LinkedIn - any tips?

Cartman78

Hi all,

Looking to change jobs in the new year and have been expanding my LinkedIn profile in recent weeks (have over 600 contacts now).

Would be interested to hear if anyone has any advise on how best to use LinkedIn for job hunting.....or it just a slightly less useful version of Facebook?

What I've done so far is target companies that I'm interested in (relatively small pool in Limerick/Mid-West area) in and also reached out to as many recruiters/HR people as possible.

I've messaged a few of them to introduce myself and outline what I'm looking for etc. but haven't really got any satisfactory replies so far apart from the standard "We'll keep you on file etc".

Anyway, cheers in advance, cm

seamus

I've put up a few tips here:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=97047818&postcount=2

Great thread here too: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=64307889

mrDerek

Cartman78 wrote: »

Hi all,

Looking to change jobs in the new year and have been expanding my LinkedIn profile in recent weeks (have over 600 contacts now).

Would be interested to hear if anyone has any advise on how best to use LinkedIn for job hunting.....or it just a slightly less useful version of Facebook?

What I've done so far is target companies that I'm interested in (relatively small pool in Limerick/Mid-West area) in and also reached out to as many recruiters/HR people as possible.

I've messaged a few of them to introduce myself and outline what I'm looking for etc. but haven't really got any satisfactory replies so far apart from the standard "We'll keep you on file etc".

Anyway, cheers in advance, cm

Sure what do you do? any what are you looking for? Recruiters dont always have live roles that match peoples background in their specific locations unfortunately

Mrs OBumble

Join relevant groups - especially ones that people already working in companies you'd like to join are also is. And then contribute to those groups.

Cartman78

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Would I be right in thinking that LinkedIn is probably more useful for certain types of jobs (eg. IT, Accountancy) in high density locations (eg. Dublin)?

The area I work in is Operations Support/Data Analytics/Process Improvement - not a huge area in the mid-West I guess but would have expect more interest than I'm currently getting

tiffbunny

I moved into recruitment a year ago, so I'm not an expert in the field by any means, but here's my take:

If the companies in the area aren't actively looking for your type of position, LinkedIn isn't going to help nearly as much as you just doing the standard of finding openly advertised roles and applying to them. Getting a new job as a semi "passive candidate" (i.e. being approached rather than actively applying to roles) only works if you're in a highly in-demand field, such as certain areas of IT.

Data Analytics is exploding as a field within the larger IT sector at the moment and might be your best bet, so I'd suggest emphasizing it on your CV and doing some further up-skilling in that direction to show active growth. Of course, that's only if you'd be happy moving into a more DA-heavy role.

You can also find companies advertising the role you want in other locations and write into HR to see if there's any flexibility for telecommuting or working from home 3 days a week, etc. Almost all of them will say no. Maybe a few will say yes, or yes to the right applicant who can present a strong case for it and him/herself. It's a long shot, but it's a shot.

Best of luck to you!

tiffbunny

I moved into recruitment a year ago, so I'm not an expert in the field by any means, but here's my take:

It sounds like you're looking at LinkedIn as an alternative way to job hunt, and it's not. It's a tool in your job-hunting arsenal, and certain tools are better for certain jobs. (Pardon the pun!)

If the companies in the area aren't actively looking for your type of position, LinkedIn isn't going to help nearly as much as you just doing the standard of finding openly advertised roles and applying to them. Getting a new job as a semi "passive candidate" (i.e. being approached rather than actively applying to roles) only works if you're in a highly in-demand field, such as certain areas of IT.

Data Analytics is exploding as a field within the larger IT sector at the moment and might be your best bet, so I'd suggest emphasizing it on your CV and doing some further up-skilling in that direction to show active growth. Of course, that's only if you'd be happy moving into a more DA-heavy role.

You can also find companies advertising the role you want in other locations and write into HR to see if there's any flexibility for telecommuting or working from home 3 days a week, etc. Almost all of them will say no. Maybe a few will say yes, or yes to the right applicant who can present a strong case for it and him/herself. It's a long shot, but it's a shot.

Best of luck to you!