Searching for a job either for the first time or to seek job stability or improve salary sometimes takes more work than you would like. Despite this, jobs that were previously impossible for many, high-level jobs in various countries around the world, are now just a couple of clicks away from anyone with a LinkedIn account.
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And it is that LinkedIn is a platform that is increasingly positioned to search for employment and professional opportunities, since they themselves have reported that currently 11 million Colombians are registered on this platform that since its foundation in 2002 to date has achieved more than 750 million users in the world, almost half of them in the United States (180M), India (78M) and Brazil (49M). Colombia is the third country with the most users on this platform in Latin America, only after Brazil and Mexico (18M).
To connect and seek employment in this global network of companies and workers there are several aspects that drive the possibilities of getting the best opportunities. The Universitat Carlemany, international online university, compiled seven recommendations and aspects to take into account to attract attention and apply to the best jobs on LinkedIn.
Define your professional profile
Before starting, it is necessary to define the professional profile that you want to show. To achieve this, the recommendation is to investigate previously. You can spend a few days browsing Linkedin and reviewing how other professionals have created their profiles. It is not necessary that they are only experts within the sector of interest.
The idea is to get inspired and use them as a guide in the first steps. However, it is best not to compare yourself to anyone, either at this time or later. Your own results will be the only ones that should matter and where all the attention should go.
Choose a professional photo
On Linkedin, even if it is a social network, the ideal is to show an image that is as faithful as possible to one’s own personal and professional characteristics. This means that at the time of choosing a photograph we must have a defined purpose on the platform.an audience and an image to convey.
Of course, the photography must be of quality. If possible, the ideal is to go to a photography studio to achieve a good result. The impression of a studio photo versus a homemade one is different and naturalness can be achieved without sacrificing quality. You can also choose not to include a photograph, of course, although it is important to keep in mind that people who select they like to be able to get an image of the candidate they are going to shortlist. Even so, you can choose not to include a photo, some use avatars, a logo or some element with which they identify
Describe well what you do
In the profile it is important to share an “about” that attractively describes the professional skills and what is the value as a hardworking person. It is the place where the skills that are held, the achievements to date, and what can be contributed to the company that is interested are indicated. The profile is one of the sections most consulted by recruitment companies and “talent hunters”.
Create a good network of contacts
In this network, as in others, the number of followers is often confused with success. Well, this does not happen on Linkedin either. The importance of having followers and contacts lies more in the type of relationship What do you have with those other professionals? That is, it is useless to have hundreds of contacts if collaborations, synergies or other types of activity do not arise from these relationships. Therefore, the recommendation is to carefully build the network of contacts, so that they become real future networking opportunities.
You use personalized messages when sending requests
This point is related to the previous one. If at the moment you start interacting on the platform you don’t follow a strategy and you don’t have defined objectives, the contacts you make may not be of much use. This network is not like Facebook, which generates automatic contact with school friends or acquaintances from other contexts; here it is about contacting like-minded professionals and establishing professional relationships. So, it is key to take care of the messages in the conversations, they must be personalized, to ensure that the correct message is being sent.
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job alerts
LinkedIn offers the possibility to create job alerts. This option is very useful, since it allows you to receive information on jobs adapted to your profile and fields of interest by e-mail. It is advisable to activate these alerts clearly, the job that is being sought, the working conditions, the salary, attendance, etc.
Before contacting someone:
- Check your profile: this will serve to get an idea of what your skills are, your professional background, interests and other relevant issues.
- See how you communicate: Adopting a tone similar to yours will build trust on first contact.
- What values does it have: it is important to know if your values are aligned with what is sought.
- Think about what you can help that person: It is key to offer something that can be positive for the other, this helps to create a good initial bond.
- How both parties benefit: the relationship should be as egalitarian as possible; achieving that the parties benefit from that relationship is ideal.
