Issue 6: LinkedIn: Allowing Recruiters to Contact You about Employment

Robert Brandau teaching prospective employees about the ins-and-outs of LinkedIn Recruiting. 

Robert Brandau is the Founding Director of Career-Confidence.org. He has been in the recruiter field since 1998 in full time and part time capacities. He teaches, coaches and encourages people in job transitions. He has spoken at Virginia International University in March and April of 2016.

By Robert Brandau

Want recruiters to contact you about quality jobs? LinkedIn is the one tool that you can assume that every recruiter uses. If you have a presence on LinkedIn, then you are making yourself available to almost every recruiter in the nation. From the recruiters’ perspective, it is an online candidate database complete with relevant information about potential job candidates that allows them to make a quicker decision to contact (or not contact) individuals about job openings. If you are active on LinkedIn, you are more likely to receive a phone call or e-mail about a job you might be interested in.

Here are a few tips:

1.       Make sure your LinkedIn profile is complete to the All-Star level on LinkedIn. LinkedIn provides online instructions and tips. More importantly, you need a professional picture with you smiling. People who frown rarely get contacted about jobs.

2.       Join at least 45 LinkedIn groups. Career Confidence and Beltway Job Search Partners are two groups set aside for job seekers and other professionals which you should join. Join several groups related to your industry. Join your alumni groups. Join groups related to activities you are interested in. Or, just join some groups for fun. You do not have to be active in the groups. However, if you are in multiple groups you are easier for recruiters to find.

3.       Spend 10 minutes on LinkedIn every day. This means posting quality business information to groups you are involved in. “Like” or “Comment” on other people’s postings in LinkedIn groups. Endorsing others for skills which they have (or might have) helps generate activity on LinkedIn. Your activity on LinkedIn does help you jump in the search engine.

4.       Anyone whom you have met and is willing to connect with you on LinkedIn, please connect with them. Always send a personalized connection request reminding the other person how you connected. At a minimum, each of profile needs 500 LinkedIn first degree connections.

5.       Make sure you have at least two well-written references on your LinkedIn profile. I normally ask someone who knows me well enough to allow me to draft a reference for them to post to LinkedIn on my behalf. We might have two revisions of the recommendation prior to us agreeing that it says what they can agree to and also says what I would want it to say.

6.       Upload your resume, articles and anything else a hiring manager would absolutely want to know about you on LinkedIn.

7.       Remember LinkedIn is a public forum. Keep all your activity business relevant and to the point. Recruiters and hiring managers like well thought out concise communication.