LinkedIn Jobs
When it comes to landing your dream job, you’ve heard the horror stories of people getting their resume trashed or not even being considered for the interview. Although these stories are few and far between, you don’t want to be one of them! To get the job you want, you need to make a good first impression with your resume. The best way to do this is to follow some simple steps on how to ask for a job on Linkedin.
Asking for a job on Linkedin is a big decision. Many Linkedin users think that they can just send out a generic email to their connections, use their network to get to the hiring manager and they’ll have a job in no time. However, there are a lot of mistakes that are made that get potential employees in trouble. (Although there are no guarantees, the best way to ask for a job on Linkedin is to go through a recruiter instead of messaging directly to the hiring manager.)
LinkedIn is a professional networking site, and when companies are looking for professionals, they go straight to LinkedIn to find the best candidates for the job. Research shows that about 87% of recruiters visit LinkedIn searching for professionals.
As someone that’s looking forward to working with the best companies across the globe, you should make it a kind of mandatory to have a LinkedIn profile where your CV and Resume are attached.
Even if you’re searching for a job physically, you can provide your LinkedIn profile URL, you don’t need to keep on attaching your CV or Resume in email, just provide a link where everything about your professional career and achievement is included.
You don’t need to be convinced a lot about the power of LinkedIn when it comes to searching for a job. One great thing about LinkedIn is that you don’t even need to search for Jobs, recruiters will find you provided you have a working experience and some accomplishments attached to your profile as well.
Since you landed on this post, you’re already familiar with the power of LinkedIn connections, but the problem you have is after asking a lot of people in your connection for a job, you’re still not able to get any.
In this post, we’re going to help you with tips and ideas to ask for a job on LinkedIn and also get it as soon as possible.
Complete Your Profile
It’s important to talk about completing your profile on LinkedIn, some users will just signup with pretty basic info and hope someone will find them to send job offers along their way.
There is a lot of competition on LinkedIn, profiles are ranked based on many factors, and of course how the profile info is filled will determine greatly the visibility of that profile on the search results.
Here are some important aspects you need to keep in mind when filling your profile on LinkedIn;
- Optimize your headline; Create an attractive headline that will force recruiters to visit your profile on LinkedIn, you need to also add potential keywords that describe your career as well. It’s recommended that you take a look at some of your competitors to see the type of headline they write. Conduct a search in your career field by using LinkedIn search and visit the top results to get an idea for writing a powerful headline.
- Post the right picture; Make sure you look good in the picture you upload on Instagram, don’t add a family photo or a picture with a group of people, avoid using a logo as well. Cut your hair to look good before snapping the picture, wear a nice suit that makes you look professional. Your picture says a lot about you and that’s why you don’t want to take a chance on that.
- Fill and optimize Job titles; Since you’re looking for a job, you want to make sure that the job title you’re looking for is filled correctly. This info can be added in the experience section of your profile, you don’t need to add much because you’re limited to only 100 characters.
- Skills and endorsement; Even though you’ve added your job titles, you have to add your skills because recruiters won’t just contact or hire you because of the job titles on your profile. You have to prove that you have the skills to handle the job you’re looking for.
- Complete the about section; This is also another field you don’t want to take a chance on, this is where you can describe yourself. You’re given more characters than any other field on your profile and you need to take advantage of it, there is a 2000 characters limit in the about section. You need to create a compelling story about yourself and what you’re capable of doing.
- Become active by sharing valuable information; Your LinkedIn profile is as good as dead if you’re not actively participating on the platform. Even after completing your profile, you want to make sure that you’re sharing valuable information which will show up on your profile. It can be blog posts, sharing your thoughts in LinkedIn groups, and so on.
These are the basic things to keep in mind when it comes to profile setup, once your profile is complete, you are now ready to start asking for jobs on LinkedIn and that’s what we shall talk about next.
Upgrade To Premium Account
If you want to get the most out of LinkedIn, you definitely have to consider upgrading to a premium account and the good thing about the premium account is that almost all users are entitled to a one-month free trial of premium membership.
Even if you’re not ready to invest, you should consider using the free trial offer you have, this way you’ll explore more features that will help you land a job fast.
One of the features you’d like to take advantage of by upgrading to a premium account is the InMail feature, which allows sending messages to any LinkedIn user regardless of whether they’re within your connection or not.
Locating The Users You Want Ask For Job
It’s not everyone you’ll ask for recommendations on LinkedIn, you need the right individuals with connections that will help you secure a job. There are certain factors you need to consider when it comes to asking for recommendations on LinkedIn, let’s take a look at the type of people you should find;
- Currently Working with your target company or employer; These are the types of contact you want to connect with and ask for recommendations. Even if you don’t get recommendations, at least they can help you with vital information that helps you get the job, they know the decision-makers of the company and they can link you to them. You’re not just targeting only influential people at the company; you should also search and connect with normal employees so that you can understand the working culture of the environment.
- Individuals, you have job similarities; This is another group you should locate and connect with. They don’t necessarily need to be working with your target company or even be in the same city as yours. These types of LinkedIn users will help you with priceless career advice and they can recommend you if there is a need as well, especially when you engage with them the right way.
- LinkedIn users you know previously; Search for individuals you have already got in touch with in the past, it could be in college or as your previous neighbors. I believe this category of people will help you get a job fast especially if you’ve had a good time together in your old days. You can locate these types of people if you have their emails, LinkedIn allows searching for users by their email.
- Find relatives of decision-makers; If you’re not able to connect with any decision-maker in a company then you need to find a way to hook up with someone that is in touch with them, we’re talking about family members here and other members.
These are some of the categories of people you need to search for and have connections with and if done right, they’ll definitely help you find a job. Anyone you believe can endorse you, don’t hesitate to connect with them on LinkedIn.
Make It Easier For People To Know You
When you ask for a job recommendation on LinkedIn, they’re putting their reputation at risk. If they recommend you on a job and you failed miserably, it might affect their relationship with the employer, and won’t consider any recommendation that will come from them in the future.
A lot of people you’ll ask for recommendations know this, and hence they might not consider the recommendations for most people.
The only way to pass through this barrier is by providing sources where they can get to know you very fast and give them peace of mind that you’re a reliable person.
Provide links to your social profiles and make sure that you have good posts, you should consider joining professional platforms such as Quora where valuable knowledge is shared, and make sure you have good answers.
Provide a link to your Quora profile, once they’re impressed with the type of content you share online, they’ll definitely not hesitate to recommend you in any job. I know you have added as many details as you can on your LinkedIn profile, you need to still provide other sources where they can understand your life even better.
Make sharing your CV/resume easier
You need to host your CV/Resume on a third-party website that makes it easier for anyone to share. You can host your CV on Google Docs for free or any other source like Dropbox that offers a free account with up to 2g free storage.
Just grab the CV link and then share it whenever possible, make sure this link is used as your signature in emails and LinkedIn InMail messages as well.
Start contacting your connections
After finding the people you believe can make recommendations for your skills, it’s now time to start reaching out to them asking for jobs or recommendations. One important thing to understand is you shouldn’t just send random strangers InMail requesting a job recommendation.
You first need to connect with them and ensure that you get to know each other before asking for favors. If they already know you in the past, you can ask for recommendations right away without the need to spend time knowing each other.
You also want to make sure that your profile is complete, your CV and resume are uploaded, and you have a good picture as discussed earlier.
The message you send to them is plain and simple, just introduce your name and mention that you’re looking for a job in your industry and most importantly you’re not going to tell them that you’re looking for a job for the company they’re currently at.
You’ll just request for their experience working at the company and you can request to schedule a meeting or phone call for just 10 minutes to get some advice and tips. You can search online for templates that will help you craft your own message, keep the message plain and simple.
Talk Over The Phone
Most users looking for a job on LinkedIn will hardly talk to someone when it comes to getting recommendations. They just write InMail and when there is no response, they claim that getting recommendations don’t actually work.
When you ask for recommendations over the phone your request will be taken more seriously. Even strangers will value your request if you ask for a job recommendation over the phone especially if they perceive you as a professional.
When talking through the phone you need to ask a lot of questions and when asking for recommendations, should just ask them if they have any advice that will help you secure the position you’re looking for. You can ask for influential people within the company that are decision-makers and so on.
Follow up
This is another important part of the process neglected by most LinkedIn users looking for a job. You might ask for recommendations but the people you ask it from can end up forgetting. Following up with your request will remind them and you’re pointing out to them that you’re serious about the job.
Once you made a request for a job recommendation and you didn’t receive any feedback after three days, you can try sending them a connection request if you haven’t done so. Try and engage with them by reacting to their posts which can be found on their profile.
Following up shows that the job means a lot for you, but at the same time, you don’t need to disturb them especially if they don’t’ know you.
When sending the follow-up message, start by thanking them for taking the time to speak with you and also for the recommendation from the company and also let them know you’ll always update them regarding the application process.
This means you need to get in touch with them even if they have recommended you. If you failed to land the job, they might assist you in getting another one.
