LinkedIn

Essential for your job search, handy for the rest of your life

Highpoints

• The basics• Two goals of LinkedIn.com:

– Catching – building your profile so you can be found

– Pitching – hunting / finding the people you need

• Status Updates• Connecting• Groups• Answers

The basics

• LinkedIn.com is THE place recruiters, HR-types and hiring managers (a/k/a “problem-havers”) go to find candidates or learn more about candidates they have already found.

• Build your profile intentionally so you can be found. (Catching)

• Connect with lots of people and use interactively so you can find people (Pitching).

Russ’ view of Linkedin – top of the page…Notice the “People you may know”…because you might!

Russ’ view of Linkedin – a little lower…notice the “Who’s viewed your profile?”

Left side – who has looked at my profile; clues about who my message is reaching.

Right side – how am I doing in attracting attention (scorecard-kinda). Update your profile; watch your views skyrocket. Pay attention to who is looking!

How often do I show up in searches weekly? Average 303.5x/week! Why? Because of how I have built my profile – to be found!

Highpoints

• The basics• Two goals of LinkedIn.com:

– Catching – building your profile so you can be found

– Pitching – hunting / finding the people you need

• Status Updates• Connecting• Finding people, part deux!• Groups• Answers

Catching │Goal #1: Building your profile so you can be found

Your profile

• 100% complete profile- LinkedIn will help you chart your progress as you move towards completing your profile.

• 100% is only the beginning – but it’s a good first goal!

• Catching wins championships…and gets you found on LinkedIn.

Your profile

• Picture – smiling, professional, good lighting, facing camera

• Headline – say what you do or did, use keywords; 120 characters, use it!– Your title may have been Accountant II (which

doesn’t tell clearly what you did.)– Accountant │Joint-interest billing │JIB │Oil &

Gas │AP Supervisor │Revenue accounting │Data analyst │efudd@gmail.com (That’s 118 characters – which is more clear?)

Your profile

• Pop Quiz – Which do you think is most effective?

1. CONSUMER PRODUCTS EXECUTIVE - Brand Management | Marketing | Sales Management | Consulting

2. Actively Seeking Next Employment Opportunity

3. Currently seeking employment - Production Management - Technical Coordinator - Management A/V - Audio Engineer

Your profile

• Current – maybe delete it?– Alternatives: Immediate availability, currently

seeking, Open to new opportunities– Avoid: Unemployed, Retired, etc. Look

forward!

• Public profile – customize it; for resume, business cards and email signature– http://www.linkedin.com/in/knightruss– http://www.linkedin.com/pub/hans-helmerich/9/992/a44– See the difference? Which is easier to share?

Your profile

• Current– You can delete “current” (suggested)– Alternatives include: Immediate availability,

currently seeking, Open to new opportunities

• Public profile – customize it; for resume, business cards and email signature

• Recommendations – two minimum; don’t kill yourself for more; anyone can write them for anyone else, limited value

Your Summary

• Speak to results, $, #, % where possible

• Use keywords throughout

• Tell your story in a concise and compelling way (takes some work to get it right)

• Adding a list of keywords at the bottom – simply for LinkedIn’s search engine – is the best way to be found more often

My new friend Boe; connected with him in Feb; met in person in June; 17k connections; 300+ profile views/day.

See what Boe is doing here? Tells his story, then has a repeating stack of keywords so he will be found.

S+A = R

• Every statement about your work can fit this model

• Have 14-40 of these, use on LinkedIn profile, resume and more

• S = Situation – Tell what you began with• A = Action – What did you do differently

that others didn’t or might not• R = Result – Outcome delivered to your

employer, ideally quantified in $, # or %

Previous jobs

• Explain what you did, tell SAR stories• Go beyond the job description

– Responsible for sales [or]– Pursued by phone, mail, email and in-person

the decision maker for payment solutions, presented and closed the largest contract the company had signed in 5 years worth over $1MM.

• Add a specific block of keywords for each previous job

Highpoints

• The basics• Two goals of LinkedIn.com:

– Catching – building your profile so you can be found

– Pitching – hunting / finding the people you need

• Status Updates• Connecting• Groups• Answers

Pitching │Goal #2: Hunting wabbits; finding the hiring manager, decision maker and others

Indeed.com: An aggregated source of job postings. Try it!

Hunting on LinkedIn

• Found two jobs on page 1 of Indeed from “controller accounting” search on Indeed.com

• Oil States International (let’s dig on this one)

• Utica Park Clinic (this one will wait)

Russ suggests: Find the company on LinkedIn!

Russ suggests: Then follow them!

Next: Who do I know at the company? Strike out so…

Let’s try the “Advanced” search- upper right corner…

Keyword: accounting

Location: 74101

Company: Oil States

Current company

Struck out!

Searched again with “Oil States” in caps; my network didn’t yield anything here.

Jigsaw.com is another search tool, especially good for getting company HQ information and specific contact information.

Now here are a couple of names, esp. Bradley Dodson, CFO & Treasurer.

Here is his contact information, if you have points to “buy” it with. You earn points on this site by keying in

And just to confirm that he is still there, here he is on LinkedIn. This isn’t iron clad, but a good indication.

Here is his information on the company’s website under “management team”.

What we found…

• Bradley J Dodson, SVP & CFO

• Could get his contact information from Jigsaw.com or ask for him at the main number 1 (713) 652-0582

• Chances are, we won’t reach him but someone in his office might direct us to who the hiring manager is for this position if we simply ask.

Highpoints

• The basics• Two goals of LinkedIn.com:

– Catching – building your profile so you can be found

– Pitching – hunting / finding the people you need

• Status Updates• Connecting• Groups• Answers

Status updates: Projecting good information to your network (What’s up, Doc?)

Outbound: status message

• Always good news (never negative!)

• Always professional

• Article you read related to your industry, vocation, job search or something else with broad interest

• Community or industry event

• Interact with other people’s messages! This is SOCIAL media – be social!

For every post I make, I probably like or comment on 10 others.

Highpoints

• The basics• Two goals of LinkedIn.com:

– Catching – building your profile so you can be found

– Pitching – hunting / finding the people you need

• Status Updates• Connecting• Groups• Answers

SHHHHH! Let’s keep all this just between us…no sense in others learning about making good use of LinkedIn, OK? Next up: The how, who and why of connecting

Connecting

• Always customize the message• Remind people how you know them or met,

even if you met earlier in the day• Offer value• Give them a reason to connect!• “Russ here from the job search ministry! I’m searching for

a sales position in energy or financial services. Might you know someone looking for someone like that? Could we connect in case I might help you or someone you know?”

Highpoints

• The basics• Two goals of LinkedIn.com:

– Catching – building your profile so you can be found

– Pitching – hunting / finding the people you need

• Status Updates• Connecting• Groups• Answers

Are you afraid yet? Now, to Groups!

LinkedIn Groups

• An excellent way to expand your connections exponentially

• Participate and be relevant• Industry• Discipline• Geography• Interest• You can join 50 (or so) with free account• Bonus: What business are you in right now?

Highpoints

• The basics• Two goals of LinkedIn.com:

– Catching – building your profile so you can be found

– Pitching – hunting / finding the people you need

• Status Updates• Connecting• Groups• Answers

Do you have questions? Do you have expertise that you ought to project? Answer questions! On to the “Answers” section!

Answers

• Search the question before you ask it!• You have a list of 20 or so keywords from

your profile set up, start with those• Sometimes it’s good to see who is asking

the question – could be the CEO of your next employer or some student in India.

• Project your expertise!

More

• Repeat important things in different ways

• Include misspelled versions of your name if it might be misspelled

• Blue on LinkedIn = hyperlink; click, follow, explore! You aren’t going to break the internet!

Finding People

• Do we have time?

• We went through one example earlier

• Let’s just try it! Who are you looking for?

• Company

• Title

• Name

• Let’s find their information!

Russ Knight sells energy management consulting for THG Energy and is the co-founder of OJT @ Asbury and one of the leaders of FUMC’s Employment Transition ministry in Tulsa. (918) 640-6148-c or OJTjobs@gmail.com