Find­ing a job is no longer sim­ply about using job search engines, list­ings, indus­try pub­li­ca­tions and your imme­di­ate friends and rela­tions, it is about using mod­ern social and pro­fes­sion­al  net­works to help build up pro­fes­sion­al con­tacts to get ahead, and the best and most pop­u­lar net­work for the job is LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a social net­work­ing site with a pro­fes­sion­al edge that helps you build a net­work of indus­try-spe­cif­ic con­tacts and build a per­son­al pro­file to help get your­self noticed. With over 150 mil­lion mem­bers there is no oth­er ser­vice which offers you so much poten­tial, but how exact­ly should you use LinkedIn and make the most of it to find a job? Let’s find out.

Use the Resume Builder

LinkedIn’s resume builder helps you bring togeth­er all the infor­ma­tion on your pro­file into a true resume with the avail­able site resume tem­plates. You can edit your resume when­ev­er you like, and your resume is giv­en a cus­tom URL so you can eas­i­ly deliv­er it to pro­fes­sion­al contacts.

Search for Contacts

There are two ways to find con­tacts on LinkedIn; either by meet­ing with peo­ple some­where else and then search­ing for them on LinkedIn, or by search­ing for peo­ple you do not know by search for com­pa­nies and posi­tions instead of names. For exam­ple, you can search for a com­pa­ny name and job title, and you will be giv­en a list of peo­ple who match the cri­te­ria. In most cas­es you will not be able to mes­sage the peo­ple that crop up. At best you will have a sec­ond degree con­nec­tion with them through a con­tact you already have, and if so then you can get your con­tact to send your mes­sage onwards to them. Oth­er­wise you will have to do a lit­tle social detec­tive work to find the person’s con­tact details.

Make Your Sit­u­a­tion Clear

If you lose your job or get laid off and you find your­self back on the mar­ket, the first place to let peo­ple know is on LinkedIn. It is high­ly impor­tant to choose the right words how­ev­er, with the terms ‘laid off’ or ‘fired’ very inap­pro­pri­ate to use in your head­line, though you can be more frank with your sit­u­a­tion in your sta­tus update. Being unem­ployed is often an advan­tage on LinkedIn because it shows your avail­abil­i­ty with recruiters, so let them know you are avail­able and look­ing for new opportunities.

LinkedIn JobIn­sid­er Toolbar

It is well known that know­ing some­one with­in a com­pa­ny increase your chances of land­ing a job in said com­pa­ny, and the JobIn­sid­er tool­bar helps you do this. This tool­bar can be installed onto your cho­sen web brows­er, and when you search through job list­ings the tool­bar will let you know if you have any pro­fes­sion­al con­tacts with­in that company.

Fol­low Com­pa­ny Updates

Make a list of all the com­pa­nies you would like to work in, and con­nect with them on LinkedIn so that you keep updat­ed with any busi­ness updates post­ed by these com­pa­nies. Com­pa­nies will also post new job list­ings and oth­er opportunities.