Written by Gina Curry, Vice President
LinkedIn is the benchmark for professional networking and has now become a powerful social media platform with its new features. If you don’t have a profile or haven’t updated yours in a while, take a look to see why employers and job seekers are using it.
First off, It’s free.
LinkedIn is a free site to create your professional profile and elevate your personal brand. It takes about 30 minutes to set up your profile with your job and education history as well as your skills. While LinkedIn has paid search offerings, it’s not necessary for a basic profile to receive the benefits mentioned below.
Employers use LinkedIn to research potential employees.
A hiring manager will oftentimes look for your profile on LinkedIn if they receive your resume for a position. If they can’t find a profile for you, they might view that as a red flag. Also, if your LinkedIn profile doesn’t match the resume, that can be a very big red flag. Another way hiring managers use LinkedIn is to find profiles of candidates they’d be interested in talking to for an opening on their team and might reach out to you proactively. By having an updated profile, you could be attracting a job you weren’t even looking for.
Keep your profile accurate and up to date.
As mentioned above, you never know who might be searching on your profile and viewing your information. You want to ensure all the information is up to date to best reflect your skills and current situation.
Use it to network.
The reach on LinkedIn is vast and powerful and should be used to your advantage. Whether you’re searching for employees or you’re searching for a job, networking on LinkedIn is often the best place to start. If you’re a job seeker, you can network with people at a company you are interested in. If you’re a hiring manager, you can use LinkedIn to look up potential employees and see if you have any mutual connections.
Let employers know you’re looking for new opportunities
On your profile, there is a section to let employers know you’re open to new opportunities. By turning this filter on, you’ll move to the top of the search.
These are just some of the ways that LinkedIn can benefit you by keeping your profile up to date.
Overview:
- LinkedIn is FREE!
- LinkedIn can do the job search for you.
- Employers use LinkedIn to research potential candidates.
- Keep your profile accurate and up to date.
- Network with leading professionals in your field or hiring managers.
If you have further questions please reach out at inquire@nextpathcp.com!
