July 24, 2024 1 Comment

Use LinkedIn Groups to Enhance Your Job Search

Of all the functions of LinkedIn, the opportunity to join Groups and interact with fellow professionals with whom you share interests is perhaps one of the most useful ways to help you, as a job seeker, to reach outside of your network for new contacts.

Once you have set up your LinkedIn profile, including your photo, profile summary and jobs, and you have connected with the people you know, it’s time to begin using the platform to expand your network further. This is where LinkedIn Groups can become very useful.

As with all LinkedIn functions, the site offers users a detailed guide to setting up and using groups. You can join groups in your professional field (e.g. Sales), or groups related to a personal interests (e.g. hobby electronics).

Participation in groups provides job seekers a range of opportunities, including:

sharing and discussing ideas
gathering information
learning about jobs
making new contacts
showcasing expertise

The easiest way to get started is to explore the Groups You May Like option, where the site recommends groups, based on your profile. You could also search for a specific group. Keep in mind that it is best to seek out groups that are local, where there might actually be opportunities to interact with fellow professionals in person.

Once you have joined and been accepted into a group, make sure to maximise the opportunity. As a group member, you may:

Answer questions or join discussions. This may be an opportunity to show your expertise, as well as learn something new from your fellow group members. Watch your tone and make sure to sound professional — you never know who is reading your comments and following your interactions.
Ask a question or start a conversation. You can ask for opinions, experiences or information. Group members can be excellent resources, when the topic is of interest to them.
Interact with group members. You can connect with fellow group members by responding to their comment or question, by “liking” their comments, and by messaging them privately.
Add group members to your network. LinkedIn makes it easy to connect with someone with whom you share a group. Also, being in a group with someone means that you are more likely to appear in any LinkedIn search done by a member of your group. (This means that it might be worth joining a few of the larger groups, specifically).
Under the Promotions tab (if available on your group), you can learn about events and services offered by group members, or promote your own.
Under the Jobs tab (if available), you can post, read about and apply for jobs.

Preparation for job interviews can be enhanced through group participation — you might be able to gather information which may sharpen your own knowledge in your field, or specific inside information or tips about particular companies.

Finally, if you cannot find a group that represents your particular interests, consider creating a group. Keep in mind though, that administering a group is a responsibility and a time commitment. You will need to recruit members, keep conversation moving and moderate discussions. A well moderated group can be a worthwhile endeavour, to raise your profile on LinkedIn as a competent and informed professional in your field.

June 3, 2019 4 Comments

Resumes vs LinkedIn. Which is better?

Interracial women holding icons representing Resumes VS LinkedIN

When reading job search blogs, it’s easy to think that employers are no longer using resumes; that resumes are being replaced by platforms such as LinkedIn and Applicant Tracking Systems. So, do job seekers still need resumes?

The Benefits of Resumes

Employers tend to regard your resume as a simple and clear summary of your most important skills and experience. They assume that more information will be available about you on sites such as LinkedIn. So think of your resume as a brochure, a self-promotional tool. It should be brief (no more than two pages) and written in concise, formal language (without first person pronouns).

It’s expected. The majority of employers still ask for resumes to be sent via email or uploaded to the company’s web site even when using LinkedIn to promote job openings.

Resumes are easily shared. Potential employers can read your resume on a computer screen, email it to colleagues and hiring managers, and print it out to refer to at a later point in time.

Resumes are adaptable. Job seekers can tailor their resume to highlight those qualifications that best match the employer’s needs. Update your profile summary and work history using keywords found in the job posting. This will increase your chances of getting your resume past any Applicant Tracking System and get it in front of the hiring manager.

The Benefits of LinkedIn

A LinkedIn profile is quite different. It is a living, dynamic record of you and your career. LinkedIn provides you with a chance to tell your story using a range of media such as text, slideshows, photos, work samples, websites and video.

The summary portion of your profile is an opportunity to introduce yourself, explain your history and let potential employers know what makes you unique. It can be less formal than a resume profile — just make sure that the tone is appropriate for your industry.

LinkedIn allows for longer, more detailed work history than the standard 10 year span of a resume. If you have worthwhile professional experience that goes back more than 10 years, share it on LinkedIn.

It’s popular. We know from surveys conducted that 87% of recruiters regularly use LinkedIn to review potential candidates.

It is a secure way of sharing information. Resumes typically include your email address, phone number and street address, whereas LinkedIn does not require you to share such information without your permission.

Unlike a resume, LinkedIn provides space to list your interests. Choose what you share carefully. Consider listing interests that relevant to your industry and reflect the values and culture of the companies you are engaging with.

The goal of LinkedIn is to make you stand out to employers as not just well-qualified, but as an interesting, accomplished and impressive person.

And the Winner is…

It’s a tie! Resumes and LinkedIn serve very different purposes. Resumes function best as internal documents that employers and hiring managers will use to determine if you have the right qualifications for the position you applied for. Whereas LinkedIn is a promotional tool that job seekers can use to market their personalities and highlight experience and skills that traditional resumes don’t allow.

Tip: As a job seeker sending out resumes to potential employers, make sure that your LinkedIn profile reveals something new about you. You want them to be impressed by who you are and your personality, as well as your expertise and professional background.

August 27, 2015 Leave a Comment

Use Twitter to Find Work

Job seekers often tell me that they find Twitter to be the most intimidating of all the popular social media platforms. Maybe it is because of those awful career ending mistakes we hear about. Maybe it’s just difficult to figure out how to use, and being such a public tool, new users (especially job seekers) are nervous to make a mistake on it.

Twitter is, however, a very popular platform for employers, and as such is an important place for job seekers to be. It’s also a pretty good source of jobs — many employers choose to advertise their positions on Twitter. Employers will also look for you on Twitter, in hopes to learn more about you and figure out whether you are social media savvy enough to not potentially embarrass yourself or them online in the future.

Setting Up a Twitter Profile

When you sign up for Twitter, make sure that you consider the following elements:

Have a User ID (name) that identifies you by your proper name, so that employers can identify you.
Upload a decent photo — it should be of you, but does not have to be too business-like. Twitter is more casual and friendly than, say, LinkedIn. So you can look friendlier and more relaxed, as well.
Write a few lines describing yourself — keep it short. Identify your profession and location. Add a simple one liner that sums you up. Make sure to provide a link to your LinkedIn profile.

Learning to Use Twitter

It’s actually really easy to start using Twitter — you can start by reading and following, rather than contributing anything. Twitter offers some good advice to new members, telling them that:

reading Tweets and discovering new information whenever you check in on your Twitter timeline is where you’ll find the most value on Twitter (…) the real magic of Twitter lies in absorbing real-time information that matters to you.

Other excellent advice on following, tweeting and developing a voice on Twitter is offered on their Help pages.

Conducting a Job Search with Twitter

Once your profile is set up, as a job seekers you should focus on:

BRANDING — developing a personal reputation/image online that reveals you to be the type of person an employer might be interested in.
NETWORKING — interact with people and organisations that can lead to the next job.
JOB SEARCH — find relevant job leads.

Start off by searching for and following companies, professional associations and people who are relevant to your work. Read their tweets, and try to learn about how they use Twitter and what opportunities you might have to engage with them.

Slowly begin to engage with potential employers by retweeting, responding to their questions and tweeting them appropriately. Challenge yourself to not just retweet — try to develop an authentic personal voice which is thoughtful and pleasant. You can allow yourself to engage and comment on non-work related topics (such as sports events, arts or culture), but make sure to keep it polite and light.

To find relevant job leads, use Twitter’s search bar. Use a search that combines the word “job”, a job title, and location: e.g. “job+marketing+Toronto”. Do that search regularly. Identify target companies and follow them for future postings. Some companies actually have a Twitter account that is dedicated to employment, such as the City of Toronto’s @CityTOjobs.

Engage with individuals on Twitter and try to find ways to meet in person to network, by messaging them directly (called DM) for information interviews or other in person opportunities. Your goal is to develop the kind of rapport which can lead to people recommending/referring you for jobs or information interviews.

Twitter can be a very effective tool for branding, networking and getting job leads. Use it daily (for 30 minutes or so); gather information, share information and offer your expertise to others. Also, keep in mind that employers are likely to check out your profile to assess your personal style, social media skill level and your professional network, when considering your for jobs.

August 17, 2015 Leave a Comment

Job Seekers: Pay Attention to What You Post on Social Media

Reviewing your social media profile may be just as important (if not a whole lot more) than preparing a good resume, picking an interview outfit or preparing your interview questions. Your social media presence can directly influence your employment prospects, and can impact on whether employers will find you, and whether they will consider you a good match to the job and the company when they do come across you in their search for candidates.

According to Jobvite, a leading recruiting platform for the social web, employers turn to social media to find, assess and recruit candidates, and they pay close attention to what they see online about potential employees.

Think about your online presence:

If a potential employer searched for you online — do you know what they might find?
Are you present on more than one platform? Facebook? LinkedIn? Instagram? Twitter?
What do your platform choices say about you?
Do you appear as someone who knows how to use the platforms appropriately and effectively?
Do employers learn valuable and impressive information about you when they find you online?

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