I know, I know, you've never paid much attention to LinkedIn. After all, you're all over social media with Instagram, FB and Twitter and you’ve got a CV - so why would you bother? Here are 6 reasons why we know a LinkedIn profile is crucial to your job search. Yep - crucial!
Accessibilty
A profile on LinkedIn makes you accessible to thousands of employers who use the platform as a recruitment tool. You are just a link click away, whether you’re actively job searching or shoulder tapped by an employer on the hunt. A recent article from Robert Walters says 63% of New Zealand companies have a company LinkedIn page and 98% of those employers will screen applicants through their LinkedIn profile.
Agility
A LinkedIn profile is a lot more dynamic and visual than a CV – you can add video and images easily and update information to employers in real time. In comparison, once you’ve sent your CV to an employer, you can’t add anything new to it.
Personality
LinkedIn makes it easy to show your personality and highlight achievements and things you love doing so it becomes more unique.
Availability
Organisations post jobs on LinkedIn – all you do is create a ‘search alert’, change your settings to show you’re open to offers and make sure you’ve got strong keywords running through your profile. Recruiters also shoulder tap people who sound like they would be the perfect fit – even if you are not actively job hunting.
Connections
LinkedIn is a great tool for building connections that help you network with potential employers. Through the Groups tab, you find groups of interest and follow them. Read discussions, as well as articles, and add to the threads even if you’re just saying you agree.
Why bother? It means your name appears on the LI feeds of anyone in that group – and that could be a potential employer who starts to notice your commentary or then recognises your name when you apply for a position.
Learn and learn
LinkedIn is also a place where you can learn heaps – really! It is the place where
- You will read interesting articles and view great videos through the groups, companies and people you follow
- You can expand your knowledge base by following groups that interest you but you know little about.
- You keep up to date with the latest knowledge about your industry and profession through not only reading articles but also reading the commentary that may follow it.
- You can comment (very carefully) to put another point of view across or appreciate a point of view already mentioned.
All these activities put you in front of an eclectic range of people and show that you are active and thinking about these challenges, issues or successes.
Take your LinkedIn profile to the next level by doing a workshop through Employability Lab Online.
Written by AUT Employability & Careers writer Angela McCarthy
