Using LinkedIn for Your Job Search

Our guest blogger this week is Julia Avitabile who is a senior career transition consultant. Originally from New Zealand, Julia has extensive experience delivering Career Management and Career Development programmes in the United Kingdom, USA and Australia. Julia is knowledgeable in a wide range of topics, from Writing Your CV, LinkedIn and Interview Techniques, through to Personal Resilience and Navigating Change. She has kindly lent her expertise for our new blog – Using LinkedIn for Your Job Search.

When it comes to your overall job search strategy, LinkedIn is an important consideration. First and foremost, LinkedIn is an online networking site and keep in mind that the majority of jobs are still found through who you know or connect with. The job side of LinkedIn has also become far more important over the last few years. So, as a job searcher what do you need to think about? Here are some top-line tips for you.

First you need a fully optimised profile. LinkedIn call this ‘All Star.’ Once at All Star you are 27 times more likely to receive opportunities. There are set areas you need to fill in:

• Headshot
• Headline
• Post Code
• Industry
• About – ensure you write in the first person
• Experience – your current position and two previous roles with brief job descriptions
• Education
• Skills – a minimum of five, and Endorsements
• Connections

Now let’s consider networking. You should research companies and people of interest to build a strong network. Always create tailored connection requests, as people are far more likely to accept one if they know why you want to connect. Once you get to 250 1^st-level connections, LinkedIn will promote you higher on search results. So what are you waiting for? Get connecting!

You should also start creating posts, writing articles or commenting on posts written by others or by companies. This will increase your visibility and promote you as a thought leader in your field.

I know some people think LinkedIn isn’t for them but that is not true. It is for everyone. Recruiters are on LinkedIn every day and they’re looking for people like you!

For more detail on what I’ve covered, do online research and understand that LinkedIn is updated regularly, so ensure you’re reading up-to-date information.

If you are a candidate looking for your next temporary or permanent business support role in London, or a client requiring assistance in recruitment please contact our team so we can help you with your search at hello@australasian.co.uk

Take care and we hope to see you soon!