Everything you need to know to get a job with LinkedIn

Now that you have created a good profile and have a foundation for a good network, you will discover LinkedIns helpful in your everyday life. The more you use it as a daily tool, the more you will find its benefits. It does not have to be about spending so much time, but more about seeing it as a tool that facilitates in different situations. Of course, it is also essential to keep your profile updated and be active regularly, so your contacts and visitors will get the impression that the visible information about you is current.

• Before you meet a new colleague or business partner, check them out on LinkedIn. You get a better picture and are better prepared. Maybe you have common contacts or share previous experiences or ambitions. Perhaps you see an opportunity for collaboration that you otherwise would not have thought of.
• Send a contact request on LinkedIn to people you just met (at least if you see a reason to meet them again). A request that is sent immediately after a meeting is almost always accepted, and it can feel more natural to send it then than later on. If you have just met, you also do not need to adjust the contact invitation but simply use the standard text.
• Update your profile when you have a new experience to add. For example, when you change jobs, have completed an education or have taken a course.
• Also, keep in mind that you can continuously update the descriptions of your current experiences, for example, when you have progressed further in your education, gained new responsibilities at work or completed a project. So get in the habit of visiting your profile from time to time - and always after you finish a project or when there have been any changes in your role.
• Ask for a recommendation after projects, employment and training. Many make and leave recommendations when asked. As with everything else, relevance is key: the closer to a project or job you ask, the easier it will be for others to answer.
• Add your link to LinkedIn in your email signature and maybe even on your business cards. It simplifies for others to contact you and shows that you are open to building further relationships.
• Feel free to look for people who have the skills you need. Get in the habit of first checking out LinkedIn when looking for someone who can help you, staff, or project members.
• Download LinkedIns app on your phone. Then you can easily add new contacts, comment on posts and visit interesting profiles, without having to take extra time in front of a computer screen.

There are many ways to find a job through LinkedIn. Regardless of how you choose to apply for a job or not, the most important thing is your presence in itself; that you are there, have a strong and up-to-date profile, respond to inquiries and messages and are active. There are also some specific things to address…

Here are the top ways to find a job on LinkedIn:

• LinkedIn automatically provides job tips that may suit you. In the main menu, you will find job tips mainly under "Jobs that may interest you" under "Jobs". You can also go to the "Jobs" option in the top menu. Here you can search both using keywords or through different categories.
• Another tip is to follow companies and business leaders who interest you. For example, companies advertise vacancies and provide clues that new positions will be filled. Read between the lines and see if the company is facing an expansion, opening a new office, or taking a new direction where it sounds like new staff may be needed.
• Also, dare to seek contact with recruiters and companies that interest you. Think about what we mentioned earlier regarding being relevant and directed. Contact the companies that suit you and your profile and try to be as relevant as possible in the contact you make.
• There are also a lot of groups that aim to suggest jobs in a particular area. If you are looking for a new job, it is a good idea to join some of these groups and regularly look at the posted tips. However, keep in mind that it may be wise to hide these groups from your contacts, as it can look "desperate" if you are part of too many. For example, you would rather show groups about what you work with, than groups that are primarily about networking or job search. To hide a group, go to your profile and find groups. Under the name of each group, there is a link to settings where you can choose to hide the group.

It is crucial to keep in mind, in general, that your network of contacts is not only the people you know, but the people those people in turn know. When you say that you got a job through contacts, it is rare that the people you have contact with have given you a job. What its most often about is that those you know have talked to someone else. Therefore, it is wrong to think you "have no contacts" because you do not see a manager or business leader.

We have repeatedly mentioned the importance of being relevant on LinkedIn. When you apply for a job, this becomes extra important so that your network of contacts can tell others about you because you want them to recommend you further. So you need to be clear that someone else can tell you about you. Ask a contact: How would you describe what I do? If the person cannot answer, you still have work to do to increase your clarity.

It is essential to stay active and maintain your contacts in order not to be forgotten. A good piece of advice is to return to them regularly. For instance, you can go through your contact list from time to time. Get in touch to check the situation, book a lunch or a meeting. How often you want to do this depends on you and what you think is appropriate, but make sure to reach out. Thats what LinkedIn is for.

The start page feed

On LinkedIns start page, you can see the feed of updates and posts from your contacts and the companies and organizations you follow. Take a look at the information posted here, and feel free to comment.

• Here you can also see if any of your contacts have updated their profile or are celebrating an anniversary at work. 
• By taking part in articles, links, and other posted updates, you stay up to date on what is happening in your professional environment and your industry.
• If you comment / like the events in the feed, you remind others that you exist - you become visible both to your contacts and people outside your nearest network. People often click on you to see who you are and, in some cases, can send a request for contact or get in touch via messages.
• Ask questions in the flow to get help and show your presence.
• Post updates from time to time, so you stay in peoples minds. Different topics to try: Industry news, trends, facts, thoughts, challenges that you or the company you work for is facing, when you seek help or contacts in any area.

Discover new people

If you think a person seems interesting, or if the person in any way creates curiosity, do not be afraid to get in touch. There are several ways to discover new interesting people:

• Look at the people who visited your profile. Some of the people who visited your profile, you will not be able to see - if you are not a Premium member, but you will be able to see many.
• When you visit a profile, you can see which other people other visitors have also visited under the heading "Others have also visited". Probably those people are similar to the person you are looking at at the moment.
• Look at the people who engage in the same things as you in the feed. See who seems to think alike and likes the same things, or who is entirely different and maybe still creates curiosity in you.
• Check out profiles for people who are in the same groups as you.
• Look at the other contacts that your contacts have.

Privacy settings

The reason you are on LinkedIn is to be seen and be accessible. All your work so far is about being seen as much as possible. Therefore, it is, of course, vital that you have the proper settings for your profile, so that nothing is hidden from the people who are curious about you. 

The recommendation is to open your entire profile and make it as public as possible.

Another setting that is good to know is whether your network should see that you have made an update of your profile. Normally, your contacts can see in the feed when you adjust your profile. This way, you can take part in changes in each others professional life, and it becomes easier to follow any development.       We recommend that you have these notifications turned on, but you can turn off the feature if you do not feel comfortable with it. Then go to your profile and press edit (the little pen). When you make a change, you can then choose whether or not to notify your network of the change.

Notifications

LinkedIn sends out notifications via email for various events in the network. It can be a person who wants to add you to their network, which people have changed jobs recently, or new discussion topics in the groups you are part of. It can quickly become quite a lot. To check which notifications you receive, go to Account Settings -> Privacy and Settings -> Communication. Notifications for new contact requests and instant messages should always be on. Otherwise, you can turn off a lot.