It is the largest professional networking site in the world. Most recruiters, both in-house and agency side use LinkedIn as a priority channel to search for digital talent. With so many users globally, it can be a challenge to get noticed and stand out in such a competitive job market. At Ignite Digital Talent we are specialist digital recruiters with decades of recruitment experience between us. We have pooled our expertise and come up with 7 surefire ways to get you noticed by recruiters on LinkedIn. Be prepared for more great career opportunities to start landing on your lap!
1. Use keywords LinkedIn will recognise…not the buzzwords
“Chief Code Wizard”, “Full-Stack Unicorn Ninja”, “Galactic Viceroy of Research Excellence”, “Head of Conversion and Jedi Mind Control”.
As great as these job titles sound only 141 “Code Wizards” appear in my LinkedIn search. In reality, having an outlandish job title will mean that only the most boolean savvy recruiters going will be able to find you.
By using titles and skills that are recognisable and commonly used it is easier for recruiters to find you. By adding these LinkedIn keywords to your job description, headline and summary, you will undeniably elevate your visibility. This doesn’t mean you have to make yourself sound the same as everyone else (you can still use some buzzwords as well), you just have to make yourself highly searchable.
2. LinkedIn keyword research
LinkedIn keywords?
Run a search for your dream job, profiles similar to yours, or those professionals already working at places you wish to work. Who appears in these search results and what does their profile look like? What words are they using? Remember, this is not SEO. Recruiters are not going to just look at the first page of results and stop there. Keywords are not mutually exclusive and you do not have to optimise narrowly to be seen, in fact, the more relevant the keywords the better.
Scan the job boards
Indeed, Reed.co.uk or TotalJobs will be home to many job descriptions relevant to your industry. By reviewing and analysing these you will be able to discern which keywords appear most often for the roles in which you are interested. What essential skills are they looking for? Team development, leadership skills, languages, budgets, specific CRM experience are things we regularly see missed out of LinkedIn profiles – make sure you do not leave these out of your profile.
Be general, but not too general
Titles such as “Software Developer” or “Marketing Manager” are very generic and although you will find yourself appearing in many search results you will not be as visible as you should be in the most relevant search results. Instead, replace these with terms indicative of your specialism. For example, “Senior Java Developer”, or “Salesforce CRM Manager”.
As you can see if a recruiter has “Senior Java Developer” in their search boolean (and they will have), you are going to find yourself not only being found more often but also receiving more relevant messages once you are found. Our clients prefer to hire managers who are experienced in specific platforms and tools, so it makes sense to be specific with which ones you have experience using.
3. Signal to recruiters that you are open to opportunities
There is a little-known feature on LinkedIn: you can let recruiters know that you are open to new opportunities. I am not talking about putting “seeking new opportunities” as your profile headline for the whole world to see! You can now privately signal that you are looking for a new role, as well as a specify the type of role you are looking for. Because this feature is little known and it is the first place recruiters will search it will significantly increase your likelihood to be found by a recruiter.
4. Connect with relevant recruiters
Identifying recruiters relevant to your field and inviting them to connect is a surefire way to raise your profile amongst the very group you wish to attract. Follow this up with a good level of engagement and if you impress them, they may remember you and consider you for future roles. Recruiters themselves are normally very connected on LinkedIn with 500+ connections. By connecting with these guys and gals you open up a whole host of 2nd and 3rd degree connections. The upside of this being that you will appear in more recruiters search results.
5. Increase your connections
Connect with previous and current colleagues, and never miss the opportunity to make new connections. For example, after attending a conference, try and add the speakers, the participants as well as any other attendees you have engaged with. The more professionals you are connected with, the more visible you will be.
Further to this, don’t send connection requests to people you don’t know without adding a note. Connection requests without messages are more likely to result in a rejection – large quantities of rejections will cause LinkedIn to suddenly halt your ability to send any more connection requests. Definitely not a dream job hunt scenario!
6. Join the conversation
Social media listening is now ‘a thing’ on LinkedIn, so get involved! Adding value to discussions will allow you to establish links with like-minded professionals in the same industry as you. LinkedIn Answers is shut down and groups are a bit of a ghost town so searching “Content” for both keywords and hashtags (yes, LinkedIn supports hashtags now!) is the best way to do this.
7. Create your own LinkedIn content
Pulse, LinkedIn’s publishing platform, allows users to showcase an opinion, add insight or just to show off creative penmanship! The feature has a blog type feel and format. Use this arena to give your professional insights or to add to the debate. This is especially important if you are looking for a leadership role and trying to position yourself as a thought leader on LinkedIn.
If you really want to stand out, then start posting native video on LinkedIn. People prefer consuming video content and 59% of Snr Executives would rather watch a video than read.
Here at Ignite Digital Talent, our team are dedicated to finding talented digital marketing, tech and data professionals their next career opportunity. We are always on hand for a confidential chat, so why not give us a call.
You could even send me a LinkedIn request or follow our LinkedIn company page.
Lot of good points! Linkedin can often be intimidating for new users. Keyword part in particular was helpful