Tag Archives: LinkedIn Network

Out of the 3 components of a LinkedIn campaign the winner is…

It comes as no surprise to me that most people feel engagement is the most important component of a LinkedIn campaign. A poll conducted on LinkedIn clearly showed that almost half the voters (47%) agree.

The other two components are a branding/optimized profile, which garnered 29% of the votes and a focused network, which was narrowly beat out with 24% of the votes.

As a job seeker you might feel that having a branding profile is most important; and that makes good sense, especially if you’re trying to draw hiring authorities to it. Create it and they will come.

But how will you draw hiring authorities (recruiters, HR, and hiring managers) to your profile if you have an abysmal network? Someone with 87 connections will not create as many opportunities as someone with 500+ will.

Further, how will you show your expertise or thought leadership if you don’t engage with your connections. LinkedIn has stated that engaging with your network will increase your chances of appeasing the algorithm. In other words, a great profile and strong network still aren’t enough says LinkedIn.

So here’s the fact: they’re all important. And as one respondent to the poll surmised that choosing among the three “is like asking which of my children is my favorite.”

For me, the choice between the three is not that difficult. Engagement is what drives your LinkedIn campaign. But I also realize it’s tough for job seekers to put themselves out there; many have told me as much and it’s illustrated by their lack of engagement.

3rd place: focused, like-minded network

LinkedIn gives us mixed messages. On one hand it tells us to invite people we know and trust to our network. On the other hand, how do we create opportunities with a small network?

Job seekers need to look at building a network as a way to build relationships with people they DON’T know. Therein lie the opportunities. Only building a network with those you know and trust limits your ability to create these opportunities.

I see Introductions to potential connections as the ultimate gateway to possibilities. This requires strategy, though. As many LinkedIn pundits say, “You can’t just spray and pray.” You have to know who you want to connect with, who will help you in your job search.

One person called me on my definition of a quality network, which I call like-minded, where the people in your network have a lot in common. Said person claimed that my definition of a strong network is limited. They said like-minded would disqualified people from whom I could learn.

In my defense, I’m not suggesting that you only connect with people in your immediate family or friends. Those would be the people with 87 connections. When you’re in the job hunt you want to reach out to your former colleagues, people who work at your desired companies, recruiters in your industry, and the like.

I try to mix my network up with people in other industries like marketing, blogging, and academia. It wouldn’t make sense for the majority of my network to consist of engineers, lawyers, salespeople, accountants, etc. I wouldn’t be interested in their content, nor would they be interested in mine.

For people who make their living on the people in their network (I’m talking about career coaches, specifically), it makes great sense for them to branch out. Many career coaches I know have a diverse network of people who need their services. The occupations they don’t specialize in are referred to other career coaches.

2nd place: Your LinkedIn profile

Go figure, the profile isn’t as sexy as engagement. But I suppose this matters who you ask. Many of the people who chose engagement are those who are gainfully employed. The poll question begins with, “During the job search….” I guess this bit of clarification was overlooked.

Nonetheless, a profile that is optimized and brands you is important no matter your situation. Someone who’s in marketing or sales needs to be able to demonstrate their marketing or sales prowess to convince visitors of their credibility, correct?

A job seeker definitely has to have a profile that contains the proper keywords and delivers a value proposition. Branding is essential in the job search and this is where it starts. But branding also comes through thoughtful and consistent engagement. In fact, LinkedIn says your profile needs more than keywords:

More keywords aren’t always better – Our advice would be to avoid overfilling your profile with keywords and only include the keywords that best reflect your expertise and experience. If you integrate an extended list of keywords into your profile, it’s likely that your profile will be filtered out by our spam detection algorithms, which will negatively impact your appearance in search results.

I chose engagement as the most important component of the three. This leads me back to my statement above about thinking when you build it, they will come. Too many job seekers think this way. It’s like storing their resume on job boards like Indeed.com, Monster.com, and the others.

The winner: Engagement

I tell my clients that their profile is important, but it’s also important to engage with their network. Yet many of them don’t get it. I don’t think the “build it and they will come” attitude prevents them from engaging; I think they lack the confidence or don’t feel they have the right to express their expertise.

First of all, you have expertise in your field and, therefore, shouldn’t question your right to engage with your connections. One memorable client once told me this. He was the former director of communications for one of the largest school districts on the east coast. He was obviously a strong writer who had a lot to share.

My clients often ask me how they can engage with their connections. The first and most obvious way to engage is through personal messaging. You won’t reach as many people this way, but you can develop and nurture relationships.

Other ways to engage with your connections include:

1. Sharing and commenting on articles that will add value to them (just be sure to tag the writer of said article.

2. Writing long posts in which you express your thoughts and expertise.

3. Contribute to other’s long posts.

4. share photos and thoughtful captions.

5. and ask questions. These are a few ways to engage with your connections.

Easy peasy. Yet, it’s people like me and some of the others who voted for this component who are comfortable expressing their views. To call us exhibitionist would be crude, but maybe there’s a little bit of that going around.

In all fairness, I think the poll should have more clearly stated that those who voted must have thought about the LinkedIn campaign in terms of job seekers. Or at least more job seekers should have voted.

What some of the voters said

Virginia Franco: This is like asking which of my children is my favorite!!! No fair Bob McIntosh, CPRW! OK – if I have to pick I’d say the focused network – given that so many roles are filled through referral.

Hannah Morgan: Virginia Franco and Bob McIntosh, CPRW having a “meaningful” network is important. I don’t think that it necessarily needs to be consistent or Like-minded. Don’t we learn from those with diverse or different backgrounds? And how will we ever grow if we only “hang” with people who think like us? More importantly, growing our network with people who are in new industries or areas helps with survival (and career change).

Jennifer Bangoura: Wow! I am consistently surprised by these LinkedIn poll results – to me a focused network was the obvious choice, but I see I’m in the minority with that opinion 🙂 It seems like the other two options are of course important, but they ring a bit hollow if you’re not branding/engaging with the network you want to move into or galvanize. Interesting!

Jeff Young: 1st degree connection: Bob McIntosh, CPRW like many others, I think any ONE or TWO of these things is not going to make you successful. Therefore, I wish to cast my vote for all three. Since you forced me to vote for one above, I voted for Profile, because IMHO you have to start with that BEFORE you can work on the other two.

NAMASTE 🙏 🖖 Network And Make All Sorts of Terrific Energy

Maureen McCann: They’re interconnected.

1. You could have the best profile, but if you don’t engage with your network, then all you have is some window dressing.

2. You could have a focused-network, but if your profile is weak, you’re making a not-so-stellar impression on each person in that network

3. You could engage with people consistently, but if you are engaging with people outside your target, are you spinning your wheels and wasting a lot of time?

This is a tough choice, Bob. I want to pick all three!

If I had to pick, I’d say Branding/Optimized profile, with the hope you’d use it to network with your target audience and engage them consistently.

Ana Lokotkova: I’d love to choose all three, because all of these are important parts of a well-crafted LinkedIn strategy. I’m leaning a bit more towards consistent engagement for 2 reasons:

1 – It amplifies the results the other two can get you,

2 – It’s the one thing so many people overlook while focusing on the other two points. Consistent engagement is that one secret sauce that separates people who get great results out of LinkedIn from the ones who don’t see any results and wonder what they’ve been doing wrong.

Jessica Hernandez: That’s a tough one because as you said, they’re all important. However, if you’re engaging on LinkedIn and building your network but your profile is empty or weak you’re only holding yourself back. I think having a branded profile is the most important so that you have a strong presence to point your network to when you’re job searching.

Austin Belcak: Consistent engagement for me Bob McIntosh, CPRW! I know people who have professional headshots, custom cover photos, amazing About sections and…nobody finds them because they don’t put themselves out there.

I also know people with bare bones profiles who are consistently showing up and engaging with others. They’re getting tons of opportunities.

The most powerful way to leverage this platform is by showing up for others. That’s how you build the focused/like-minded network.

Jim Peacock: I think your branding needs to be the 1st step, so that when you go to network, you look your best. And when you do your “consistent engagement” your brand is still representing you. If you don’t get the branding right, then your networking and engagement is compromised.

Heather Spiegel: I echo what Maureen said! It’s hard to really choose one. However, to flip things, I think people spend the least amount of time on consistent engagement. Because it’s hard and sometimes it’s uncomfortable. However, building your network and consistently learning from the feedback and insights of your connections (and continually gaining comfort with sharing your unique value proposition) is invaluable in advancing your job search.

Sarah Elkins (she, her): Consistent engagement demonstrates your values and skills if you do it well. That means explaining why you’re sharing content, posting original content, and adding value in your comments.

This is far more effective than telling people what you do!

Photo by RUN 4 FFWPU on Pexels.com

Your LinkedIn profile alone won’t get you an interview

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Here are the 3 components of your LinkedIn campaign that will.

If you think your LinkedIn profile alone will get you an interview, you’re sadly mistaken. I wish it were that easy. Imagine that you could write a great profile and wait for the interview offers to roll in. Sadly, this is not the case; it takes more than just your LinkedIn profile to get to interviews.

This isn’t to say you don’t need a LinkedIn profile that is optimized with keywords and brands you with the proper message. It will have to show the value you’ll deliver to potential employers with strong accomplishments, preferably with quantified results.

Enough of the profile for now. You can read about how to create one at the end of this article. Let’s start with two components of your LinkedIn campaign that might be considered even more important than your LinkedIn profile.

1. Let’s talk about networking

It’s not evident to enough people that the foundation LinkedIn is built on is making connections and nurturing relationships. Yes, creating a strong profile is important, as is engaging with others; but building your LinkedIn network is essential to getting to interviews.

How NOT to Connect

The number one rule when connecting with LinkedIn members is to send a personalized invitation. There is no deviating from this rule. To click “Send now” lacks creativity and is lazy. Instead, always choose “Add a note.”

The following ways to connect will not give you the opportunity to send a personalized invitation:

“Your contact import is ready” and then choosing to send mass invites to your email contacts. You’ll find this option in the drop-down tab “My Network” on the top navigation bar.
“People you may know.” This option is also in “My network.” When you click Connect, your invite goes straight to the recipient. No chance to write a personal invitation.
Connecting with someone on your mobile app by simply hitting the connect button. This, like the aforementioned ways to connect will send along the default message.

The Correct Ways to Connect

Connecting correctly simply means taking the time to read a potential connection’s LinkedIn profile and then writing a personalized invitation. This is covered in step 4 below.

You can connect with second and third degree connections. You should focus on your second-degree connections first, but your might come across third-degree connections with whom you’d like to connect. For third degree connections, LinkedIn hides the connect request under the three horizontal boxes beside the message box.

Contrary to what many believe, you can connect with the LinkedIn mobile app and still send a personalized invite. It’s tempting to simply click “Connect,” but open the person’s profile first and then select the drop-down box. I’ve been guilty of accidentally hitting the connect button without going a person’s profile.

With Whom to Connect

Your LinkedIn network is your life blood. Without a strong network of people, you won’t be successful on LinkedIn. If you are weary of reaching out to people you don’t know, you’ll have to get over it. I tell my clients that the only way they’ll get to know people is by inviting them to their network, or accepting invites from the proper people.

LinkedIn members have opinions on how many people should be in their network. Some believe a smaller, more focused network is better; whereas others believe the more the better. How many people you have in your network is your prerogative.

Note: If you have less than 400 connections, you might not be taken seriously by some recruiters.

Regardless of how many people you would like to connect with, there are tiers of people you’ll want to approach. Note: these are interchangeable.

1st tier: Former colleagues and supervisors, as well as vendors, partners, distributors, etc. Connecting with these people first makes the most sense, as they know your work and can vouch for you.

2nd tier: People who work in your Target companies. Connecting with this group is your “in” to companies for which you’d like to work. Try to connect with people at your level or a someone who might supervise you.

3rd tier: Recruiters are an important group of people for many job seekers. I always suggest to my clients that they reach out to recruiters, as they have a pipeline of employers job seekers are unaware of.

4th tier: Same occupation, same industry. As an example, you’re an accountant in the manufacturing industry. You will search for other accountants in your industry.

5th tier: Same occupation but different industry. They have less in common with you, but can also be of assistance. A project manager in the software industry may know project managers in the medical device industry, and therefore can introduce you to them.

6th tier: Your alumni can be beneficial to you because of the bond you share–you attended the same university. This tier of people is particularly helpful to post grads entering the workforce who need connections to certain companies.

Tip: to get on someone’s radar or to be noticed by companies’ recruiters, follow said person and the the companies for which you’d like to work. Then comment on what your party of interests writes (this is discussed below).

How to Write Proper Invite Messages

The art of connecting with LinkedIn members is in the message you craft. There are essentially three types of messages:

The cold message. This is the most difficult to write successfully. In your message you need to provide a reason why your desired connection should join your network.

Using a reference. This message should garner success as long as the person you reference is well known and trusted by your desired connection. It’s important that your reference agrees to being mentioned in your invite message.

Asking for an introduction. This process is longer but involves sending a separate message or email to a trusted reference who can vouch for you. The person making the introduction for you must be a first degree connection with you and the recipient.

For the full article on how to send connection invites, read 3 Proper Ways for Job Seekers to Send Invites to Potential LinkedIn Connections

2. Be engaged, not just active, with your connections

To land an interview by using LinkedIn, you’ll have to show your areas of expertise or thought leadership. The key to doing this is engaging with your network and not just being active.

Write comments

To be engaged, you must read the post, interpret it’s message, and then Comment on said post. Do this first and then react to it. The poster will appreciate that you took the time to read their post. This can lead to further communications between you and the poster.

When you’re engaged, you elaborate further and demonstrate that you read the post, processed it, and respond to it in detail. For example:

“Great post, Susan. Your statement about a company lacking a social media campaign being akin to living in the dark ages really resonated with me. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and other platforms can create that ‘like, know, and trust’ relationship between the company and its’ customers. You’re also correct in stating that all platforms should be connected, as well as linked to and from the company’s website.”

Note: always remember to tag a person with @name so they will be notified in LinkedIn’s Notifications. When you tag someone in a comment, their name will appear in blue.

Write long posts

To stay top of mind, your posts must show engagement. LinkedIn encourages you to share an article, video, photo, or idea. Take the opportunity to engage with your network by providing valuable content to them; content that elicits responses. A sign that you’ve succeeded would be the number of Likes and, more importantly, Comments you receive.

One type of update I find successful is asking an illuminating question. If you’re going to do this, be diligent in replying to your connections’ and followers’ responses. Failing to reply to your connections who answer your question does not demonstrate engagement.

Write and share your own articles

Writing an article with unique and fresh content shows you’ve considered what your audience would benefit from. My primary audience is job seekers and career coaches, so I write articles focusing on the job search and using LinkedIn in the job search. I know I’ve been successful when people react to what I’ve written.

Note: refrain from only sharing your own articles. This gives off the sense of superiority.

I include creating and sharing videos under being engage. This is not a new concept and requires feeling comfortable being recorded. If you are going to share videos, make sure you’re consistent and produce videos your network will appreciate.

Tip: by engaging with the public, your name and Headline will appear in your first-degrees’ timeline, thereby giving you more visibility. Further, if a second- or third-degree connection happens upon what you write, they can share it with their network.

Send direct messages

This is the most obvious way to engage with your connections. You won’t reach as many people as you would by commenting on others’ posts, writing long posts, etc, but it is a sure way to solidify relationships. I write or receive on average at least one direct message a day. These are people with whom I’ve developed a relationship.

3. Yes, you need a profile, and it needs to be strong

You need to know your story. As easy as this sounds, it might take some reflection. For example, are you pursuing similar work? What do you enjoy about your occupation? Adversely, what do you dislike about your work? Importantly, what value do you feel you bring to a company?

Questions like these are necessary to create a compelling profile that sends a strong message that brands you.

Writing your profile

The first rule is that you profile needs to be complete. When I talk to my clients about their profile, I use a checkoff list to guide them through the process. Although there are more than 10 sections that you need to complete, I’ll cover the most important five.

The Headline is a section that can tell visitors your value by your title, areas of expertise, and a branding statement if you want to add one. Here’s an example of one that I consider to be strong.

Career Change Advocate | Certified Career Transition Coach & Resume Writer | LinkedIn, Interview & Job Search Strategist | I help ambitious professionals shift out of soul-sucking work and into meaningful careers

It includes important keywords and adds a little humor in the branding statement. This article talks more about the ways you can write your Headline.

The About section should tell your story. It’s generally longer than a resume Summary statement. Written in first-person point of view, the first paragraph must grab the reader’s attention by talking about how you solve problems or what drives you in your occupation.

Following paragraphs can be examples of your greatness in bullet format. I prefer headers that are written in ALL CAPS to draw the reader’s attention to them. Here’s an example for a Information Systems Department Director who wants to highlight their ability to develop business:

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Specializing in new project planning and achieving business objectives, I budget hundreds of thousands of dollars in project resources.
I Lead efforts that consistently generate sales exceeding $15K in a competitive pharmaceutical market.

Someone like this might have two or three additional examples of the value they can bring to employers.

Following the examples of what I like to call greatness, the profile writer might write about their client’s personality traits in the form of brief examples or even testimonials.

The Experience area is where you will take painstaking efforts to turn your duties into accomplishments. But before this, I like to ask my clients to give me a brief explanation of their overall responsibilities or even a mission statement. This is what I have on my profile:

I’m more than a webinar designer and presenter; I’m a career coach and LinkedIn trainer who constantly thinks of ways to better market my clients in their job search. Through disseminating trending job-search strategies, I increase their chances of finding jobs.

Here’s one example of turning a mundane duty into an accomplishment statement:

The duty: Used Lean methodology to increase productivity in a supply chain operation.

The accomplishment statement: I Increased productivity 80%—over a 3-month period—by employing Lean methodology in supply-chain operations. My CEO gave me kudos for this achievement.

Don’t be afraid to write some or all of your accomplishment statements in first-person point of view. Remember, you’re adding personality to this online document.

Education section. You earned Magna Cum Laude in university. I strongly suggest you include it in this section. As well, if you earned a degree while working full-time, include this in the description box. This makes the reader feel that you’re diligent and have strong time-management skills.

Skills and Endorsements. The reason why you need to focus on this section is because they will appear in recruiters’ premium package. You’re allowed to list up to 50 skills, but only list the ones that are relevant. And as far as endorsements go, they are looked upon favorably by recruiters. Want endorsements? Endorse others and hope they will return the favor.

Optimize your profile

Ensure your LinkedIn profile contains the proper keywords that will help you be found by recruiters and other visitors. The more keywords you have in heavily weighed sections, namely your Headline and job titles, the higher you’ll appear in searches.

Going beyond

Engaged—I’m brought back to the party analogy, where the person simply shows up and makes no effort to engage. I’m talking about going beyond the conversations you have with your LinkedIn connections. Yes, they constitute engagement; but there’s no effort to solidify the relationship.

Truly engaged—To truly show engagement, you must follow up with your connections. I have developed many relationships by reaching out to them via telephone, if they live a distance away, or meeting them, if they don’t live that far away. One of my connections and I had been exchanging discussions via LinkedIn. Yesterday we had our first phone conversation. Although we will not do business together, it was great finally “meeting” her on the phone.

10 Reasons to Dump Someone from Your LinkedIn Network

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Last night I received a message from a connection that read, “Bob; Good day. We spoke a couple of years ago about possible synergies. I want to speak with [one of your connections] about possible joint venture opportunities given our similar investment banking backgrounds. I was wondering if you could introduce me to [name]? Not a recommendation, simply a referral.”

I didn’t recall the connection, so I looked further back in Messaging and found our last transaction. It read, “Bob: I apologize for [blowing you off] a client call came up. I had a chance to think about our pre-holiday conversation. I don’t see a lot of synergies in our businesses for referrals. I think I will say best of luck!”

I had been ghosted. Not only that; my connection’s message reeked with arrogance and was poorly written. The good thing about this transaction almost a year ago was that it gave me the idea to write an article called, When ghosting is just plain wrong and invited him to read it. Apparently it made no effect on him.

From this intrusion last night, I decided to remove him from my network without guilt. I’m not one to act on impulse; it takes some thought before dumping someone from my network. But his bold request without apology for ghosting me in the past made it all so easy.

Rudeness

I call rudeness one of the reasons to remove someone from your network. To some this might seem a bit harsh on my part, but I believe making a request to introduce you to another LinkedIn member requires etiquette. How do I know this person won’t be as rude to my connections? I don’t.

In a poll I conducted yesterday, one of 1,533 who’ve voted called me “petty” for dumping this person from my network. Others asked if it was fair of me for not helping him. Check out what others are saying to: “Have you removed someone from your network?”
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Here are other reasons why you shouldn’t feel guilty for removing connections from your network in no particular order.

Stalking and sexual harassment

It is unforgivable to stalk someone on a regular or daily basis regardless of gender. You wouldn’t want this to take place at work or in your daily life. Are you getting the sense that someone is following your every move on LinkedIn? Why should you put up with this on LinkedIn or any social media, for that matter? You shouldn’t.

Lately I’ve been seeing a prevalence of inappropriate advances toward my fellow female LinkedIn members. The offenders making the advances are mostly not in their victims’ networks; but if they are they should not only be removed, they should also be reported to LinkedIn.

Bullying

My valued connection, Shelly Elsliger, has made it her mission to prevent bullying on LinkedIn. She started a #decidetobekind campaign, of which I’m a member. (I have my blue wristband.) You’ve experienced bullying if, for example, you’ve been abused verbally on LinkedIn or someone has spread damaging rumors about you.

My experience with bullying came in the form of someone who started off harmless enough until his rhetoric became increasingly more aggressive. It got to the point where he took pot shots at my LinkedIn profile saying my profession is trivial. Another connection of mine experienced the same behavior from him. We dumped him from out networks.

Plagiarism

This is unforgivable. I’ve heard from valued connections about how the resumes they wrote for clients were duplicated by other resume writers. There have also been bloggers who have seen their writing show up on another blog without their permission, me included.

Universities would expel students who plagiarized. What makes it acceptable for professionals to do the same? Nothing. If I am going to include someone’s article on my blog, I will ask their permission and give them attribution for their work.

More on ghosting

Ghosting has been a hot topic as of late. Andrew Seaman, senior editor at LinkedIn, thought it was so important a topic that he interviewed me for an article. I said to him that ghosting goes both ways; job candidates get ghosted and hiring authorities get ghosted. It’s never right to do this to another person.

If you are a job seeker and a recruiter who you’re connected with doesn’t get back to you when they said they would, hold off on dumping them from your network. Give it multiple efforts of trying to reach said person before pulling the trigger. Being busy is not a reason for ghosting someone in the hiring process, either way.

Bait and Switch

This type of connection is short lived with me and other LinkedIn members. They will invite you to their network, and once you have accepted, or maybe after two correspondences, will show their true colors. They will ask for a phone conversation to discuss possible synergy. The bait and switch.

I recall one person who she wanted to collaborate on possible clients. She asked me to meet on Skype. No sooner had I joined here for the session, she asked me to go to a website for selling hygienic products for men and women. To make matters worse, I put aside valuable time to meet with this person.

Not part of your networking plan

Is your network comprised of like-minded people? I’m not talking only about people who do the type of work you do and in the same industry. I’m also talking about people in other industries where you share similar interests.

You might wonder why it’s important to have like-minded people. The answer is simple; the best way to help your audience is by understanding their interests so you can lead them to opportunities, provide the advice they need, and share valuable information.

My network consists of people in career development, bloggers, marketing, social media, education, and others of whom share my interests. I also have people of dissimilar interests who might be interested in reading my career advice.

Writing negative comments

Do you have a connection or two who criticizes employers, write about politics or religion, and otherwise embarrasses themselves? This kind of rhetoric is draining on me. And I wonder if remaining connected to what I call angry connections makes me guilty by association.

I have been very close to dumping one of my connections because of the negativity he spewed on LinkedIn. Others in my network agreed that this person needed to “reign it in.” He was hurting himself in his job search. What made me not remove him from my network is beyond me.

Trolling

Similar to bullying, trolling is known as blatantly criticizing what most people write. Trolls pop up in the comments of LinkedIn influencers. And if the influencers try to fight fire with fire, they are no better than the trolls themselves.

Trolls can also be subtle. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been trolled. But what irks me most is when someone takes a subtle jab at my posts or articles. If you want to criticize my opinions, I welcome it as long as it’s done with respect.

Pruning

You might feel the need to “prune” your network like a bush. This is similar to your connections not being part of your network but for a different reason. You might have reached your limit of 30,000 connections.

I connected with someone who told me that she first needed to remove people from her network in order to accept my invitation. LinkedIn Open Networkers (LIONs) collect connections for various reasons, so once they’ve reached the threshold, they need to offload some of them.

If I come across as a ruthless person who will drop someone from my network at a moment’s notice, this isn’t me. I have removed no more than five LinkedIn members from my network. In the poll I conducted yesterday on this topic, some of the voters were outspoken about how unfair I was.

This said, if any of your connections have committed the above “sins,” don’t hesitate from removing them from your network. It is your right and they won’t be notified.

Everyone can use advice on their LinkedIn campaign in these 3 areas

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I recently completed teaching an online LinkedIn seminar. As the role of the instructor, it’s assumed that I know more than the students. This is probably true but there’s always something you can learn from your charges. If not, what’s the sense of being an instructor?

I had this great idea to ask my students to be the teacher and teach me how to write a better profile, create a more effective network, and how to engage with my network. Some of them wrote that as the instructor, how can my LinkedIn campaign be improved.

The answer to this question is revealed in a poll I started on LinkedIn yesterday, 79% of the 1,859 voters say to “Bring it on” when it comes to feedback. So, feedback for even some of the best LinkedIn users is considered a good thing to receive.

I was looking for honest critique from my students. This is what one of the students wrote about my profile:

This is a matter of preference, but for the headline, the way that it is written sounds like a commercial to me.

Ouch was my first reaction. But then I thought about it, she might have a point. I’ll have to revisit.

About creating and maintaining my network, the same person wrote:

Are there specific goals you have, such as connecting with more potential clients or identifying organizations that you want to provide training for? The exercises we did in this class are great for any stage, including identifying organizations.

She makes an excellent point. I should connect with people at companies where I’d like to provide LinkedIn training.

Another student wrote about my engagement:

One question I have that keeps niggling in the back of my mind is you actually have a tab titled Introverts on your thingscareerrelated.com blog. This seems like an area of interest, yet I don’t feel like I see a regular smattering of posts related to this topic

I thought this was incredibly insightful. She had taken the time to read through my blog and notice that one of the tabs is Introverts. Perhaps she is one herself and wanted to read my musings on preferring Introversion, and perhaps she was disappointed to find a limited number of articles.

These were just some of the observations a talented group of people offered up. There were many more. (In retrospect, I should have made this two- to three-page essay all about how they would teach their students/clients how to create a successful LinkedIn campaign.)

But I’m glad I gave them the opportunity to critique my LinkedIn campaign, and I think you should have others do the same for you. It could be incredibly helpful, providing you have thick skin (joking…no, not joking) and are willing to accept some of their advice.

Choose what you want critiqued

This isn’t a seminar. Ask the person who will critique your your LinkedIn campaign (I’ll call them “your mate”) to critique part of your LinkedIn campaign, not all of it. Ask them to be honest, keeping in mind that you can implement their suggestions or ignore them.

Profile

It’s all about value through branding and optimization. Ask your mate to read it in its entirety to get a sense of the message you’re trying to deliver. Is it making a strong overall branding statement? Does it come across as a profile that shows the value you deliver to employers or business partners?

Ask them to examine every section of your profile, especially:

Background image: is it industry related and of high quality?
Photo: this is what people will see in their stream and other pages on your LinkedIn account, so make it recent and of high quality.
Headline: some say this is the most important part of your profile. Make sure it contains the keywords for which employers are searching. You might also include a branding statement.
Activity section: more on this later; but suffice to say this is a tell-tale sign of your engagement on LinkedIn. One of my student delved into my Activity secion.
About: story, story, story. What’s your passion? Who do you do what you do for? Do you show immediate value with accomplishments? Why, who, what.
Experience: the person critiquing your profile should look for an accomplishment-rich section. Write this in first person point of view like your About section.
Education: There’s a story to tell her, believe it or not. What were your personal experiences while at University? Were you captain of a D-1 team? Did you work full-time while earning your degree.

These are some of the details your mate should look for. Provide some guidance as to what to look for. A detailed critique—like the one one of my student provided—will include comments on the other sections.

Network

This is a tough one for your mate to critique. The most obvious indicator is how many people show under your headline. LinkedIn only reveals 500+ which means the user can have 501, 1,000, 5,000 or 30,000 connections (the limit). If you have 250 connections, this might one of your mate’s concern.

Your mate will have to ask how many connections you have. They can find this under your My Connections tab, providing you give them access to your profile (requires your password). But it’s against LinkedIn’s rules to give access to your LinkedIn account.

The most important aspect of network is the modus operandi of your connections. In other words, which occupations and industries are they in? I suggest that a strong network would consist of 80% of like-minded occupations/industries.

For example, the like-minded people in my network would be career developers, recruiters, HR, and those in the industry Professional Training and Coaching. I also like to connect with people in academia and companies of interest. Remember what one of my students wrote:

Are there specific goals you have, such as connecting with more potential clients or identifying organizations that you want to provide training for? The exercises we did in this class are great for any stage, including identifying organizations.

The person critiquing your profile should recognize some tell-tale signs that show whom you’re connected with. They are your Skills and Endorsements section, Recommendations, and way down at the bottom in your Interests section the groups you’re in and even the companies you follow.

Lastly, ask your mate how you’re sending invites to potential connections. Are you personalizing the invites or are you simply hitting send without a note? The former is the correct answer. Many people who I’ve queried didn’t realize you could send a personalized invite. The person critiquing your network will be wise to ask this question.

Engagement

Another poll I conducted revealed that the majority of people feel that engagement is the most important aspect of your LinkedIn campaign. For some it’s also the most difficult to master, especially for job seekers who haven’t been using LinkedIn since losing their job. If you’ve been using LinkedIn regularly, this is a different matter.

There’s one sure way for your mate to determine how engaged you are on LinkedIn, it’s by visiting your Activity section and clicking on All Activity and Posts. Articles and Documents are a nonentity at this point. Very few people are writing articles; if anything they’re pumping out long posts.

You should demonstrate a consistent amount of engagement. Some say four times a week is sufficient, others claim every day is appropriate. How often you engage depends on the type of engagement:

Sharing long posts: this is the rave these days. Your post should show thoughtfulness and be relevant to your audience. It’s also wise to tag LinkedIn members if you want them to see your posts.
Commenting on other’s long posts: just as important is commenting on what other’s share. LinkedIn’s algorithm looks at both sides of the coin, sharing long posts and commenting on them. Your mate should take not of this. If you are only sharing, this comes across as narcissistic.
Sharing articles and commenting on them: I tell my clients that this is the best way to start engaging. Your mate should check to see if you’re comments are sincere, that you’ve actually read the articles.
Writing articles using LinkedIn’s Publisher feature: as mentioned before, this is not being done as much as it was in the past. There are many reasons for this, one of which is LinkedIn doesn’t promote one’s articles; it’s up to you to do that.
Asking a simple question: this is something I like to do on occasion. Your mate should see if you’re doing this as well and that your questions have a purpose.

Follow these people to learn how to engage. This is what your mate should be telling you. You can learn a lot from the information people in your network (remember, like-minded) share. Here is a partial list of the people I follow: Sarah Johnston; Hannah Morgan; Austin Belcak; Kevin Turner; Mark Anthony Dyson; Laura Smith-Proulx; Susan Joyce, and Adrienne Tom. There are many more.

Numbers do matter. Who you’re following and/or connected with does help you gain more visibility. For example, if you mention any of the aforementioned people in a long post, you’re more likely to get more people seeing your post. The same applies to commenting on their posts. Unfortunately, it is a numbers game.

Return the favor

If you’re looking for help with your LinkedIn campaign, be willing to reciprocate by critiquing the other person’s campaign. If the person feels they don’t want the favor returned, do it for someone else. Pay it forward. (For the seminar, I critiqued three of the students’ profiles for which they were very grateful.)

Here’s a guideline to follow in terms of your full-blown critique:

It’s all important when it comes to your LinkedIn campaign

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An optimized profile is important, but it’s not the end all be all. A strong LinkedIn campaign also includes a focused network and engagement. This is clear based on a poll I conducted on LinkedIn. At the end of the poll, 787 people weighed in. I would say this is a legitimate case study.

As you can see from the poll, 49% of the voters gave the nod to “They’re Equally Important,” but that answer was too easy in retrospect. So “Engagement with One’s Network” earns the champion’s cup with nine more percentage points than the profile and network options combined.

Hold on a second, you’re probably thinking, “How can one even engage without a profile or a focused network?” This is a good point. My question is, “Would you show up to a dinner with a pie that is short by one-third? The point is that you need all of it to be successful.

An optimized profile is not enough

Linkedin declared this a while back when their members were loading their profiles with keywords, namely in the headline and position titles. I once came upon a profile that had—no lie—approximately 900 instances of “web designer” on it. Things were getting crazy.

It’s widely agreed that one needs at least to have a quality photo and a strong headline to start their LinkedIn campaign. But surely that’s not enough.

There’s also an industry-related background photo to consider. You can go with the light-blue, dot-line, thingy LinkedIn provides as the default image, but that’s a sign of, “I didn’t know I can change it,” “I don’t have time to change it,” or “I don’t give a damn.”

Your About section has become the talk of the town. Tell your story, show your value, have a Call to Action, are familiar pieces of advice you’ve heard. I wrote on this subject when it was still called a Summary. Rather than repeat what I’ve written, I ask you to read the article.

I constantly complain that people don’t explain what they’ve done at their positions. It’s as if the Experience section is an afterthought. And yes, you can write it in the first-person point of view so it doesn’t resemble your resume. Also, just deliver the juicy stuff; don’t include your mundane duties.

Very briefly I’ve explained why you need a profile in order to show your value. You’re probably saying, “But you left out a lot of information.” I have.

The oft-forgotten network

According to the poll, this ranks last at 10% which seems kind of ridiculous. With whom would you communicate without your network? It’s like having no family members, friends, and work associates in your life. You have to have people with whom to share information.

That’s why you need to be selective in terms of who you invite to your network and accept invitations from. You want to have conversations—i.e., long-form posts, shared articles, comments on posts, articles you’ve written—with people who actually care.

I go by the cliche 80-20 rule; 80% of your network should be like-minded, 20% of it people you find interesting. Am I successful in this effort? Do as I say, not what I do.

Of course what you do makes a difference. If you’re looking for work, for example, you want to focus on people who will get you closer to your final destination such as your former colleagues, people at your target companies, recruiters, and like-minded people who are in your industry.

If you’re currently working, your range of connections will be slightly different. You might consider connecting with people in various occupations and industries. Salespeople would connect with people in vertical industries, as would marketers and accountants, etc.

Many of my connections are career coaches who have a client base of a variety of occupations and industries, so they connect with executive level and mid-management job seekers. Nonetheless, they also have in their networks other career developer types.

Engagement is tough but necessary

Returning to job seekers; here’s where many of them drop the ball, and I speculate that if they voted in the poll, they chose either the profile or network options. My reason for saying this is because I rarely see them engaging on LinkedIn.

I see two reasons for this. First, engaging might not be their thing. They might not enjoy writing articles, sharing and commenting on articles, scripting long posts, or even short posts. Furthermore, they probably don’t see the value in becoming visible on LinkedIn. Huge mistake, in my mind.

The second reason they don’t engage is that they don’t feel they have a “right” to. I recall one client who when I asked him why he didn’t engage on LinkedIn, told me this exact reason. And he was a former director of communications. I repeat, a former director of communications.

Another client of mine wrote a wonderful piece on working in chaos and as an executive, he encourages it. He ran the piece by me for my approval but never did anything with it. I bet dollar to a donut now that he’s working he’ll probably turn it into an article. Or maybe not.

The sad fact of the matter is that the majority of LinkedIn members who engage on LinkedIn are the same people over, over, and over. I often think, “Where are the new folks?” When I see new contributors, they engage maybe once or twice.

Here’s the major rule for job seekers: if you’re going to communicate with your network, don’t go at it half-assed. Take the plunge. Job seekers especially need to get their faces and headlines on hiring authorities’ radars.

Read about engaging on LinkedIn here.

And lastly, don’t let low views, reactions, or just a few comments deter you. The people who are getting a lot of love have been at this for a while, but this isn’t their playground. Be the new kid on the block who asks to be part of the pick-up game. The next Michael Jordan.

So yeah, answer number four might have been the easy pick, but this is what it essentially boils down to; you have to focus on all three of the components. Focusing on only your profile won’t garner results. Boasting you have thousands of connections won’t do any good unless you communicate with them. Complete the job by performing all three.

10 LinkedIn New Year resolutions I know I WILL achieve

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Like many people, I dislike New year resolutions, mainly because we rarely achieve them. But this year I’m going to set some resolutions that are attainable. The resolutions I vow to achieve are ones that relate to LinkedIn. These are ones I can do.

I also hope my resolutions will benefit other LinkedIn users, namely job seekers; that they will emulate them. The following are 10 actions I will take in 2020.

1. Reach out to more people in a personal way. Admittedly of the nearly 4,000 connections, I haven’t met, in person, most of them. I plan to meet at least 40 of them. I will be a guest speaker at the Merrimack Valley LinkedInLocal, so this will be a great opportunity. Zoom and Skype count as making a personal connection.

2. Spread the word to people on LinkedIn. There are too many young adults and older adults who are not benefiting from LinkedIn. Sure, they have a LinkedIn account, but they’re not using it as it should be used.

Many people erroneously believe that a profile loaded with keywords will draw the attention of hiring authorities. Read 3 ways job seekers will be found on LinkedIn.

3. Get a newer photo taken. In 2016 I wrote an article entitled 4 ways your LinkedIn photo is an imposter. It feels as though my current photo is now an imposter. I’m thinking that my new one will be more theme-based, maybe one of me talking to a client. I’m not sure yet.

4. Produce even better content. I was awarded one of LinkedIn Top Voices for the content I delivered in 2019. I will continue to write articles, posts, and even videos for the upcoming year, but they will be more focused and relevant. Trending stuff.

5. Be more consistent in posting. Related to number 4, I aim to post at least four articles on a weekly basis. I will also follow my own words and improve how I comment on other’s posts. Sure there will be times when I will only react, but quality comments mean so much more.

6. Become a better curator. There are LinkedIn members who curate other’s content like pure champions. People like Mark Anthony Dyson, Hank Boyer, Sarah Johnston, Hannah Morgan, and Susan Joyce come to mind. Then there are others who only share their content. The ones who only share their content tend not to garner as many viewers.

7. Make my network even more focused. It’s important to create a like-minded network. I’ve done my best to do this, but there are many in my network who are…”dead wood.” They are not like-minded and, therefore, the content we share isn’t relevant.

8. Update my profile. I said earlier I’m going to update my photo but like many, I don’t visit my own profile as often as I should. I need fresh material and to add accomplishments to my Experience section.

9. Follow LinkedIn changes. Admittedly I don’t follow LinkedIn changes as best I can. I’m sure you’re familiar with the feeling of visiting LinkedIn and noticing something has changed, whether it’s small or big. My friend Keven Turner keeps me up to date on these changes.

10. Spend less time on LinkedIn; think quality, not quantity. I estimate that I spend close to an hour, if not more, on LinkedIn per day. I’m also on it every day of the week. The only time I wasn’t on LinkedIn were a few days when I vacationed in Italy. This will be the toughest one.

I’m sure I haven’t covered all I need to improve upon. So I will continue to add to this list of resolutions throughout the year. As a practice, I’m not a fan of New Year resolutions. I haven’t set any for my personal life. Better habits will be developed over time.

I’m curious if you have New Year resolutions for 2020. Feel free to list them in the comment section below or comment on LinkedIn.

Photo: Flickr, cg “Chasing the Light”

The LinkedIn quiz: 50 questions

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In a recent post, I asked my LinkedIn community to take a quiz consisting of 15 questions. Those who took it were honest about their LinkedIn prowess, or lack thereof. I promised in this post that I would reveal the entire quiz I give my clients.

The quiz I give my clients consist of 50 questions. If you decide to take it and don’t score 100%, don’t worry. There is always room for improvement. I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t have a perfect score.

Some of my failures have to do with my inability to perform the “tasks,” some of them are due to caring not to perform the tasks.

We’ll start with the LinkedIn profile. I tell my clients that while it’s important to have a value-based, optimized profile, this is only one-third of the equation. Here we go.

Your Profile

Determined how you want to brand yourself, or deliver your message. Express this on your profile through the following. Answer “yes” or “no” to the following:

My profile is optimized with keywords. ___
I have a background image that is relevant or reflects my personality. ___
My photo is professionally done, or a buddy with a good camera shot it. (No selfies) ___
I have a headline that brands me with keywords or a tagline or both. ___
When you look at my Articles & Activity section, you’ll see I engage on LinkedIn. ___
My Summary, now called About, tells a compelling story that shows value. ___
My Experience section consists of accomplishments, not simply duties. ___
I utilize my Education section to the fullest. For example, I tell readers some of my accomplishments at University. ___
I show my Volunteer experience because employers like people who contribute to the community. ___
I list at least 30 Skills which are endorsed. (Job seekers, you’re given a break on the number of endorsements, but the employed should have at least 50 endorsements per skill.) ___
In my Recommendations section, I have at least 1 recommendation from a supervisor/manager for each position. ___
I’ve written recommendations for my employees, colleagues, vendors, etc. ___
My Accomplishments section has at least one of these: project, publication, patent, language, grades, courses. ___
I have at least media, e.g., audio, video, documents, Slideshare, in either About, Experience, or Education. ___
I post videos on a consistent basis. ___

Total number of yeses ___

Another important part of your LinkedIn campaign is developing your network, which should be large, yet focused. The more homogeneous your network, the more value you’ll add to your connections.

Your network

My goal is to build relationships to land a job or increase sales. ___
I believe that building relationships is about giving. ___
I have 500+ connections. ___
At least 80% of my connections are in my industry. ___
I use All Filters to search for potential connections. ___
I search and connect with people using the Companies feature. ___
I search for people using See Alumni. ___
I know how to use Boolean Search to narrow my search. ___
Before connecting with potential connections, I read their profile in full. Well, mostly. ___
I send cold invites and include a personalized message. ___
I send invites with a personalized message using references. ___
I ask for an introduction from someone in my network to someone with whom I’d like to connect. ___
I thank people for joining my network. ___
I follow up with a message to new connections. ___
I make an effort to call or Zoom/Skype with my new connections. ___

Total number of yeses ___

Your engagement

Here’s where the rubber meets the road; thus, more questions. You’ve created a stellar profile, connected with people in your industry and some verticals; now it’s time to engage with your network and stay top of mind.

I spend at least 30 minutes a day, 4 days a week on LinkedIn. ___
I message my connections on a regular basis. ___
I occasionally use group messaging. ___
My comments are respectful, or I don’t comment at all. ___
I react (Like, Celebrate, Love, Insightful, Curious) to other’s posts. ___
I react (Like, Celebrate, Love, Insightful, Curious) to other’s posts and write a comment for each one. ___
I write my own long posts. ___
I react and/or share articles written by my connnections’ or online publications, for example, The Muse. ___
I react and/or share and comment on articles written by my connnections’ or online publications. ___
I react to people’s videos. ___
I react and comment on other’s videos. ___
I produce my own videos. ___
I use LinkedIn’s Publisher to write articles. ___
When I share someone’s communications, I @ tag them. ___
I use the appropriate number of # hashtags. ___
I endorse my connections. ___
I ask for and write recommendations for my connections. ___
I share my connections’ profiles with other LinkedIn members. ___
I give Kudos to my connections. ___
I use the LinkedIn mobile app. ___

OVERALL number of yeses ___

Legend

45 out of 50 correct: Grand Master
40 out of 50 correct: Very Good
35 out of 50 correct: Good
30 out of 50 correct: Fair
25 out of 50 correct: Needs work

Thank you for taking this quiz. If you are new to LinkedIn, don’t worry about your score; it will increase the more you use LinkedIn. If you are a veteran of LinkedIn, your score should be high. Maybe not perfect, but high.

As always, I’m interested in hearing about other questions I should add to this quiz. I’d like to increase the overall number of questions to at least 60.

9 ways to use LinkedIn to shorten your job search

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If you’re searching for a job, LinkedIn can shorten your search. You’ve probably been told this, but it’s well worth repeating. Hopefully this article will be the push you need to dust off the profile you started years ago but forgot about it like your mother-in-law’s birthday.

Will using LinkedIn alone guarantee that you land your next gig? No; LinkedIn is a great supplement to your in-person networking, but you need to engage in both for a strong networking campaign.

So, how can LinkedIn help you land a job? There are at least eight ways LinkedIn can be one of your best friends in the job search.

It’s where hiring authorities hang out

Almost every recruiter I talk with says LinkedIn is the place to find talent. To them it’s like their favorite diner. Estimates of the percentage of recruiters who use LinkedIn to find talent range from 87 to 95 percent. Either way you slice it, these figures are astonishing.

I’m never surprised these days when clients tell me they were introduced to a company from a recruiter who found their profile on LinkedIn. It also doesn’t surprise me when I’m told my clients were contacted by the VP or president of an organization.

To this point, it’s not only recruiters who look for talent on LinkedIn. Human resources departments, hiring managers, even C-level employees will utilize LinkedIn’s search capabilities.

Your profile is similar to your online résumé but offers more

You might have noticed that the sections of your profile are anchored. Further, you might have noticed that your profile is ordered similar to your résumé. This is because recruiters prefer it this way.

Even so, recruiters will only find your LinkedIn profile if it’s complete and keyword optimized—similar to your résumé up against an applicant tracking system. Like your resume, recruiters expect to see the value you’ll bring to their client.

But let’s be clear, your profile is not your résumé. I often run across profiles that are simply a cut and paste of their résumé. While the two are similar, there are some major differences.

One major difference is that your résumé is sent out in response to a job post, whereas your profile draws hiring authorities to you. Think of your résumé as push technology and your profile as pull technology.

Your résumé should be tailored to each job; your profile doesn’t change as often. Therefore, your profile is more inclusive.

Your profile is also written in first-person- or third-person-point of view. It should tell your story through:

a relevant background image,
quality photo,
branding Headline,
accomplishment statements with quantitative results throughout, and
personable About and Experience sections.

This last point is what makes the LinkedIn profile more enjoyable to read for me. I love a well-told story woven throughout the profile. The résumé comes across as factual and less personable.

Read 8 areas on your LinkedIn profile where you can make your voice heard.

Create a focused network of quality and quantity

Here’s the thing: you can reach out to a bazillion people—LinkedIn’s limit is 30,000—but what good is that if you never interact with a majority of them?

Nonetheless, your LinkedIn network should be focused more on quality, not quantity. What’s a good number of connections I’m asked.

I tell my clients who have started their job search after many years of having to look that 250 connections is respectable. However, they won’t be taken seriously until their network is closer to 500 plus.

The big question is with whom you should connect. The short answer to this is the people who will be of mutual assistance. Your former colleagues are a no-brainer.

Seek out like-minded people next. These are people who do work similar to you, are in the same industry. If you work with recruiters, connect with the ones who serve your industry. They have a pipeline of employers of whom you might not be aware.

I Strongly suggest connecting with people who work in companies for which you want to work. Do this before jobs are advertised at said companies. The idea is to build your foundation before jobs are advertised; penetrate the Hidden Job Market.

Read Ultimate LinkedIn guide, Part 2: How to optimize your LinkedIn network.

Research companies and the people who work there

As I’ve strongly suggested, you should have a list of companies for which you’d like to work. Your list can include 10-15 companies or more. Remember, these are only companies of interest. You can follow companies and research them on their LinkedIn company page.

Of more value is connecting with current and previous employees at these companies. To access these potential connections:

Type in Search the company’s name. I chose IBM.
In the sidebar, click People. I came up with 583,133 employees.
Narrow your search with filters. Here’s my string: IBM, Greater Boston, University of Massachusetts.
My count is now four people who follow that criteria.

With a manageable number of LinkedIn profiles, I can read them with ease. I’m interested in if they currently work there or worked there, their previous experience, their Volunteer Experience, and other information with which we have something in common.

Your next step is to send an invite to people of interest. Do not make the ask in your first invite; rather comment on their posts, send personal messages, and engage with them in other ways. When a job becomes available, contact them to see if they can be of assistance, tell you more about the position or possibly deliver your résumé to the hiring manager.

Engage with your network

Once you’ve developed your network, you need to engage with them. This means sending personal messages, commenting on their posts or articles, creating your own posts, providing information on your occupation or industry, etc.

You will further brand yourself by providing valuable content to your network. I challenge you to write articles using LinkedIn’s Publishing feature. Although you might not get hundreds of likes and comments immediately, it’s a start to demonstrating your though leadership.

It floored me one day when a client of mine told me that because he was out of work, he didn’t feel he had the right to even write a long post. Hogwash. Anyone who has expertise to share, employed or not, has the “right” to share their expertise.

The bottom line: if you don’t engage with your connections, you’re out of sight, out of mind. There are some connections who I miss when I don’t see their comments or shares with their thoughts. Also realize there’s a difference between engagement and activity.

Read 6 ways to engage on LinkedIn, not just active

LinkedIn is the number 3 job board…for now

Polls are as good as a the source that provides the ranking. A more recent poll puts LinkedIn as the number 3 job board out there, with Indeed.com topping the challengers. I also saw a poll which put LinkedIn at the top and Indeed third. Go figure.

Nonetheless here are some notable benefits of using LinkedIn Jobs (its job board).

With the basic feature, you can use Easy Apply, which is…easy to use. The idea behind this feature is that you send your profile directly to employers (another reason why your profile needs to be strong) along with your résumé.
LinkedIn purported in April that there were 20 million jobs advertised on LinkedIn.
The company also claims, “a hire is made every eight seconds on LinkedIn…” I buy that!
LinkedIn Jobs also has some pretty cool features which allow you to choose the date it was posted, people who are in your network for each job, companies that are offering your desired position, experience level, and more.
One feature I enjoy showing my clients is who posted the position. I encourage them to reach out to this person to forward their résumé to them, or to learn a bit more about the position.
The Careers premium account shows you how many people have applied to the position, the skills you have or are lacking, the educational degrees applicants possess.

I’m not a huge fan of job boards—I rather see people use in-person networking coupled with LinkedIn. However, I never discourage my clients from using them. I know plenty of people who landed interviews by using them.

Introverts dig LinkedIn

As an introvert, I can attest to the comfort of communicating through writing. It allows me to compose my thoughts—multiple times if necessary—before releasing them to the world. Read 6 reasons why introverts prefer to write.

This said, I know plenty of great writers who are extraverts. My MBTI champion, Edythe Richards, always reminds me that both dichotomies are capable of demonstrating introverted and extraverted traits. She is an extravert and a great writer, by the way.

My belief is that introverts find it easier networking online than in person. Thus, they favor using LinkedIn over going to networking events. First of all, I get that. Second of all, this is not a way to conduct your Networking campaign.

Your connections aren’t bona fide until you reach out the them in a personal way. This deserves repeating. Even if you aren’t into large networking events, you can get together in smaller groups, affectionately called Buddy Groups.

I’ll contradict myself here: one of my best connections is someone I’ve yet to meet in person. We have spoken on the phone many times and Zoomed on occasion. So I feel like I know him well. Jim, you know I’m talking about you. And, yes, we’ll eventually meet in Maine.

You can take it on the go

Approximately 60% of LinkedIn members use their LinkedIn mobile app, which isn’t a surprise; we bring our phone with us wherever we go. I’m constantly on my phone, checking email, LinkedIn, Facebook, my blog, and WhatsApp. You get it.

Using your LinkedIn app can help you stay in touch with your connections for potential networking opportunities, recruiters and other hiring authorities, as well as being alerted to jobs that might be appropriate for you.

In addition, you can write posts and reply to posts, further contributing to your engagement.

I’m highly encouraged when I ask my workshop attendees if they have the LinkedIn app installed on their phone; most of them do.

The computer UI has increasingly been developing to resemble the mobile app. You’ll notice the look and feel is similar. There are some features the app has which the computer doesn’t, and vice versa. Anyway you look at it, you should be using both platforms to enhance your job search.

Follow up

Now that you’ve done the heavy lifting, it’s time to seal the deal. You’ve build a strong profile, created a focused network, and have engaged with your connections. You’ve even started using the LinkedIn App. Why waste all this effort?

Email, call, meet your valuable connections for coffee. Stay in touch with them. Send them articles of interest. Every once in awhile let them know about your status. Have you interviewed lately. How did your interviews go. And, oh by the way, would you keep your ear to the pavement for me.

No pressure. Keep it friendly and low key. No desperation. Simply stay on your connections’ radar.

These are nine ways you can use LinkedIn to shorten your job search. Keep in mind that in order to benefit from LinkedIn, you have to put effort into it.

The number one area I see lacking in job seekers is engaging with their connections. Let me reiterate, you have the right and reason to engage with your connections. Remember this.

Photo: Flickr, Christine Hueber

7 reasons why you should be on LinkedIn

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In almost every LinkedIn workshop I deliver someone asks me if it’s necessary to be on LinkedIn. Secretly I think they don’t want to make the effort to create a profile, develop a network, and engage with their connections. I get it. It’s like taking up jogging and wanting immediate results.

To go into explaining why these few hesitant people should be on LinkedIn would take hours to explain. Instead, I’ll direct them to this article which gives seven sound reasons why job seekers and business people should be on LinkedIn.

1. Your industry/occupation is well represented

The first thing to consider is if you’re in an industry/occupation that’s well represented on LinkedIn. If so, you definitely should be on LinkedIn. From an article on LinkedIn I found the following table:

INDUSTRY	Ranking 2019	# People	Ranking 2020	# People	Ranking 2021	# People
Information Technology and Services	1	19,197000	1	20,100,000	1	20,400,000
Hospital & Health Care	2	14,504,000	2	15,200,000	2	15,700,000
Construction	3	14,258,000	3	14,900,000	3	15,1000,00
Retail	5	11250000	4	12100000	4	12600000
Education Management	4	11429000	5	12000000	5	11800000
Financial Services	6	10379000	6	11100000	6	11300000
Accounting	7	9463000	7	10200000	7	10400000
Computer Software	8	8845000	8	9920000	8	9640000
Higher Education	10	8227000	11	9000000	9	9350000
Automotive	9	8520000	9	9230000	10	9210000
Government Administration	12	8191000	12	8860000	11	8910000
Marketing & Advertising	11	8201000	10	9010000	12	8720000
Banking	13	8051000	13	8790000	13	8580000
Health, Welness & Fitness	14	7265000	14	7950000	14	7770000
Real Estate	15	7190000	15	7850000	15	7600000
Food & Beverages	18	6476000	17	7290000	16	7370000
Telecommunications	16	6643000	16	7640000	17	6950000
Oil & Energy	17	6486000	18	7040000	18	6830000
Hospitality	19	5690000	19	6260000	19	6110000
Mechanical or Industrial Engineering	20	5610000	20	6190000	20	5970000

“While there was some movement among the industries, the top industries remained largely unchanged. The five most popular industries were ‘Information technology and services,’ Hospital Health Care,’ ‘Construction,’ ‘Retail,’ and ‘Education management,'”

5. You want to present yourself well on LinkedIn

First and foremost, you need a Powerful LinkedIn profile. If creating a LinkedIn profile gives you panic attacks, simply copy what you have on your resume and past it to your profile. But….You’ll need to further develop your profile to the point where it resembles personal resume. In other words, you’ll have to include and develop the following:

Background image that reflects your occupation, industry, or interests.
Quality photo that is professional (headshot and shoulders) or theme-based.
Headline that brands you with keywords or a branding statement.
Kick-ass Summary that tells your story. Write this in first person point of view.
Robust Article & Activities section
Experience section laden with accomplishments, also written in first person point of view. Yes, it can be done.
Education section that goes beyond your resume’s. Talk about what happened when you were in school.
Licenses and Certifications. Volunteer experience. Skills to be endorsed. Recommendations. Accomplishments.

These are the sections that constitute your LinkedIn profile. However, too many people make the mistake of stopping here.

You want to build your online network. The second piece of the LinkedIn Campaign puzzle is developing a focused, yet large network. Your network should consist of people who are like-minded. My goal is to maintain a network that comprises 80% of people who are in the same occupation and industry.

However, everyone, job seeker or employed, should extend beyond people in their occupation and industry. Below is a pyramid of various types of potential connections. I list the most important people with whom you should connect from the bottom up.

Read this post to learn how to optimize your network: The ultimate LinkedIn guide: how to optimize your network

You want to engage with your network. You’re finally there. Now you need to communicate with your connections to solidify your community, or tribe. There are many ways to to engage with your connections. Here are some examples:

Direct messaging your connections.
Writing long posts to express your views. Yes, even if you’re unemployed, you should share your expertise.
Share articles that will be of value to your connections.
Create videos, if you’re daring. This is something that I’ve tried but realize my strength lies more in writing than producing video.
Writing your own articles and using LinkedIn as a vehicle, or writing directly on LinkedIn’s Publishing feature.
At the very least, reacting to your connections’ posts.
If you don’t engage with your connections, you ‘ll be forgotten. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say. As well, you get more views when you engage with your network.

Read this popular article on engaging with your connections.

6. You want to support your strong personal brand

You worked hard to brand yourself by the work you’ve done in the past. Further, you were respected by your colleagues. Now you have to present yourself to the world as someone who will add value to an organization.

In the job search, you will offer insightful information to your audience (network), whether it’s posts you write and comment on, articles you share or write, consistently pinging your connections, etc.

You’ve also refrained from being negative on LinkedIn. And this has benefited you in the long run. Some people don’t realize that employers and other LinkedIn members take note of negativity, whether it’s bashing recruiters, employers, other LinkedIn members, etc.

7. You want to continue using LinkedIn when you’re working

I’ve spoken about using LinkedIn to find a job. Now I want to reinforce the message that you should not stop using LinkedIn once you’ve found a job. All too often I see this happen.

Continue to grow your network. The old saying, “Build your well before you need to drink” is partially true. More accurately would be, “Continue to build your well and engage with your network to strengthen your opportunities for future employment.” If you have to look for another job, you’ll want to have an established network.

You’ll want to be a passive candidate. Sadly, some recruiters wrongfully believe that only passive candidates (those already working) are the best ones. You’ve proven that you’re hireable; now prove that you will be a right fit for a position you desire.

Hint: make sure you have Career Interests on your Dashboard on. Only you can see this.

You’ll need to accumulate endorsements and recommendations. I see my clients lament over having four endorsements for their skills, so I tell them they need to accumulate them when they are working. Listing skills is important. Are endorsements vital? The jury is still out on this.

The same applies to recommendations. As you were asking for recommendations when looking for work, continue to ask for them. Also write recommendations for others, as it shows your leadership responsibilities.

It’s great for business. Did you know that LinkedIn was originally build to generate business opportunities? Most LinkedIn members are using it for business, not the job search. However, job seekers see it as a great way to network online for work. This said, if your job entails B2B networking, using LinkedIn is a no-brainer.

Should you be on LinkedIn? You should if:

Your industry or occupation is well represented.
Because recruiters and other hiring authorities are looking for you.
You might be not considered for a position.
LinkedIn is one big party with more than 650 million people on it.
You can create a strong profile, develop a focused network, and engage with your connections.
You want to support your strong personal brand.
You’re committed to using it after you’ve landed your job.

These seven components make you a strong candidate for being on LinkedIn.

*Your search will produce a slightly different number than Jim’s list did, but generally his numbers are accurate.

3 ways job seekers will be found on LinkedIn

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I’m often asked by my clients how they can be found by recruiters on LinkedIn. That’s a great question, and contrary to what my job seekers think, optimizing your profile with keywords is not enough. Sure, having a profile that contains the proper keywords is important, but being found by recruiters takes more commitment than that.

What we’re talking about is your ranking on LinkedIn — that is, how high up you appear in search results when recruiters look for people like you. The higher you rank, the more likely it is that recruiters will contact you.

The recruiters with whom I have spoken about this say they rarely look beyond the fourth page of results. At 10 profiles per page, that means recruiters will only look at the first 40 profiles. If you’re below No. 40, you’re probably not getting a call.

So, how do you improve your rank? There are three factors at play.

1. Keywords matter, but they’re not everything

You do need to include the right keywords throughout your profile, but according to LinkedIn, the balance of keywords matters more than abundance. In other words: Don’t stuff your profile with repeated words, as this is considered spamming.

According to LinkedIn itself:

More keywords aren’t always better. Our advice would be to avoid overfilling your profile with keywords and only include the keywords that best reflect your expertise and experience. If you integrate an extended list of keywords into your profile, it’s likely that your profile will be filtered out by our spam detection algorithms, which will negatively impact your appearance in search results.

Where do keywords matter most? Every keyword is important throughout your profile, but the areas weighed heavier than others are the Headline and titles of your positions in the Experience section.

So, yes, keywords are important, but take LinkedIn’s advice and don’t overdo it.

2. Maintain an extensive network…with the proper people

You are deemed more relevant to a search — and thus ranked higher in the results — if you are connected to the searcher. Here’s how LinkedIn explains it:

The more connections you have, the more likely you will have a connection to the searcher. Closer connections, such as a 2nd-degree connection compared to a 3rd-degree connection, improve the likelihood your profile may appear in searches.

The more people you have in your LinkedIn network, the more connections you have. The more connections you have, the more likely it is that you will have some connection to a searcher who is looking for someone like you.

Keep in mind we’re talking about connecting with the proper people — people who will actually be meaningful members of your network. You don’t have to accept every invite you receive just to build a network.

You can see how many searches you’ve recently appeared in by visiting your profile’s dashboard. When you click on the number, you’ll see where the searchers work, which occupations they hold, and the keywords they searched.

This last bit of information can be valuable, as you’ll get a sense of whether you’re using the proper keywords to brand yourself.

It’s also important to note the number of people who visit your profile, as this will give you an idea of your LinkedIn presence. You can find this number on your homepage under your headshot, as well as in your profile’s dashboard.

3. Engage with your connections

LinkedIn is a professional networking site. As such, LinkedIn wants you to network with like-minded people. A safe number of interactions on LinkedIn is twice a day, four times a week.

I suggest to my LinkedIn workshop attendees that they engage with their connections daily. This suggestion is, in part, to set the bar high but also because the more often you’re seen, the better chance you have of getting contacted by hiring authorities.

Participate in discussions, create your own discussions, share articles, write articles, ask questions, and provide tips about your industry. The most obvious way to engage with your connections is by writing direct messages. You can include as many as 50 people in a group message; although one-on-one messages are more intimate.

Read: 6 ways to be engaged on LinkedIn, not just active.

This aspect of your LinkedIn campaign is often overlooked. Many people believe that “set it and forget it” is the approach to take — that a great profile alone will draw people to them. Or to amass a ton of connections will do the trick. Both are important, but more engagement on LinkedIn is also essential to improving your search results.

In the end, note that LinkedIn’s algorithm for search appearances isn’t an exact science. LinkedIn writes:

Unlike standard search engines, we generate relevance uniquely for each member. The order of a search result is determined in part by the profile, activity [engagement], and connections of the person who is searching.

If you want to be found on LinkedIn, you must create a complete profile containing the proper keywords, develop a strong network to engage with, and stay active on the platform. If you do this, you’ll appear higher when recruiters search for someone with your experience and talents.

This post originally appeared on recruiter.com.

3rd place: focused, like-minded network

2nd place: Your LinkedIn profile

The winner: Engagement

What some of the voters said

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Here are the 3 components of your LinkedIn campaign that will.

1. Let’s talk about networking

How NOT to Connect

The Correct Ways to Connect

With Whom to Connect

How to Write Proper Invite Messages

2. Be engaged, not just active, with your connections

Write comments

Write long posts

Write and share your own articles

Send direct messages

3. Yes, you need a profile, and it needs to be strong

Writing your profile

Optimize your profile

Going beyond

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Rudeness

Stalking and sexual harassment

Bullying

Plagiarism

More on ghosting

Bait and Switch

Not part of your networking plan

Writing negative comments

Trolling

Pruning

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Choose what you want critiqued

Profile

Network

Engagement

Return the favor

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An optimized profile is not enough

The oft-forgotten network

Engagement is tough but necessary

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Your Profile

Your network

Your engagement

Legend

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It’s where hiring authorities hang out

Your profile is similar to your online résumé but offers more

Create a focused network of quality and quantity

Research companies and the people who work there

Engage with your network

LinkedIn is the number 3 job board…for now

Introverts dig LinkedIn

You can take it on the go

Follow up

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1. Your industry/occupation is well represented

5. You want to present yourself well on LinkedIn

6. You want to support your strong personal brand

7. You want to continue using LinkedIn when you’re working

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1. Keywords matter, but they’re not everything

2. Maintain an extensive network…with the proper people

3. Engage with your connections

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