How to Position Yourself to Get a Job on LinkedIn 2

I know a number of people who have gotten jobs on LinkedIn, a number of recruiters who use LinkedIn as their major recruiting platform and more importantly I have been offered jobs and business opportunities on LinkedIn. It is a good platform if you can wield it.

I’ll like to divide the “How” into 4 parts.

1. Your Profile

2. Your Content

3. Your Engagement

4. Your Network

I discussed 1 and 2 here.

YOUR ENGAGEMENT:

Accept your requests wisely and purposefully. Send requests wisely too. Don’t just send requests, include messages. Be value-oriented and message smartly. Read about the person you are adding and let this spark up your conversation.

E.g Hello Blessing, I noticed you’re into Branding and Communications and you’re also passionate about Startup ecosystem in Africa. I would love to connect with you and discuss more about entrepreneurship, particularly. Your work inspires me.

A gentle ego massage helps people drop their guard. You could go straight to the point and ask if there is a vacancy or sell yourself enough to ensure that a role is created for you. Engage with posts. Have an opinion. Ask questions. Comment. Like. Share. Take action. People would find you through this. You can access a wider network beyond yours by engaging with other people’s post.

YOUR NETWORK:

Write to people and let them know of your intent to work for their organization. Engage offline. Turn offline friendships to LinkedIn connections and online connections to offline friendships. Let your friends know what you do and let them know you’re looking for a job. Referral is big on LinkedIn. Once in a while post your job hunt stories and lessons you’ve learned from them. Ask their feedback. Tag them in posts creatively. e.g. Kayode Abass LinkedIn Mastermind Extraordinaire, what do you think about this thread? Would @LinkedIn be proud?

This kind of engagement would make him aware of what is going on. His comment would help his followers see. He may be able to recommend people that can help me. Don’t take your network for granted. Go beyond connection and build friendships.

Again, don’t wait to see the vacancy call before you try to apply. If Mohammed will not come to the Mountain, the Mountain would have to go to Mohammed. If the job is not coming to you. Go to the job. DM, ask, speak up, apply, follow company pages you aspire to work in.

PS: Visit your LinkedIn account at least once every week (Maybe every Monday). Monday mornings are the best times to post (they are the most active times too because of #MondayMotivation or Monday gra gra. Check your DMs regularly too, so you don’t miss a message from a recruiter. Recently African Alliance posted a vacancy on their LinkedIn page. Follow them so you never miss another vacancy.

Finally, Be sure that your industry is represented on LinkedIn; E.g. The fashion and beauty Industry, Instagram is their LinkedIn, so you may not get as much job offers if you use LinkedIn. However, it would be nice to still develop your page, for your personal brand.

Also, just in case you were wondering why you may have missed some job opportunities, read this and see my solutions to them.

Read full article here.

Feel free to ask me questions and share your thoughts.