5 Ways to Find a Job on LinkedIn

Are you making the most of LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a professional networking site which offers unique features for both businesses and job seekers:

• Businesses can easily post jobs, find prospective clients and check references. 
• Job Seekers: A good knowledge of this platform gives you a great chance of getting a job within the shortest time possible.

Here are five major ways to find a job in just sixty days on Linkedin

#1 Make Yourself Easily Found on LinkedIn: According to a survey, 90% of recruiters and their sources ( both within companies and external headhunting agencies) make use of LinkedIn to spot ideal candidates. And for several reasons these recruiters prefer sourcing for talents rather than assisting desperate job seekers. In other words, you have to make them come to you by making yourself easily found on the platform. You can achieve this in several ways including:

• Creating a strong and compelling profile summary.
• Completing your employment history.
• Completing all other sections of your profile such as education, certifications and more.
• Including samples of your work to showcase your accomplishments.
• Joining groups and participate in discussions.
• Properly filling out the skills section of your profile

#2 Job Board: The LinkedIn’s job board offers you several ways to access the numerous ads posted by recruiters and employers. They get paid for featuring these ads on their site and others that the site aggregates from across the internet.LinkedIn leads you through a process whereby you can create your profile of the kind of job you seek based on the industry, location and more. You are allowed to edit your profile at will, but that also determines the type of ads you will get from LindkedIn. Another way of getting applicable positions is by clicking on ‘Advanced’ at the LinkedIn’s homepage. After this, click on ‘Jobs’, and filter jobs through keywords, location, title, country and more. However, when conducting an advanced search, it is advisable to avoid searching on title, as different firms have different titles for the same role.

#3 Group Jobs: With LinkedIn, you can join up to 100 groups at once. These groups are numerous and each based on anything imaginable such as hobbies, location, school alumni, industry and more. Each of these groups has its own menu structure which includes; discussion, promotion, jobs members and search.The job menu in each group is meant for job listing which could be posted by any of the group member as well as job discussions. This makes making it faster for you to find a new job.

#4: Company Pages: All you have to do here is to search for companies. Typically, on a company’s page, there will be a listing of vacant positions at the company or a link to the company’s employment portal on its site where the open jobs listing is provided. When you find a job opening it is advisable NOT to simply apply to multiple jobs in a relatively short period by clicking on ‘Apply’ numerous times. Instead, take your time by checking each good job prospect. Make use of the features provided by LinkedIn to see who posted the job and who you may know that works in the company. Develop these contacts into networking partners. Most companies use employee referral bonus program. You will be at an advantaged position if your company contact brings your resume to the attention of the recruiting manager or human resources staffer assigned to fill the position. Consequently, the probability of your resume disappearing into thin air is minimized and your chances of getting the job significantly increased.

#5 Feed Update: Updates are at the center of your LinkedIn homepage. What you will get here are not just articles that the Pulse feature thinks you should be interested in but also the status updates of your contacts or connections. Take your time to scroll through these updates on a regular basis as there are often some posts from hiring managers or recruiters calling the attention of qualified job seekers to some vacant positions in their respective companies

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A Simple Checklist To Build A Successfully Network Of "Business Friends" During A Job Search ?

Are you are looking for a job or strategically looking to build a long-term career? If you’re daily attempt at building a network of "business friends" seems to be falling short of it intending objective. That is getting you a job or enhancing your career then it's time to read Tom Denham's blog at the Times Union: "How a networking list can be divided up into 4 categories of people:

1. Hiring Authorities – people that have the power to give you an offer.
2. Job Lead Providers – individuals that can generate job openings.
3. Connectors – people that can open doors to other people that might be either Hiring Authorities or Job Lead Providers.
4. Advisors – contacts that motivate and give candid advice about job searching, the field, your resume and cover letter.


36 Sources of Networking Contacts to enhance your career.


As you may know, networking is the number one job search strategy. One of your initial steps will be to identify a list of networking contacts. You may be thinking, “I don’t really have a network! Where am I supposed to find all these contacts?” It may be a real challenge to generate names, but the list below may help you uncover all the connections in both your personal and professional life.


1. Athletic Teams (ie. Golf League, Soccer Club, Softball Team, etc.)
2. Business Card Rolodex
3. Career Counselors
4. Chambers of Commerce Members
5. Classmates/Alumni
6. Clergy/Houses of Faith
7. Conference Attendees
8. Elected Officials
9. Email Address Book
10. Ex-employers
11. Family (ie. Parents, God Parents, Spouse, Siblings, In-laws, Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, etc.)
12. Fellow Job Seekers (Share Leads)
13. Former Competitors
14. Former Co-workers
15. Former Customers/Clients
16. Former Supervisors
17. Former Faculty/Teachers/Administrators
18. Former Neighbors
19. Fraternity/Sorority Members
20. Friends
21. Holiday Card List
22. Lodges (ie. Elks, Rotary, Kiwanis, etc.)
23. Mentors
24. NYS Department of Labor
25. Neighbors
26. Private Clubs
27. Professional Associations
28. Professional Colleagues
29. PTA
30. Service Providers (ie. Doctors, Dentists, Lawyers, Therapists, CPA etc.)
31. Social Acquaintances
32. Social Networking Sites (ie. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Plaxo, etc.)
33. Staffing Agencies
34. Telephone Address Book
35. Volunteer Activities
36. Volunteer Board Members "

Read more at the:Times Union by Tom Denham


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Could Social Media Actually Result In Hiring Discrimination?

Job Seekers & Recruiters Beware:Could Social Media Actually Result In Hiring Discrimination?


As a recruiter you might be facing charges of discrimination in your screening process. But as a job seeker you just might be off the candidate radar if you are not actively using social media to help prospective recruiters and employers find you. Are you now part of the new "social media handicapped". Just another sign of the digital divide.


Story Excerpt by Fay Hansen:
"Discriminatory Twist in Networking Sites Puts Recruiters in Peril


Sourcing applicants from Twitter or LinkedIn or screening candidates through Facebook or MySpace may open employers to discrimination charges.
By Fay Hansen

In the rush to cut recruiting budgets and avoid the avalanche of résumés now generated by job boards, employers are increasingly tapping professional and social networking sites as a sourcing tool.


Some employers now rely heavily or even exclusively on Twitter or LinkedIn to fill open positions. While this approach may create short-term cost savings and new efficiencies, it may also skew applicant pools and trigger discrimination lawsuits.


“Networking sites, including Twitter, exclude whole populations,” says Jessica Roe, managing partner at Bernick, Lifson, Greenstein, Greene & Liszt in Minneapolis. “We are going to end up with a very homogenous workforce. The social networks represent limited social groups and very small labor pools. It’s an enormous issue.”




According to the latest data from Quantcast, only 5 percent of LinkedIn users are black and only 2 percent are Hispanic.

“Social networking sites are problematic because the population is limited and highly selective,” Roe notes. “I anticipate more race and age claims over the next two years, and a significant portion will be from sourcing through social networking sites, where the users are generally white and age 20 to 40. We’ll see lawsuits.

“Employers don’t want to pay recruiters, so they take the path of least resistance, but they have to look very carefully at the applicant pool and cast a much broader net. Recruiters are often swept up by the latest process. Minor decisions lead to major consequences.”

Using networks for recruiting is ripe with risk for future discrimination claims, says Pamela Devata, a partner at Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago.

“Sourcing from professional network sites such as LinkedIn carries a risk that the method could be challenged on discrimination grounds,” Devata says. “It represents a hiring pool that is not open to the general population. Using a limited network may have a disparate impact. If hiring through these networks can be challenged, it will be.”

Employers should consider the risk of litigation arising from disparate impact claims.

“If the business practice is to use Twitter and the existing pool is 50 percent female and 20 percent minority, but you’re down to zero for both groups because your digital network is heavily male and non-minority, then you must establish that there is a business necessity for the practice,” says Paul Mollica, partner at Meites, Mulder, Mollica & Glink in Chicago. “The first company that gets sued for this will have to be very resourceful because it will be very difficult to establish a reason for relying exclusively on Twitter.”

Some employers are integrating Twitter into their employee referral programs to help employees connect with possible job candidates.

“Combining Twitter with employee referral programs could turn out to be a digitalized version of word-of-mouth hiring methods because you are simply using referrals and employees’ online acquaintances,” Mollica says. “If you combine these methods and use networks to expand the applicant pool, that’s a valid method, provided that you are also reaching candidates through broader means.”"


To Read this story go to: http://www.workforce.com/section/06/feature/26/68/67/index.html
Fay Hansen is a contributing editor for Workforce Management.


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Older Job Seekers:65% Polled Use Social Media Networking For Job Searchs

How Social Networking is Enhancing Recruitment Programs:

Social networking websites are taking the internet by storm and are revolutionizing the way society connects and interacts with each other. What once was thought to be an internet fad is now commanding the attention of people and businesses around the world. Although social networking began primarily as a medium to allow individuals with similar interests to interact on a social level, it has since evolved to give businesses and professionals a place to connect and grow their network of contacts and even careers.

How Social Networking is Enhancing Recruitment Programs

As the recruitment industry continues to evolve into a place where online connections and networking are becoming as important as traditional job ads and paper resumes, employers will find it necessary to continually rethink the way they search, identify and recruit new employees for their organization.

In today’s internet driven society, traditional methods of recruitment and candidate searching are no longer enough. It is important for employers to diversify their recruitment program to include social networking sites to avoid missing out on highly-qualified candidates who frequent these sites.

Social networking sites are giving employers the ability to connect with highly-qualified job seekers on a more personal level than ever before. These sites also provide employers with an effective means of locating passive job seekers, a valuable segment of the marketplace that can sometimes be hard to reach when looking to fill a position within their organization.


How Job Boards Are Tapping into the Social Networking Phenomena

Beyond.com, a network of more than 15,000 online niche career communities, recently polled more than 4,000 network visitors and found that nearly 30 percent of visitors currently use social networking sites. Of those respondents, more than 65 percent said they use social networking sites for job searching and professional networking.

As the poll results indicate, the number of users who engage in online social networking is continuing to grow and more and more individuals are using social networking as a means to further their careers. Many job boards are recognizing the significance of this trend and are beginning to reconfigure their business strategies to stay competitive by offering a professional place online for employers, job seekers and colleagues to connect online.

Many job boards are also utilizing new technologies to allow their users to connect with other members and share information through widgets such as: personal profiles, articles and blogs, etc. which encourages networking with people with similar interests, backgrounds, thoughts, etc. amongst their member base.

Many job boards are looking for ways to tap into these social networking communities since not only do these sites consist of a large pool of members, but more and more of these members are looking for jobs on these sites. Therefore, many job boards are implementing relationships with social networking sites so their jobs are able to be searched directly from sites such as Myspace, Facebook, Friendster, and LinkedIn.

Similarity between Niche Job Boards and Social Networking Sites

Niche job boards, similar to social networking sites, attract members from a specific location, industry or interest, which gives employers the ability to target and reach highly-qualified candidates relevant to their business.

Due in part to the popularity of social networking sites, professionals are accustomed to visiting or creating communities that are focused on their specific wants, needs and interests. Niche job boards are well positioned to deliver just what the professional is looking for in terms of targeted jobs, resources and information. This is something general job boards often times have a difficult time providing, given their broad focus in being everything to everyone.

There is an evolution occurring in the recruitment industry towards niche job sites and one reason for this movement is the popularity of social networking sites that have driven employers and job seekers to want more targeted information and an effective means of obtaining this information.

What the Future Holds for Social Networking and Online Recruitment

Social networking is no doubt beginning to transform the future of the recruitment industry and is opening new doors for employers and job seekers to connect in ways not possible before. Social networking will continue to be mainstream and a popular way to interact and network in an online environment.
Similar to niche job boards, it is expected for social networking sites to evolve to appeal to a more targeted audience in the future. More and more people will look for sites that are specifically targeted to their wants and needs versus some of the more generic social networking sites today.

As the social networking industry continues to evolve and grow, it will continue to play a large role in the recruitment industry. Employers will need to take advantage of the tools available online, and supplement traditional recruitment methods with social networking, niche job boards and other advanced technologies to launch the most successful recruitment program possible.
Posted By: Staff Editor In: Business Professional


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How To Work Your Social Network To Find Jobs (NPR)

News Feature:There's nothing like a handshake. But the challenge of getting face time with a potential employer these days has made social networking even more of a key component of job searches.

But how do you work your social network effectively in an economy that has lost 7 million jobs?

"LinkedIn used to be your professional face and Facebook was sort of your family and friends presentation on the Web," says Michael Malone, director of career education and advising for the Columbia Business School. "It seems like those lines are blurring much more now."

Recruiters are increasingly turning to these and other social networking tools to post opportunities. Here's why: Facebook has more than 350 million users. LinkedIn has more than 55 million.



But the general nature of these huge networks can be distracting for people who want to target a specific career. Malone says people are using Facebook and Twitter in a more targeted way to find the content and contacts suited to their interests. And a host of industry-specific social networking resources have emerged.

NPR's New Jobs For A New Decade series has identified some of the areas in which new jobs are expected to be created over the next decade. These include green jobs and work in health care, technology, financial services and even video games. Many of these opportunities may be posted on social networking forums.

Monster.com has created more than a dozen online communities that offer professional networking for a range of careers from nursing to nonprofits.

"These are community destinations to share common interests," says Eric Winegardner, a vice president of Monster. "It's not just about your job search. There's content on these sites relative to your business."

CareerBuilder.com also has created a "talent community" called BrightFuse with nearly 30 groups from "The Nurses' Station" and "Information Technology Pros" to a sales group called "Retail Therapy."

Law And Social Order

Some burgeoning social networks not only target specific professions but also authenticate people's real-life identities to create secure networks that aren't searchable on the Web. The goal is to let people be comfortable sharing information and get advice without all of the information coming up the next time someone runs a Google search.

A case in point is Martindale-Hubbell Connected from LexisNexis. Michael Walsh, the chief executive officer for LexisNexis U.S. Legal Markets, describes it as "a combination of LinkedIn and Facebook for the legal community."

The service, which has about 24,000 members, provides a way for attorneys to search for future business, get legal advice and find a job. One feature allows users to cross-reference contacts they may already have established on LinkedIn. Each profile shows the law school a person attended and any articles they might have written. Users also can connect with Martindale-Hubbell's career center.

Walsh says LexisNexis' research found that 70 percent of lawyers use social networking tools. He says this number is extraordinary given how busy lawyers are and the extent to which they often keep information close to the vest.

Medical Advice

More than 100,000 physicians are networking on Medscape's Physician Connect, an authenticated physicians-only service provided by WebMD.

Social networking connects them with "colleagues and their profession in a way they can no longer do in the physical world," says Dr. Steven Zatz, executive vice president of professional services for WebMD. He says physicians are going to fewer conferences and meetings these days. Although Medscape remains focused on clinical discussions, he says it also provides a forum for career advice.

Doctors, medical researchers and scientists also have found a home on Epernicus, which is open to anyone with science bona fides.

Dr. Vivek Murthy, a co-founder of Epernicus, who practices internal medicine and teaches at Harvard Medical School, says part of the value of Epernicus as a professional network is that there is no anonymity. Everyone knows who is asking and answering questions. The service also integrates personal information that is typically not on Facebook or LinkedIn accounts, such as a person's scientific expertise and publication record.

Targeted Searches

Malone of the Columbia Business School says one of the challenges job seekers face is how to find more "tailored connections and content" without having to belong to several social networks.

One solution is to use sites like JobShouts.com, which features a "social search" button to search for information about a company across Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Spoke and other sites with just one click. The Web site also posts jobs to a Twitter feed.
January 8, 2010
by Joshua Brockman NPR http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122337059