Do This 7 Times a Week

Author: The Career Passion® Coach |

Blog by The Career Passion® Coach

I always recommend that my clients have “7 sessions a week on LinkedIn.” That brings up two questions:

“What is a LinkedIn Session?” And “How long should it be?”

I consider a “session” to be a logon to check anything, even if for only one minute. But, most LinkedIn users can get in and get value in 5-10 minutes.

LinkedIn has a powerful algorithm that rewards you for activity. The more your activity, the higher you come up in the search results. When you are job seeking, that means recruiters are more likely to find YOU. So here are a dozen tips for increasing your LinkedIn results in as little as 10 minutes per day:

What to Do on LinkedIn

  1. Connect with people you have just met. Nothing is more powerful than getting a connection request the day after a networking event. No matter what their title, if you have met a person face-to-face, be sure to add the connection. Customize the message with a comment about your conversation.
  2. Go to “Home” and check your news feed. Just as with Facebook, you can Like, Comment of Share articles, photos, etc. You’ll get lots of ideas for your own posts by just reading your feed.
  3. Search for a job using a new Job Title. Over time, you can research the market by changing your Target Job Title. For example, today in Austin, there are 149 Sales Engineer jobs, and 318 Cloud Sales jobs. These insights help you with branding, Profile language and networking.
  4. Go to “My Network” and check your invitations. My rule for accepting a stranger: same city, same job position or in a target company. Then, send a message and suggest meeting by phone or for a coffee.
  5. Check your Career Interests under the “Jobs” tab. Add or subtract industries you are interested in. Add or delete job titles. Write a new message to recruiters. Make sure you are “Open” to new opportunities. (Only recruiters can see this.)
  6. Check your messages. Being responsive shows your professionalism and interest in meeting and helping new connections.
  7. Check your notifications. This feature tells you about people in your network and gives you suggestions for messaging. i.e. “Congratulate John Smith on 22 years with Microsoft.”
  8. View your own Profile. Change something minor in your Summary. Make sure it’s in alignment with your current Target Job Title.
  9. Stalk your connections’ LinkedIn connections to expand your network. You can invite people to connect with you by messaging, “Hi, Julie. We both know Darrell Smith. Darrell and I worked together at VMware back in the day. I’m interested in working for your company. Would you be willing to have short phone conversation? 512-XXX-XXX.”
  10. Connect with local employees in your target companies. Type in the company name, then filter by your city, past company, or job title. In most cases, 1 out of 3 people with take the connection and at least have an email chat with you. The more inside information you have, the better. (Use a message like #9.)
  11. Find new companies to target. Type in a target company, such as Deloitte. On the right side, “People also viewed” will give you similar companies you might not have thought of, like Accenture. Expanding your Target Company list gives you more opportunities.
  12. Connect with recruiters. Search on the word “recruiter.” Then, filter by city, company, past company, etc., until you have found the one you believe is likely to be recruiting for your job title. Then connect with this type of message: “I have applied for sales engineer in the Austin office. Are you recruiting for this position, or can you point me to the right person?” Recruiters WANT to connect with you, or they are eager to hand you off to the right recruiter.

There are dozens more ideas for what to do on LinkedIn. These should keep you busy for a while. Just choose 1-3 ideas for each day.

LinkedIn is a professional’s best friend. Don’t forget you could become a job seeker any time. Build your network now.

Helping you succeed,

Catherine Jewell
The Career Passion® Coach

PS: As part of my coaching, my clients get a 75-minute webinar on LinkedIn. It’s all part of the Right Job Right Now online learning lab. Ask me about it.


Categories: Career Coach , Career Coaching , Career Counseling , Career Strategy , Career Testing , Electric Kitchen Composter , Food Waste Composting Machine , Home Essentials , Interview Preparation , Job Search Help , Resume Branding Statement , Resume Writing , Salary Negotiations

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