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Since launching in 2003, LinkedIn has grown into the largest online professional networking site, with over 380 million members worldwide, including over 12 million users in Canada. As economic changes have happened globally, and with the increasing popularity of online job search, LinkedIn is acknowledged as a leader in connecting job seekers to potential employers, with 94% of recruiters using LinkedIn to vet candidates.

What are the benefits of LinkedIn for the average job searcher, then?

First, it allows you to connect with people who may be in a position to help promote your career. Remember – it’s not only what you know, or who you know; these days, it’s who knows you and how easily they can find you that matters.

Second, by setting up a strong and impressive LinkedIn profile, you are showcasing your social media skills; your social media savvyness might be helpful to convince employers that you have up-to-date abilities.

Also, a complete profile on LinkedIn will show up in the top results of a Google search that an employer might conduct. It will help you control your online image, and override anything else that might appear about you online.

Finally, it is a great source of up-to-date information and insights about jobs, companies and trends. You can learn about companies, read up on trends and join discussions with like-minded professionals in your field.

Here are some steps to help you set up and begin using your profile on LinkedIn:

1. Prepare — set aside some time to put together your profile. Have the following ready:

You will need an updated resume, which is complete, well worded and accurate, and includes a well written profile summary
Prepare a list of key words that describe your most relevant skills and achievements; the best source of these skills is from online job postings – have a look at the qualifications employers are requesting and use the SPECIFIC words that they list. Remember that LinkedIn, Google and the rest of the Internet is key word driven – if you don’t use the specific words needed to describe your abilities, you will not be found in a search
Prepare a profile photo to upload – keep it simple and professional
Be willing to access your email address book, from which you will download your contacts to connect with them.

2. Complete your LinkedIn profile – your goal is to eventually achieve a 100% completeness.

Add your jobs and education — include jobs from the last 10-15 years of work, or even more. Use the correct job titles and company names. Include a relevant description of what you did in each job — cut and paste from your resume; you can always edit it later on LinkedIn, if you feel the need to add or modify your profile
Upload your profile photo — images are very useful to validate your profile; profiles without photos tend to be perceived as either fake, or simply incomplete
Connect with people – be open to invite as many people as you know and accepting invitations from a range of people; generally, it’s better to have more contacts rather than less. You never know who might know someone (or something) that may be of use to you. Make sure not to send out mass invitations, and that each invitation is personalized, including a brief reminder about how you know that person
Seek out recommendations – start with offering to write recommendations first, if that helps

3. Use your profile to meet your goals — don’t just set it up and walk away:

Set out to connect with and meet new people – expand your network through joining groups and participating in discussions, online and in person networking sessions
Job Search on LinkedIn – the job search tool is excellent and will help you discover who is hiring and whether you know anyone who can recommend you to a job
Identify a list of target companies, seek them out on LinkedIn and follow them to see who they hire and for what positions
Update your status – share interesting articles and keep your contacts updated about your activities – stay positive and upbeat, but make sure they know that you are looking for work.

As with any job search tool, LinkedIn is only as effective as the amount of time and effort you put into it. Make sure to keep using it, consistently staying in touch with your contacts, reaching out to new people and companies, as well as join networks and discussions. By harnessing the power of the most up to date job search tool available, and using it well, you will be showing employers that you have the cutting edge skills they need for a changing economy.

Job seekers often tell me that they find Twitter to be the most intimidating of all the popular social media platforms. Maybe it is because of those awful career ending mistakes we hear about. Maybe it’s just difficult to figure out how to use, and being such a public tool, new users (especially job seekers) are nervous to make a mistake on it.

Twitter is, however, a very popular platform for employers, and as such is an important place for job seekers to be. It’s also a pretty good source of jobs — many employers choose to advertise their positions on Twitter. Employers will also look for you on Twitter, in hopes to learn more about you and figure out whether you are social media savvy enough to not potentially embarrass yourself or them online in the future.

Setting Up a Twitter Profile

When you sign up for Twitter, make sure that you consider the following elements:

Have a User ID (name) that identifies you by your proper name, so that employers can identify you.
Upload a decent photo — it should be of you, but does not have to be too business-like. Twitter is more casual and friendly than, say, LinkedIn. So you can look friendlier and more relaxed, as well.
Write a few lines describing yourself — keep it short. Identify your profession and location. Add a simple one liner that sums you up. Make sure to provide a link to your LinkedIn profile.

Learning to Use Twitter

It’s actually really easy to start using Twitter — you can start by reading and following, rather than contributing anything. Twitter offers some good advice to new members, telling them that:

reading Tweets and discovering new information whenever you check in on your Twitter timeline is where you’ll find the most value on Twitter (…) the real magic of Twitter lies in absorbing real-time information that matters to you.

Other excellent advice on following, tweeting and developing a voice on Twitter is offered on their Help pages.

Conducting a Job Search with Twitter

Once your profile is set up, as a job seekers you should focus on:

BRANDING — developing a personal reputation/image online that reveals you to be the type of person an employer might be interested in.
NETWORKING — interact with people and organisations that can lead to the next job.
JOB SEARCH — find relevant job leads.

Start off by searching for and following companies, professional associations and people who are relevant to your work. Read their tweets, and try to learn about how they use Twitter and what opportunities you might have to engage with them.

Slowly begin to engage with potential employers by retweeting, responding to their questions and tweeting them appropriately. Challenge yourself to not just retweet — try to develop an authentic personal voice which is thoughtful and pleasant. You can allow yourself to engage and comment on non-work related topics (such as sports events, arts or culture), but make sure to keep it polite and light.

To find relevant job leads, use Twitter’s search bar. Use a search that combines the word “job”, a job title, and location: e.g. “job+marketing+Toronto”. Do that search regularly. Identify target companies and follow them for future postings. Some companies actually have a Twitter account that is dedicated to employment, such as the City of Toronto’s @CityTOjobs.

Engage with individuals on Twitter and try to find ways to meet in person to network, by messaging them directly (called DM) for information interviews or other in person opportunities. Your goal is to develop the kind of rapport which can lead to people recommending/referring you for jobs or information interviews.

Twitter can be a very effective tool for branding, networking and getting job leads. Use it daily (for 30 minutes or so); gather information, share information and offer your expertise to others. Also, keep in mind that employers are likely to check out your profile to assess your personal style, social media skill level and your professional network, when considering your for jobs.

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