This guide will give an overview of how you can use your professional network to reach out to recruiters. Since more than 87% of recruiters preferably rely on LinkedIn for their talent hunts, you should create a profile if you already have not.

Following are some important tips on how to effectively use LinkedIn:

  1. Get connected to your present contacts – Transfer your email and social media contacts into LinkedIn by linking your accounts with LinkedIn. This basic step will significantly elevate your network with pertinent connections.
  2. Up-to-Date profile – Keep your profile recent and afresh. It must comprise your latest picture, skills and experiences to grab the attention. A profile that’s updated regularly is 14 times more likely to receive page views.
  3. Elaborate yourself – Get deeper and wider when describing various sections of your profile. Highlight how you acquired your skills based on your professional experiences to the date. Do not hesitate to go beyond your professional horizon if you think it might add value
  4. Announce your availability – Change your status to – “Open for hiring”. Add details in your headline to get spotted by the recruiters. “An experienced sales executive in search of a new business to boost” or “An aspiring writer looking forward to write your success stories” are a few examples.
  5. Update your LinkedIn Profile in case of Domain Shift – Similar to other social platforms, LinkedIn also counts on SEO and keywords.
    • Few ways to update your profile when you are changing your domain are :
      • Mention all your transferable skills that would assist in smooth transitioning to the new domain, for instance leadership skill in operations might help you in taking up role of a leader for a customer service team.
      • Mention any course or certification that is relevant to the domain you want to switch to.
      • Prove details of previous industry experience in a particular domain you want to switch now.
      • Highlight your previous experience by specifically mentioning achievements.
      • Expand your network and get in touch with your connections who are working in the domain you want to switch
  6. Increase your 1st degree connections – Your exposure and accessibility will be determined by the number of 1st degree connections you have. Connect with your current and past co-workers, school and college connections as much as possible. These 1st degree connections can further be used to get introduced to 2nd or 3rd degree connections
  7. Follow your desired companies – Start following all companies which you find relevant to your profile, or where you aspire to work for to get latest updates on their hiring activities. Advanced Search is a wonderful option for this purpose.
  8. Be a part of professional groups – Join relevant professional groups by using advanced search in LinkedIn. Participate in discussions to gain exposure with people in your domain and increase your connections with key people of your desired organization
  9. Add Keywords for profile enhancement – LinkedIn search shows the profile of people based on the keywords added to profile. Use Synonyms to your designations and functional areas as keywords so that it expands your network in the desired direction
  10. Consistent content update on your profile – Share your views and interests in the form of LinkedIn posts. This not only depicts your areas of interests or expertise but it is also a great medium to let people read which benefits them, which ultimately enhances the network
  11. Utilizing the Advanced Search option – Narrow down your search to any specific functional area, organization, location or any specific job title. This would save your time and also give better results for your search
  12. Comprising LinkedIn profile with your email signature – Replace or add LinkedIn profile in your email signature. The more emails you would send to recruiters, the more they would get to know about your LinkedIn Profile
  13. Use LinkedIn after business hours – Most professionals use LinkedIn after business hours as it gives better and greater chances to interact with key executives.