How to Get a Job Using LinkedIn

Having a good LinkedIn profile is essential in today's business world, especially if you are looking for a new job, working in an international field, or open to opportunities like collaborations or speaking engagements.

I know it can seem overwhelming, but I'm going to give you five simple tips to take your LinkedIn from average to awesome in less than an hour:

Reverse engineer your job search.

Start with your dream job, and then work backwards to your profile. Find a few job posts for your desired position, even if it’s not the ideal company or location.

You're going to use the job description to help you make your current profile more compatible with your future goals.

Include keywords and skills from the job description in your profile.

LinkedIn is a search engine, so keyword optimization, meaning having the right words in your profile, makes a huge difference. It’s the only way recruiters will be able to find you, so be specific and thorough.

Go through the job posts you found, and make a list of all the qualities and skills that apply to you. Next, go through that list and include as many keywords as are relevant in your Headline, About section and Experience section.

As a bonus tip, while you’re making a list of all the qualifications you do have, also make a list of the skills you don’t have. This will give you a great starting point for the knowledge and experience you need to gain. You can sign up for courses or volunteer to do extra work that will help you strengthen those skills.

Make it obvious that you'd be a good fit.
Add whatever applies to you that will highlight your awesomeness. Don't expect someone to read through your profile carefully and think, “Oh, if they can do this they can probably do this that I need.” Not gonna happen.

You need to make sure that you make it as obvious as possible that you're a good fit for the position you want. If someone were to scan your profile for a few seconds, is it clear that you would be a good candidate?

Post every Tuesday morning.
This is probably the advice I get the most hesitation from my clients. I know it can feel awkward or make you feel vulnerable, but you can find ways to post that are authentic to your personality and make you feel confident.
Three of the easiest and most pain-free things to post are sharing quotes, sharing links to articles that you find interesting, and sharing things other people post. The key is to make sure that it is relevant to your work.

This will help you establish a solid and consistent professional presence that will help people see you more often and possibly think of you when opportunities come up in the future.