. LinkedIn is a totally different animal. This is a strictly business-oriented, insanely useful networking site that not only provides information to an employer, but can also help you to trackone down. Here are some helpful steps to navigating this goldmine of potential job opportunities.

The Profile
A LinkedIn profile is basically a resume. Keep it updated constantly with new jobs/internships/experience you’ve accrued. With every company/organization affiliation you have, LinkedIn will put you in those specific categories. For example, on my resume I put that I worked for Boston Market (yes, the place with the chicken) and my name showed up under their listof employees. Boston Market has over 10,000 employees listed currently. Right there, if I wanted, I could find fellow employees and connect with them (this is important for the next step).

After setting up your profile, be sure to check out the various groups on LinkedIn. Groups are sorted into types of careers. For example, if you want a career in underwater pumpkin carving (it’s real by theway), there’s a group for that. You join the group and meet up with other people who are professional underwater pumpkin carvers and they might be able to give you some advice about that particular job market. Groups are afantastic way to meet people who will become your network, which leads me to the next step…

The People
Now that pretty much everyone who has a job, has had a job or wants a job owns a LinkedIn account, it’s like a virtual farmer’s market: fresh pickings of job offers run rampant. The best way to eavesdrop about job openings or to alert others about what job you are looking for is to network! This just means you have to add as many people as possible to your connection list. Even if you only met the person briefly, add them to your network. By doing this, you will have access to that other person’s network and may have the opportunity to make their connections your connections! Once you know the right people, you’ll find many more job prospects burst forth.

The Prospects
The prospects become endless, really. If you can’t possibly find a job through your network, there is a jobs link and a tab especially for college students and recent graduates. This is an extremely amazing button you should check frequently. Usually you can apply right on LinkedIn because they have access to your resume and whatnot.

Most of the time, people are just too afraid to ask for what they want. Just ask and surely you’ll receive. LinkedIn is perfect for expressing your future career desires and can help navigate you to the right people who will get you there.

 

 

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