I’ll be honest with you. I run and business, and I use LinkedIn as a prospecting tool for that business. Having said that, I have a lot of clients who have used LinkedIn to find their next job, or conversely to find their next employee. I’ve coached a lot of people on how to do this. The method for finding a job is exactly the same as how you find a client. In this article, I want to tell you what I tell my coaching clients, when they ask me how to do this.
Step 1: Make sure your profile is current. This includes a killer head shot, a headline that really brands you, a summary that sells you, and having everything else current. You want to reach what LinkedIn calls “All Star” status on your profile. You can login to your account and see whether or not you’ve got that. If not, LinkedIn is great about prompting you on what to do.
Step 2: Connect with at least two thousand people. So, these should be all the people you personally know to some extent, plus more folks who are in the same target audience as the job you want. Not necessarily someone who might hire you, but someone who works in a related field or for a related company. Two thousand might seem like a lot, but if you put your mind to it, you should be able to get this done in a couple months’ time. Yeah, I know you want a job now, so for those who aren’t currently looking for a job, do this part FIRST! Get proactive! Build your account now so you can use it when you need to.
Step 3: Get a premium account, and start learning how to use the search feature to find possible businesses you want to work for. LinkedIn actually has a premium account for job seekers. You’ll probably want that for a few months while you’re looking. Connect with and message people who can help you in your search.
If you’ll do all of this consistently, you’re not going to be unemployed for long!
