Job Seeking? Tips for Utilizing Career Sites & LinkedIn
This post was inspired by the fellow communicators I know who have been laid off due to Coronavirus’ (COVID-19) effect on the industries in which they worked. I know they aren’t the only ones out there. If you are preparing and embarking on the job hunt, I want to share best practices for utilizing career sites and ensuring you’re making the most of your LinkedIn profile. Please, don’t be discouraged by this pandemic; companies are still hiring and attempting to shift their business models to start new employees off remotely and gradually transition them into the workplace once this is all over. Please note: I’m no career expert, but I can speak to what has worked for me.
Create targeted alerts on job sites.
Make sure the right opportunities are landing in your inbox by creating job alerts specific to your bread and butter on sites like Indeed, Glassdoor and LinkedIn. Focus on the skill sets that may be listed within the position description and not the title of the position itself. Use quotation marks surrounding keywords that best describe your expertise. For example, if you’re a marketer specializing in writing copy for social, you may want to set up job alerts for “social media”+”copywriting.”
Take advantage of “job seeking preferences” on LinkedIn.
If you’re actively searching, it’s vital to update your “Job seeking preferences” within LinkedIn settings. This includes letting recruiters know you’re open to opportunities, uploading a default resume so that when you apply for a job via LinkedIn, your resume is sent to the job poster, and most importantly, ensuring that your full profile is visible to the job poster when you apply.
Properly update your LinkedIn experience and resume.
Descriptions of past experiences should be in past tense and bulleted for ease of reading. Use strong action verbs and change it up per bullet; no, you do not need to use the word “managed” three times in a row. A thesaurus can be very handy for this! Position descriptions should be reflective of the skill set keywords I mentioned before, and your resume should contain a section with programs you’re familiar with, like Adobe Creative Cloud, Cision and HootSuite. It’s important to note that resumes can often be computer-screened for keywords before they even land in the hands of a human recruiter. There’s no need to get fancy with your resume; use a classic font like Arial and leave out your address, GPA and other unnecessary fillers. Yes, keep it simple, even if you’re a creative; that’s what your portfolio is for!
Make the best use of your LinkedIn headline.
Use the 120 characters available in your LinkedIn headline to capture the attention of a recruiter or job poster. Use nouns that speak to your expertise, i.e. “data-driven social media marketer, strategic digital content creator, public relations specialist & crisis communicator,” etc.
Finally, write your ‘About’ section in first-person.
This isn’t your Wikipedia page, dude. Show some personality to those who are reviewing your profile!
