Using LinkedIn to Help Find Your Next Job

Notes from presentation by A.J. Parl

at Canada Job ExpoToronto

January 29th 2013

This presentation by Maira Bay de Souza is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Before we begin ...

Items in this font are the notes I took from what the presenter said

Items in this font are my own comments

Strategies

There are 2 ways you can use LinkedIn: Farming: have a complete profile, follow up

on people who viewed your profile, etc. Hunting: look for companies you want to

work for, look for the people who work there, etc.

I am a farmer. What about you?

Tips valid for both strategies

Look at the person's profile and find something to comment on.

It's great if you can come up with a fun and catchy title like “Professional industry disruptor”

I use the first one and it really helps me keep in touch with people.

Another tip

When you are asking people about connections, ask for something very specific.

Example: “do you know any lawyers who need someone to fix their computers?” instead of “do you know any small business owners?”

Good tip. Being specific is very important, so that people can know how to help you.

Using groups

Join groups related to where your customers are

The more groups/discussions you participate the better

Post messages, post questions

I've started doing the first one a few weeks ago. Let's see how it works.

I've already exceeded the limit of number of groups I can join!

Connecting

Tell people why you want to connect with them. Always send a personalized request to connect.

Some people have the initials LION next to their name. This means they are a Linked In Open Networker.

I always send personalized invitations to connect. And people frequently tell me how much they appreciate it. It really works!

Final thoughts

Write a story in the summary section, but imbed information about your skills, etc in the story.

Spending 15 min/day in LinkedIn is enough.

I spend around that same amount of time in LinkedIn, so I'd say it's a good target.

Write a story in the summary section, but imbed information about your skills, etc in the story.

Spending 15 min/day in LinkedIn is enough.

Write a story in the summary section, but imbed information about your skills, etc in the story.

Spending 15 min/day in LinkedIn is enough.

Write a story in the summary section, but imbed information about your skills, etc in the story.

Spending 15 min/day in LinkedIn is enough.

Disclaimer

The notes presented here are what I understood from what the presenter communicated. They might not be 100% accurate, as I was taking notes and listening to the presentation at the same time.

All the information I am quoting from the presenter is their intellectual property. I am reproducing it here under the fair use policy, for quoting purposes only.