How To Get Noticed By Recruiters on LinkedIn

by Bryce Christiansen

Getting noticed by recruiters on LinkedIn is a lot like marketing a fancy product.

Imagine you are a shiny, one-of-a-kind item, but no one knows about you…yet.  Your goal is to be discovered by someone that will find you useful and take care of you, but how do you do that?

You look around and notice some products send “junk mail” to the local neighborhoods, hoping that they will be picked out of a stack of other competing advertisements.  Some products sit on a shelf at the back of the group, waiting for their turn to come.  Lastly, some products go door to door, hoping someone won’t be bothered to ignore their passion to be purchased.

Are we not all our own brands? Yet, I’ve noticed we often market ourselves in a similar manner, like a cheap, disposable, trinket.

For instance, how many times have you read a job search article where they talk about Joe Smith sending out 100 resumes and still not getting the job. Are resumes alone, not much different than junk mail to some hiring managers?

Even when our resumes do go out, how often do they sit in a pile of similar resumes, while you rely on someone to pick yours out?  Or have you ever driven around the neighborhood like a high school teenager, looking for “Now Hiring” signs.

These are all frustrating and time consuming methods, that have a high likelihood of leaving you unfulfilled even if you do land the job.  What if people came to you with great fitting job opportunities? That’s what LinkedIn can offer…if you do it right.

How LinkedIn Will Make Your Job Search 10 Times Easier

LinkedIn is the place where more recruiters are finding qualified job candidates.  Two years ago 67% of recruiters used LinkedIn, now it’s up to 95%.  Today 69 of the Fortune 100 companies have a page on LinkedIn.

Learning the skills to market your LinkedIn profile can pull great opportunities in your direction.  In the past week, I’ve been approached by two headhunters for great paying positions (see below).  If a recent college grad like myself can have these opportunities coming in a recession, you can do the same.

Step 1. Make Your Profile Keyword Rich

The first step to getting noticed by headhunters is to make your profile keyword rich.Unlike Google, LinkedIn’s search is almost completely driven by keyword density. You can test this by searching for “social media”.  Look at the first person that comes up and note how many times they use “social media” in their profile.

So what keywords should I use?  Recruiters usually search for two things; titles/skills and location. You can find the skills to use as keywords by reviewing job descriptions for the next position you seek.

Once you have the keywords you want to show up for, start using them in the following sections of your LinkedIn profile; Summary, Specialties, and Experience.

Keep it looking natural and meaningful where you use those words.  Some people go overboard such as this guym.  He may get noticed, but what hiring manager would be impressed by someone who spams their profile full of keywords meaninglessly?

Step 2.  Join Your Industry’s Groups - See steps 2 & 3 and the rest of the article

Confessions of a Social Media Convert

Guest post by Mark Lynch:

In January 2011, I was laid off from my job (3rd lay off I endured in a span of 6 years). I was a hard worker, exceeded my goals but had no control over downsizing. I made a decision to make a career change but I wasn’t sure even where or how to start!

The market was so competitive; I knew it was critical I find a way to STAND OUT! I’ve always heard “Network, Network”, “It’s who you know, etc.”, but I didn’t know how to network and didn’t have list of influential individuals to call. Little did I know, I was going to discover it’s not who you know, but who you GET to know.

I have always been encouraged to use ‘LinkedIn’, but I didn’t really understand it. But something caught my eye when I visited my small, lonely LinkedIn profile (33 connections). I continually saw activity from one of my connections, commenting on discussions, providing links, etc.

After emailing him, I discovered he was out of work as well and was working on making an impact online. His advice was to become active and visible online to show initiative and be seen.

This was my ‘Ah Ha’ moment and what kicked off my LinkedIn Social Media Job Campaign.

Rather than relying on job boards, I wanted to become ‘found’ instead. The goal was to create and unearth my personal brand to show a high producing, passionate, genuine business professional.
It worked! I eventually got discovered and approached by companies, recruiters and others. I was networking! It didn’t happen overnight, but over a few months I applied the following:

1. I started my own group on LinkedIn w/something I had passion (Personal Branding).
2. I set a goal to reach 500+ connections to expand my network and reach.
3. I joined relevant job groups, recruiting and staffing groups.

Tips 4 - 6 - Results - Complete Article

How Small Businesses can Leverage LinkedIn to Grow their Business

By Danielle Restivo

Linked In is often referred to as the go-to social network for business. It is known as a great source for finding jobs and networking with other business professionals online.

To learn how small companies can make the best use of Linked In CanadaOne went to the source. Here is what Daniel Restivo, the manager of corporate communiations at Linked In, had to say.

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1. Build a Company Page
   Building a Company Page is an easy (and free!) way to establish your business’ presence on LinkedIn. It’s a centralized location where millions of LinkedIn members can go to stay in the loop on company news, products and services, business opportunities and job openings. Company Pages are also a great business intelligence tool. By following competitors and companies you admire, you can glean essential business inisghts. You can see who’s hiring, recent departures, or people with connections you might like to do business with.
2. Drive Word of Mouth
   Client referrals are one of the best ways a small business can grow their customer base. This is just as important online as offline. Increase your word of mouth referrals by asking your happy clients to write you a recommendation. These will appear on your Company Page, Profile and News Feed.
3. Gain Insights
   Visit LinkedIn daily to get valuable insights about your connections and their activities. Follow the top trending news each day on LinkedIn Today so you’re up-to-speed on industry news. Use LinkedIn Signal to search public status updates for topics or brands you’re interested in.
4. Position yourself as a trusted expert
   There are thousands of LinkedIn groups discussing everything under the sun. Be sure to review the discussions in the group first. This will help you determine whether the group is active and how you can add value to the discussion. Searching for groups by topic and industry gives small business owners the opportunity to specifically target and make the necessary connections. Proactively answering questions in your area of expertise can help build your reputation within the group.
   
   
   Tios 5 - 10 and complete article 

Top 10 LinkedIn Etiquette Tips to Connect Like a Pro

By Greg Linnemanstons

If you’re involved in business development or recruitment, you’re already spending lots of time on LinkedIn. That’s me! As a self-described LinkedIn junkie, everyone who knows me knows that as a result of all the time I spend there, I have strong opinions on LinkedIn etiquette, and have no qualms about calling someone out who violates rules that I consider sacred and obvious. That being said, I also respect, appreciate and draw from the higher powers in the LinkedIn universe, people like Wayne Breitbarth, author of The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success, the seminal book on the subject, and Lindsey Pollak, a widely read blogger for LinkedIn. They and others regularly offer great etiquette and effectiveness advice that I continue to draw on. I should also add one caveat: I’m still learning from some of my own mistakes, and occassionally draw rightful fire from other etiquette police. Mea culpa.

So here’s what I believe (so far!) are the 10 most important LinkedIn etiquette tips:

1. Connect with people you know. Sounds obvious, but accepting invitations from unknowns makes no sense, nor is it appropriate to invite the same. My own decision rule is very simple: I accept invitations from people I have met and respect as professionals, and from people whose reputations precede them through trusted recommendations or public scrutiny.
2. Respond politely. Whether or not you accept an invitation to connect, a direct, professional response is usually the best next step. If I turn down an invitation because I don’t know someone, I usually encourage them to find a way for us to meet personally so we can eliminate that objection.
3. Say please and thank you. Frequently. What we all should have learned in kindergarten applies to LinkedIn as well. When you ask for something say please. When someone does something considerate, even if it’s not invited, say thanks.
4. Keep updates interesting and professional. We want to know when you’ve accomplished something noteworthy, read something that’s valuable, or discovered something you think should be shared. We (I) don’t care what you had for lunch or what you’re doing this weekend with your family. Save it for Facebook.
5. Give recommendations to get recommendations. There’s nothing wrong with asking for a recommendation. But the best way to ask is to first give one. When you think about it, the best recommendations should come from the people you know and respect the most, who naturally are the people you can most genuinely recommend.

Tips 6 - 10 and complete Business2Community article

LinkedIn Job Search Can Help You Crack the Hidden Job Market

As you’ve searched for new work, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the hidden job market. These are the jobs that never make it to the online job boards or newspaper “Help Wanted” ads. They are also usually the best jobs, the ones people conducting executive-level job searches usually desire. Fortunately, you have the ability to crack the hidden job market. And you can start by conducting a LinkedIn job search.

Finding Work with LinkedIn

You probably know what LinkedIn is. You’re probably even a member. But if you’re like many, you don’t use your LinkedIn social media account to its full potential. When you’re looking to make a job change, LinkedIn is an invaluable tool.

This social media site, designed specifically for business use, can connect you instantly to some of the top officials at the businesses at which you most want to work. One of the top job search strategies, then, is to inform your network of LinkedIn contacts that you are looking for new work. Make sure to be specific about what skills you bring and the kind of jobs for which you are looking.

The LinkedIn Job Search

Then, scan your contacts list to find anyone you’re connected to who works at the companies at which you’d most like to find a job. Once you’ve compiled this list, send them a quick message asking them if they’re available for a lunch meeting or a short phone call to discuss the culture at the companies at which they work.

Make it clear that you are not asking these people for a job. You’re simply interested in discussing company culture with them.

By meeting with these workers, you can greatly increase your knowledge of individual companies. And once you do this, you can bring that knowledge to any job interviews you happen to nab. You can even showcase this knowledge when you are applying to specific jobs or sending letters of introduction to hiring managers and executives. Being informed about a company is one way to set yourself apart from the many other individuals hoping to land jobs at these firms, too.

More Advice and Complete GetHiredFast.com Article

5 Ways to Market Your Brand on LinkedIn

LinkedIn provides plenty of marketing opportunities, but lets take a look at some of the lesser-known tools. Although not all are free, try making room in your budget for a few simple and effective marketing strategies.

Whether you’re looking to raise marketing awareness or drive sales, look for guidance from the LinkedIn team. Where else can you specify your target audience based on job title, industry, functional area and much more?

Try these five LinkedIn tools for better marketing.

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1. LinkedIn Ads

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Start off with self-serve LinkedIn ads. You can target your ad by geography, job function, industry, company size, seniority, age and gender, as well as company name, LinkedIn group and job title. There’e plenty of scope to define your audience.

Your ad will display either along the top, bottom or right-hand side of a member’s home or profile page, and can contain both text and an image. Link your ad to either your own website, your LinkedIn company page, your group or anywhere else you might want to send your visitor for further information. Or consider sending your visitor to your company Facebook page where you can possibly convert her into a Like.

In terms of cost, LinkedIn ads run very much the same as other text ad systems, on an auction or bid basis. You can pay either for CPC (cost per click) or CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions).

As with any advertising platform, consider LinkedIn’s advertising best practices.

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2. LinkedIn Display Ads

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Purchase display ads through the LinkedIn field sales team. They are IAB standard unit sizes.

The ad space to the right of everyone’s home and profile page is a prime piece of real estate for ad property. The space can be used in several ways, and is not just reserved static images. You can add video, a blog feed or even a Twitter feed.

Word-of-mouth advertising is incredibly powerful, so consider creating a recommendation ad: If anyone within your network has recommended your product or service, his recommendation would display as an ad on other people’s profiles within that person’s network. LinkedIn members can recommend the product directly from the ad.

Try these further ideas for display ads.

• Display your company ad on your LinkedIn company page to help with brand awareness and online consistency.
• Show your ad on every one of your employees’ profile pages. Turn each team member into a brand ambassador.
• Advertise your LinkedIn group to a targeted audience via a display ad.

The cost of these ads is dependent on the audience you plan to target. LinkedIn will bill you on a CPM basis. Talk to a LinkedIn sales representative for further information.

Tips 3 - 5 and Complete Mashable Article

Job Search Technology for LinkedIn

LinkedIn is now growing at 7500 MPH.  That’s Members Per Hour.   Speed like that, is really powerful, but speed can also kill, so be careful. 

Below we examine several pieces of job search technology that are applicable to LinkedIn.

1.      Card Munch

 Card Munch is an App that scans business cards through I phones and turns that business card into a contact and shows you that individual’s LinkedIn profile, their credentials, as well as the contacts that you have in common. The output creates a “rolodex” of business cards matched to LinkedIn profiles.  One of the greatest features here is you now not only have a connections profile email address, but their primary business email.

 2.      LinkedIn Resume Builder and/or Visualize.me

The power of presentation is often not fully embraced in the job search process. A classic chronological resume or Linkedin profile often does not capture your story and message.  Lots of career promotions, parallel roles/positions or concentrated company movement can get very confusing for a reader to interpret.  The Linkedin resume builder and Visualize.me, both try to tackle this problem, but from very different angles.

LinkedIn’s resume builder is essentially a formatting tool that attempts to capture your profile then, re-tag and structure it into a quality well formatted resume. The tool certainly grabs the content, but its ability to understand the content and properly structure it is limited. This problem is heavily exasbarated if you have customized your LinekdIn profile.  If your profile is brief and straightforward, the application has much greater utility and does save re-keying time.  That said, while LinkedIn allows very limiting structural creativity within an individual’s profile, aresume building tool can actually provide a myriad of opportunities for more creative layouts, descriptions of roles and accomplishments.

Visualize.me takes the process further by attempting to take your LinkedIn profile and turn it into a timeline Infographic. Conceptually this is really powerful and helpful.  If your data is straight forward, it provides a great visual representation of your experience, education, skills, interests, and recommendations.   The key to the tool is to then invest 30 minutes cleaning up your Infographic information and the application also allows for plenty of presentation options around color, font, theme etc..  Like LinkedIn’s resume builder, the more straight forward your chronological job history, the better the tool performs.

More Advice and Complete CareerBrander.com Article

Social Media 101 For Professional Associations

By Neal Schaffer

I frequently get invited to speak on social media forprofessional associations, and when I do it often seems as if the clocks in the room have been turned back 10 years since before the advent of social media. Although there are always some savvy users of social media in the room when I present, the associations themselves are usually using the same antiquated medium to promote themselves, both internally and externally: a pre-historic website and email newsletter blasts.

I always say that social media is about the convergence of information and communication. Isn’t this the mission of every professional association: To inform their members and communicate regularly to increase the networking (and business) opportunities for their members? Then why don’t more professional associations embrace and strategically leverage all that social media has to offer, and in doing so also help increase association membership while retaining existing members?

The answer to this is that, based on my own experience, most associations are 1) either managed by executives who themselves aren’t frequent users of social media and/or haven’t implemented social in their own business or 2) outsource their marketing and other management affairs to companies or firms that who do not understand social media themselves.

For a 101 primer on some easy ways that professional associations can maximize their social presence, here’s a list of 6 checklist items for your association to confirm your current state vis a vis social media:

1. Create and Encourage Engagement in a Robust LinkedIn Group

With a closed LinkedIn Group that is moderated and only open to association members, you can achieve what you do at your in-person events 24/7 online and without local boundaries. Many associations have LinkedIn Groups but haven’t really encouraged engagement inside them. It is the perfect place to share information, generate discussions, and even share job openings that your company might have. If there is any social media website made for associations, it is undoubtedly LinkedIn. Take advantage of it and leverage it as an important supplement for everything that your association does at your in-person events.

2. Sharing Your Information with the World through Blogging

Sharing information encourages current members to keep informed as well as helps introduce your association to potential new members through the power of your content. Instead of taking a walled garden approach to protecting your content to only be accessible to members, strategically summarize your internal information for the outside world to showcase your leadership within your industry and encourage others to join. Blogging has the additional benefit of aiding your professional association’s website to ensure greater search engine optimization (SEO) benefits as well.

Tips 3 - 5 and complete Business2Community.com Article

Top 5 Tips To Generate Leads On LinkedIn

by Sumoni Gupta

Before you start reading this post, I would like to ask you a question. Which all sites do you use frequently for social networking? 


Your instant reply would be Facebook and Twitter. Though they have the potential to get you some income we can’t neglect other social networking websites like LinkedIn etc. I know LinkedIn is not as exciting like Facebook or Twitter but it isn’t that bad. When I started my blogging career, I focussed on almost 10 Networking sites which also included Rediff, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn etc but now I have started neglecting it. With my second site to be launched soon I have again started to put in some efforts back on linkedIn again.


I have also discovered that it is not only a powerful networking tool but it can also help you in generating some leads or sales. With almost 150+ Million members (almost all are Bussiness Owners, Senior Management etc etc.). It has the perfect readymade audience that I was looking for my new site which would be about selling some SEO services. After going through the linkedIn again, I have come to a point that generating leads is not a big task on LinkedIn. So here are some personal tips by me on how to generate leads on linkedIn. 


1. Give a Oomph Factor to your profile Your profile would decide your linkedIn presence, and if your profile is not upto date then you are missing out on something big. So its time to change it and make it par with others. Add your experience in your LinkedIn profile. Provide an in-depth write up about your professional history and your services that you offer so that other LinkedIn Members would get to know your services better and order you somehing directly. A professional looking picture of you is suggested. Don’t add some other pics like Taj Mahal or Twin towers. 


2. Create a LinkedIn Feeds The best part about LinkedIn is that it gives Individuals and Companies a chance to demonstrate their expertise by replying to questions in their field in LinkedIn answer Area. To grab the attention, answer in categories like your current employers or previous employers or your geographic location. To make it even more easier for you, you can create a RSS feed for your answers and use it with any of your Favourite RSS Feeder tools like Feedburner.

Read tips 3 - 5 and complete article