Finding a job is a time-consuming endeavor—updating your resume, filling out applications, networking, etc. But here are a few simple ways to boost your chances of getting a great job—and you can do them in only 30 minutes.
.
Enable the Open to Job Opportunities feature on your LinkedIn profile
Lots of job seekers didn’t even notice when this new feature became available a month or so ago. If you’re one of those people, you better head to your settings ASAP and get this set up correctly. It won’t take more than five minutes.
You can choose five specific job titles and locations you’re interested in as well as the type of job (full-time, part-time, contract, etc.). And it’s your decision whether you show this information on your profile or hide it. Learn how to do it here.
.
Create LinkedIn Job Alerts for the right jobs and the right companies
You can now set specific job alerts for the companies you’re interested in and notify those companies’ recruiters that you’re interested. This capability showed up without much fanfare a few months ago, and it’s a real game changer.
This may take you ten minutes, but when you’re done you’ll begin receiving notifications for the right jobs (not just the jobs Linkedin thinks are right for you), and recruiters at your target companies may actually reach out to you directly. Here is a LinkedIn article that will take you through the steps.
.
Add the right keywords in the right places on your LinkedIn profile
Simply put, LinkedIn is just one big database of people’s profiles (resumes on steroids). When recruiters and HR professionals are performing specific searches for people like you, they use keywords to narrow their searches to the very best candidates. These keywords are typically things like job titles, skills, schools, industries, etc. The search results they get from LinkedIn are in an order that LinkedIn calls “relevancy to the searcher.”
In order to get near the top of their searches, you have to be more relevant to them than the other people on the search results list. The easiest way to become more relevant is to add the right keywords (important words in job postings) to the right sections of your LinkedIn profile.
Based on my experience of working with thousands of job seekers over the years, placing those words in your Headline, Job Titles and Skills & Endorsements sections will improve your position in the search results in just minutes.
There you have it—three simple LinkedIn steps that in just 30 minutes should improve your chances of being included on the short list of candidates who get an interview.
.
SPECIAL OFFER
For more great LinkedIn strategies that can help you land the job of your dreams, join me on April 27th from 4:00-6:00pm CT when I’ll be presenting, via Zoom, Leverage LinkedIn for Your Job Search During the Pandemic. You won’t want to miss it!