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Whether you’re looking to move into a different field and change careers or just looking for a better opportunity, you may want to leverage the pot of gold that is LinkedIn. Social media has become an increasingly popular recruitment tool with LinkedIn taking the lead among the channels.
To put things in perspective, 93% of recruiters are now using LinkedIn as their preferred means to find the right candidates. Crafting the ideal LinkedIn presence and finding the best opportunities can be challenging. This is because the platform changes rapidly, resulting in the task only getting more tedious. So we’ve rounded up the key LinkedIn trends that you need to watch out for in 2022.
1) Optimize your LinkedIn profile
Your LinkedIn profile reflects your identity and personal brand. Thus, we suggest optimizing your profile before networking and making applications on LinkedIn. A few years ago, your LinkedIn profile could be equated to an online resume. Today, it serves as a means for recruiters to find you and not just evaluate your experience.
a) Photograph
While the profile picture may seem trivial to us, it plays an important role in recruiting. Your LinkedIn display picture appears alongside applications, on newsfeeds, and at the top of your profile. Hence, we suggest that you choose a photograph that is aligned with the following guidelines:
- A professional photograph (selfies are not encouraged)
- Appropriate attire
- Clear, visible face
- A smile (This one is not mandatory but adds to the impression you’re making)
b) The headline
Though limited to just 220 characters, the headline is one of the most crucial components of your LinkedIn profile. Apart from occupying prime real estate, right underneath your name on the profile, the headline also appears when you interact and engage with posts and people on LinkedIn. We suggest the following tips to write an effective headline:
- Provide a concise mission statement for yourself (one that aligns with your career achievements and goals)
- Put in your academic credentials and qualifications
- Add key skills that depict your strengths
c) About section
The ‘About’ section comes next and is your space to advertise yourself. A perfectly written ‘About’ section could be the key to getting noticed by the right people. This section often referred to as the ‘summary’ is your chance to make a great first impression on recruiters. The complexity involved in crafting a great summary may drive you away, but writing a great summary could also mean landing your dream job. Here’s how you get started:
- Start with a short introduction of yourself. Make sure it focuses on your career goals
- Add in a list of key achievements from previous jobs
- Add your contact information or a link to your website
- Optimize it to reflect what your target employer would find important
d) Experience section
Highlighting your skills within your experience has become increasingly important as hiring managers are moving away from focusing on educational qualifications. They are interested in learning more about your key skills instead. LinkedIn noted that the percentage of managers hired without a 4-year degree has increased by 20%. There is no clearer call to elucidate your skills adequately. Let’s look at some tips below:
- Ensure the information is result-driven and focuses on your specific targets achieved at each job.
- Edit the content based on your target job. For example, if you’re applying for a managerial position, make sure your experience highlights your management skills.
- Remove information that does not add direct value to recruiters for your ideal job role.
2) Network on LinkedIn
With the world having moved to an “online life”, one that it has not yet escaped, there is no better time to improve your network. Building a professional network on LinkedIn requires a clear strategy and consistent execution. Having a strong network could lead you to find your next job without having to look too far. You could build a solid network through three simple steps, as mentioned below:
a) Refresh your existing connects
If you have not been nurturing your existing network, now is the time. Identify key contacts within your existing network. These could be current or ex-employees of your target company or industry. Since you are already well acquainted with these people, they are more likely to connect or engage with you on LinkedIn. Reach out to these contacts with a personalized message and take your conversation forward from there.
b) Add new connections
While the number of connections you have may not hold a significant value, their relevance does. When you’re searching for a new job, adding new connections could open up the doorway for recruiters or hiring managers to find you. Adding new, meaningful connections associated with your target job is the goal here. To achieve effective results, you could adopt a number of methods including :
- Look up your target company and add people who work there (preferably 2nd connects)
- Search relevant hashtags to identify people that engage with content related to your field and connect
- Search for specific job roles such as “DevOps Engineer” based on your interests and add professionals within the realm
- Join communities within your field of choice and connect with peers
- You could also connect with hiring managers or recruiters hiring for your target roles.
c) Connect through content
Meaningful engagements with relevant content can lead to you finding better connections. You have the opportunity to create relevant content yourself and engage with pre-existing content. This activity helps you identify people that are plugged into your niche and allows you to leverage these common engagements.
For example, when you respond to a piece of content created by an experienced person in your field, you could ask a question, provide an alternative perspective, and so on. This engagement then allows you to send in a connection request following your conversation.
3) Create a brand for yourself
Instead of looking at LinkedIn as an online resume, look at it as a place where you can showcase your skills and sell the value you bring to potential employers. The best way to make sure you have more eyes on you is to create your personal brand on the platform. You can follow the below-mentioned tips to create an effective personal brand.
a) Identify your niche
Before you start creating or sharing content, you need to ascertain the niche you’d like to fit into. It allows you to attract the right kind of engagement and build an audience that is relevant to your job goals. Finding this niche is as simple as narrowing down your area of expertise and your interests. Once you have identified the right space, you can then begin the process of research.
b) Research your content
Before you get to posting, it is important to first need to understand what you should be talking about. Start by looking up relevant tags & creators and identify the types of content that are most popular among your target audience. Note down all the relevant topics, types of posts, medium of communication, etc. Once you’re done with browsing through content and have gathered sufficient data, you can then carry out thorough keyword research.
This is where you identify relevant keywords within your niche. A quick search of any key phrase for example, “UI Design”, will lead you to a series of popular posts. You can make use of tools such as Google’s Keyword Planner to carry out this research.
c) Create a content calendar
Once equipped with the right information, you can start creating a content calendar featuring a mix of various content such as text posts, graphics, pdf carousels, videos, polls, and more. Creating original content is a guaranteed way to get meaningful inputs and engagements. While it may take you a while to gain sufficient traction, it does set you up for success. Once you have your calendar set up, you could also choose any scheduling software of your choice and upload posts onto the platform so that you may maintain consistency.
LinkedIn creators are fairly common now within every field. Find and follow a few of them so you know what kind of content keeps audiences engaged. Additionally, when you are strapped for time, you can always re-share relevant pieces from these accounts, tag the author, and ask for opinions from your network. This will enhance the engagement of your post while also developing relationships with many key people. Additionally, you could also scour the internet for relevant content such as insightful blogs and share them on your account with a caption that talks about what you’ve learned from them.
e) Monitor analytics to make decisions
A consistent stream of content from your profile should improve visibility, allowing recruiters and hiring managers to discover your account. To ensure your account is on the track to success, monitor the analytics on your posts. Check out the engagement metrics, look into the audience it is reaching, the relevance of the audience, and the type of content that is working best for you. You can then use this information to tweak your content and curate posts that harness better interactions.
4) Use LinkedIn’s improved job search option
A recent study conducted by LinkedIn showed the following two significant changes in the job market. The first is an increase in the popularity of flexible work options such as work-from-home, flexible schedules, etc. Secondly, there also appears to be a deeper focus on company culture, with job seekers searching for companies that would suit their ideology.
For candidates, this opens up new possibilities and the opportunity to find a job that truly fits their goals.
LinkedIn in 2022 provides several avenues for candidates to find the right job. As a job seeker, you may leverage any (or all) of the following methods to find your perfect job:
a) The job board
In the year 2022, we have all been accustomed to LinkedIn’s job board. It is as simple as typing in the position you’d like to apply for and filtering it by preferences. Here are some noteworthy filters to assist you in your job search:
- LinkedIn has added a “remote work” filter so you can filter out jobs that allow you to work from home (or anywhere)
- Certain jobs as marked with a “worldwide” location, signaling that it is open to applicants who live and work anywhere
- If you prefer to work from the office but like flexibility, you can choose to filter by “hybrid” jobs
- The job board also carries a filter to identify companies that have the “easy apply” option turned on. This lets you apply directly from LinkedIn
While several companies post their open roles on LinkedIn, some may still prefer traditional job boards or hosting the job board on their own site. Even so, recruiters tend to share these links and information regarding open positions on LinkedIn. You can find these job posts by searching hashtags such as “hiring”, “recruiter”, “jobs”, “openings”, “vacancies”, “jobsin<yourcity>”, and so on.
c) Alumni Networks Or LinkedIn Communities
Often recruiters are seen posting job opportunities within alumni networks. It builds a sense of belonging and often leads to the hiring of employees who stay on longer with the company. We encourage you to find the alumni communities and pages of your University or School and monitor the posts for possible opportunities. You could also join communities that discuss topics that are important in your niche and watch out for listings posted there. This is also a great place to network and make meaningful connections.
Today, LinkedIn is one of the most powerful tools in the arsenal of a job seeker. When leveraged to its fullest potential, it can lead to candidates finding a job that works for them (and not just the other way ‘round). The information and processes involved in optimizing for LinkedIn can be overwhelming. However, it is easy to find the right advice and assistance to hasten this exercise. If you’re looking for expert guidance in creating the perfect LinkedIn profile, reach out to us.
