5 Ways Your LinkedIn Feed Can Lead to a Job
Frequently, LinkedIn pundits, including this author, remind readers to complete their profile, join LinkedIn Groups and build their networks. All this is sound advice.
But sometimes we become oblivious to things that are obvious, like the home page crawl. It's easy to ignore the feed on your LinkedIn home page. But when you do, you sacrifice multiple ways this powerhouse of social professional networking can benefit you.
Your feed is comprised of postings from your own connections. What you see might be designated for anyone, or just the poster's connections as he or she may choose. You may also see profile updates from your connections, again, at their discretion.
[See: 10 Ways Social Media Can Help You Land a Job.]
Search your feed for the needles in the haystack. Regardless of how much time you spend reading the feed, you'll likely never come to the end of it. And thanks to advanced search filters, what you and others post remains available, and can be found by anyone who puts in the correct search terms.
To find the Advanced Search, just double-click on the magnifying glass in the standard search bar and the advanced filtering options appear below: All, People, Jobs, Content, Companies and Schools. Click on the Content tab, and search for anything and everything that people might post about, including job opportunities that may never show up in the Jobs tab or other advertisements.
Post professional items of interest. One easy way to gain the interest of recruiters and hiring authorities in your field or industry is to continually curate and post articles of interest to them.
Share whatever is the "latest and greatest" two or three times a week at most. As your body of posts builds, so too will your reputation as someone who is continually on top of things and who goes out of your way to be helpful to others. This is one way you show that you can be a team player rather than just claiming to be one.
Simply cut and paste the URL of a relevant article you find online into the posting section at the top of your feed and it will appear along with a headline picture from the originating site. Then just delete the URL itself and write a sentence or two. You can share your opinion, or explain why the piece is somehow important.
[See: The 8 Stages of a Winning Job Search.]
Share your own professional accomplishments and activities. You can easily post a short note on your feed about how proud you are to have just received recognition for such and such. Or even post that you are looking forward to attending a particular professional lecture, conference, meeting or convention. It is even great to show pride about where you work when you post a link to your own company's press release about a new product or process, especially when you can identify your role in making it come to reality.
Learn what others care about and find job opportunities. Simply scanning your feed for five or 10 minutes every day or two will enable you to see what other people think is important and expand your horizons. Sometimes you'll be intrigued enough to click on links to other sites or articles where you'll add to your own knowledge base.
And, as you continually build your network and include in it people with hiring authority and recruiters who work in your area, you'll likely see job postings that are for high priority positions to be filled without delay. You'll know who posted the notice and be able to respond directly with an email or phone call to learn more about the role and express why you would be a great fit for it.
Discover networkable moments. LinkedIn has transferred its own reporting of work anniversaries and birthdays to the Notifications page, while they were formerly seen in your feed. Still, you'll see people speaking about their own plans and accomplishments in your feed. You can make your networking more meaningful and transform vague connections into relationships when you take the time to wish someone a happy birthday or congratulate them on a professional milestone.
And when you add a second sentence that shows your own personality and interest in hearing more from them, you'll raise your own profile in a positive way that may have very positive benefits -- even months or years into the future.
[See: Here's What You Should Know About Gen Z Workers.]
Keep in mind that while LinkedIn is virtual, it is still about making and deepening human connections. Your feed is a perfect vehicle to share your own story, and learn about what others are doing and think to be valuable. When you take the time to interact with others this way, both you and they will be richer for it.
Happy hunting!
