Want to be thought of when executive recruiters and people of influence at your target employers learn of a good-fit opportunity for you?
Use LinkedIn to remind them of your unique ROI to those employers, reinforcing your personal brand and good-fit qualities.
Staying top of mind with these people can help you penetrate the “hidden” job market.
LinkedIn offers 4 often overlooked ways to make people aware of you, and the value you offer, without the discomfort of initiating one-on-one conversations with people you may not know very well, if at all.
1. Posting an Update
Posting relevant updates to your “Activity Feed” is a relatively quick and easy way to stay top-of-mind with your network – which should include employees at your target companies and recruiters, along with your various professional contacts.
Get into a routine of posting updates once a week, or at least a few times a month.
As shown in this screenshot, the “Share an Update” button appears at the top of your LinkedIn home page, below your name and photo.
Read more in my post, Keep Your Personal Brand Top-of-Mind with LinkedIn Updates
2. Publishing Long-Form Posts on LinkedIn’s Pulse Platform
How would you like to reap many of the benefits of blogging without the hassles of maintaining one?
LinkedIn offers this powerful platform to demonstrate your subject matter expertise, express your opinions, influence people, build your personal brand online, and stay top of mind with your network.
LinkedIn Help explains what happens when you publish a long-form post:
- Your original content becomes part of your professional profile. It is displayed on the Posts section of your LinkedIn profile.
- It’s shared with your connections and followers.
- Members not in your network can now follow you from your long-form post to receive updates when you publish next.
- Your long-form post is searchable both on and off of LinkedIn.
This feature may not be available to you yet. LinkedIn is slowly rolling it out to all members. If you see the “Publish a Post” button on your profile, to the right of the “Share an Update” shown in the screenshot above, you’re ready to start writing a post.
3. Updating Your Profile Content Regularly
Are you one of the many executive job seekers who put up a minimal LinkedIn profile years ago, and put it out of your mind? You figured, “I’m on LinkedIn. Good enough.”
If so, you’re forgetting the value of LinkedIn for differentiating and positioning yourself as a good-fit candidate for your current target employers.
When you’re gearing up for job search, the content in your LinkedIn profile needs to be squarely focused on those employers. It’s time to work on targeting and researching employers, and building fresh LinkedIn content around the value you offer them.
More in my post, When Was the Last Time You Updated Your LinkedIn Profile?
4. Staying Active with LinkedIn Groups
I frequently review the LinkedIn profiles of executive job seekers. Many have only a handful of Group memberships, if any. When I speak to them, they often say they don’t participate at all in the Groups they belong to.
They’re missing out on one of LinkedIn’s most powerful features.
Groups help you:
- Generate interest and build credibility for the value you offer your target employers.
- Keep your personal brand top-of-mind.
- Position yourself as a thought leader and subject matter expert in your field.
- Learn from other experts in your field.
- Bring new people into your network, to open yourself to more opportunities.
- Find the right people to connect with to advance your job search and career.
- Connect directly with people who are not first degree connections.
More in my post, Deadly LinkedIn Mistake: Forgetting LinkedIn Groups
An added benefit of using these 4 strategies
You’ll be demonstrating your social media savvy and grasp of the new world of work. Candidates who know how to use LinkedIn for networking and business are more desirable than those who don’t.
More About LinkedIn and Executive Job Search
10 Steps to Executive Job Search Success
How Do I Find a Job in the “Hidden” Job Market?
Personal Branding, Resume or Job Search Targeting: Which Comes First?
Best Ways and Places to Research Your Target Employers
graphic by © Nevit Dilmen
