5 Simple LinkedIn hacks to optimize your job search

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If you’re looking for a job, having a great profile on LinkedIn is crucial. Moreover, once you get hired, having a strong presence on LinkedIn will help you connect with other professionals and enhance your career.

So how do you make the most of LinkedIn when looking for a job?

I asked content strategist Pratik Dalvi for his advice. Here are the top five actions he recommends you take.

Send Connection Requests To Recruiters From Your Domain.
A common mistake many people make on LinkedIn is not connecting with people they don’t know.

Since LinkedIn is a professional network targeting working professionals, lots of recruiters tend to post job listings through their personal account. You could be missing out on a lot of employment opportunities if you’re not connected with the recruiter.

Waiting to know when you can apply for that dream job of yours? Start by connecting with the recruiter-in-charge!

Not Sure How Much Salary You Should Negotiate? Use LinkedIn Salary.
This is a unique tool which enables you to find out what others in your field are getting paid. You can filter the information based on location, years of experience, educational qualifications etc.

In order to get this information, you need to tell LinkedIn how much are you getting paid. Quid pro quo… Don’t worry; LinkedIn promises not to share it with anyone and keeps the data encrypted.

The Power Of BOOLEAN Search
As of April 2017, LinkedIn has 467 million registered users. With such a huge database how do you find the exact information you’re looking for?

That’s where BOOLEAN operators such as AND, OR, NOT, Parentheses, and Quotes come to your rescue. Use these operators creatively to narrow down your search and find the desired results.

However, you can’t just enter anything and expect Linkedin to give you the desired results. Linkedin currently supports the following search operators:
● title
● company:
● school:
● firstname:
● lastname:

Be A Part Of The Right LinkedIn Groups.
LinkedIn Groups provide a place for professionals in the same industry or with similar interests to share content, find answers, post and view jobs, make business contacts, and establish themselves as industry experts.

It’s absolutely essential to be in the right LinkedIn groups. Add yourself to Alumni groups to get access to referral jobs and to Industry-specific and special interest groups to interact with like-minded people from your domain.

Add the Keywords You Want to be Ranked for to Your Profile.
Want to make sure your profile gets to more recruiters during LinkedIn search?

Optimize your profile for search! Identify the common keywords recruiters use in job postings you are interested in. Those are the words they use in their profile searches. Use these keywords in your profile so you’ll make the cut.

[This article has been reproduced with permission from Knowledge Network, the online thought leadership platform for Thunderbird School of Global Management https://thunderbird.asu.edu/knowledge-network/]