How to make LinkedIn work in your job search

To make LinkedIn work in your job search, you have to know what it is. Sometimes someone looks at me funny when I strongly suggest LinkedIn as a marketing and job search tool. LinkedIn is a valuable resource that no job seeker (professional or entrepreneur) should be without.

How do you make LinkedIn work for you?

For those who are still on the outside looking in, let’s define LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a professional networking tool connecting you with professionals globally. Not all of the people on LinkedIn are job seekers, but job seekers can benefit from using LinkedIn to build and recognize their network.

We don’t know how many people we know until we start connecting with them on a platform such as LinkedIn. LinkedIn recommends you know everyone in your network personally. In my case, I connect with people who are new to me but I know most people from some point in my life.

Make connections using LinkedIn that were previously impossible

Today you can make connections on LinkedIn and other social media networking platforms that a little over ten years ago were impossible. For example, the photo above was created specially for me by Sebastien Wiertz, a photographer in Belgium. I used his creative-commons licensed photography for awhile. Some photos of his that weren’t creative-commons licensed but fit the images I like for this blog. I sent him an email via Flickr and asked if he would be willing to let me use his photos with photo credit. He replied the same day and went one further and asked if I had anything specific I would like.

We connected on multiple social media platforms since then and a few days later, he emailed this image. If you look through my blog, you will find multiple images with his photo credit as well as many other talented photographers.

Do you find it hard to network?

Networking is people helping people. Asking a question or sharing an idea happens daily, thanks to social media. My clients are located throughout the United States. They find me primarily through a Google search for a resume sample, reading this blog on social media, seeing my topics on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Google+ or through a referral from another client.

Devise a successful networking strategy

Don’t see barriers to connections. If you maintain an honest and considerate networking strategy based on helping others, you will succeed in growing your network. Networking via LinkedIn or other social media platforms has to be mutually beneficial to be successful.

My passionate use of social media is because I see the benefit. This blog reaches tens of thousands of people annually and is still growing. I missed the celebration of my 700th post last month because I was busy with clients and projects. It’s exciting to have 700+ free posts for the world to read and learn more about job search strategies.

If you are holding off on using LinkedIn and social media because you are afraid, take the chance, you are missing out on meeting many wonderful people.

To get your career or job search launched with an outstanding resume and career marketing strategies, simply click here!

Photo Credit: Sebastien Wiertz