When I’m speaking with employment networking groups, I’ll often explain how recruiters use the site – so that the attendees can tune their profile for better results.
I thought that might make for a helpful post here.
Searching for qualifications
Every recruiter with a job request to fill starts with a search. Using the “Advanced” “Search People” capabilities of the LinkedIn system, they can specify specific keywords, job titles, and locations to find candidates.
To be found by this search, an individual needs to ensure that they mention the right phrases within their profile.
For example – if a recruiter is searching for a programmer with “java” experience, and a job searcher doesn’t mention java within their profile, that profile won’t be in the results.
Top of the list or bottom of the list
It’s probably obvious – the closer a profile is to the top of the list, the more attractive the candidate. Particular attention needs to be placed on those factors:
- Number of connections
- Number of recommendations
- Keyword relevance
Some individuals don’t engage with the LinkedIn system to connect to people they know and trust, don’t get recommendations from key individuals, and don’t build up their profile to match well against searches – they may not find themselves in the top of those searches.
Solution – do those things;-)
Contact
After finding a list of acceptable candidates, the recruiter will reach out to individuals and inquire about their interest in the opportunity. They may use Introduction requests, InMail, or find some non-LinkedIn mechanism to reach out.
A prospective candidate needs to “stay available” and be “responsive” so that they can get back promptly.
Lather, Rinse, Repeat
I’m sure some recruiters have specific techniques to help make this happen better, but the essence remains – match job requirements to candidate skills – over and over.
Don’t stop
I made a special point of mentioning this before, but it makes sense to point to it and repeat – don’t stop networking just because you’ve found a new job. Make it a lifelong effort.
To your continued success – and using LinkedIn to help you achieve it,
steve
Good advice. Linkedin was added to the About.com Top 10 Employment site list with 2 other sites but linkedin is still the only social netwoking site on the list. The 3 new sites on about are:
http://www.linkedin.com (networking)
http://www.indeed.com (aggregated job listings)
http://www.realmatch.com (matches you to the perfect job)
Good luck to all those searching for jobs.
This is a very practical list that Job Seekers can use to improve their LinkedIn search rank. Thanks for posting.