Leveraging LinkedIn to Find Your Next Opportunity- Beyond the Basics Learn how to go beyond the basics with LinkedIn to find your next opportunity or expand your network

Written by Sue Orr - January 28th, 2015

In the current oil & gas downturn, leveraging LinkedIn as a career tool is more important than ever. Whether you are actively looking for a job or just keeping your network engaged, here are some tips that go beyond the basics.

If you have a Premium (paid) LinkedIn account and would like to let recruiters and hiring managers know that you are open to hearing about new career opportunities, you can add a Job Seeker badge (icon) to your LinkedIn profile. More recruiters and hiring managers will notice you on

LinkedIn if you add the Job Seeker badge. To add it, go to LinkedIn’s website, select “Edit Profile” from the “Profile” drop down list. Click on the edit icon (blue pencil) in the upper right of your

profile, to the right of your name. (If you hover your cursor over the icon before you click on it, you

should see “Click to edit badges.”) Click the circle (radio button) next to “Job Seeker” to select it and then save your changes. When you are done, you should see a briefcase icon to the right of your

name.

Only your 1st level connections can see the contact information that you enter in the “Contact Info” section of your profile. If you want potential employers who are not 1st level connections to be able to call you or send you e-mail using the contact information you provide on LinkedIn, then enter your

contact information in the “Advice for people who want to contact you” section of your profile as

well. Then, 2nd and 3rd Level connections, and fellow group members will be able to see the contact information as well. Provide explicit information in this section: “The best way to contact me is to

send me an e-mail at .” joe_engineer@example.com

Are you frustrated with recruiters calling you about jobs while you are at work or sending you e-mail at your work e-mail address? Then the advice above provides a great solution! Edit the “Advice for

people who want to contact you” section of your profile and provide your personal e-mail address

and / or mobile phone number. That way, recruiters should contact you using your personal e-mail rather than at your work e-mail or phone number. If you don’t provide your personal contact

information in a section of your profile that is visible to everyone who views your profile, then recruiters won’t see it unless they are a 1st level connection. That encourages them to contact you at

work instead of privately.

Join relevant Groups on LinkedIn. Choose groups related your profession, industry, and interests. For instance, if you are a Production Engineer, you may want to join groups such as

“Drilling, Completion, and Production Network,” and “Exploration and Production,” and “Upstream Professionals.” There are also groups for job seekers, such as “Houston Oil and Gas Jobs” and “Job

Openings, Job Leads and Job Connections!” Recruiters and hiring managers are more likely to find you when you are a member of groups such as these. Joining LinkedIn groups also makes it easier

for you to connect with people.

About the author:

Sue Orr, MBA, SPHR is a Recruiter and HR Consultant with Sherlock Resources, LLC. She has over 10

years of HR and recruiting experience in the oil and gas industry. Sherlock Resources is based in

Houston, TX; their mission is to match awesome talent with awesome clients.

Content copyright 2013-2015 Sherlock Resources, LLC. All rights reserved