Job Search News

While LinkedIn’s primary purpose may be professional networking, helping everyone make more connections so they can succeed at their current jobs and establish a solid presence for their careers, recruiters and employers love LinkedIn.

Recent research by Microsoft has shown that 86% of employers were impressed by what they discovered about job seekers in social media, like LinkedIn, helping the job seekers land  jobs.

The LinkedIn-Resume Connection – 5 Important Benefits to Job Seekers

One of the interesting things I’ve discovered in my discussions with job seekers and employers is that employers often compare the job seeker’s resume and cover letter with the job seeker’s LinkedIn Profile.

Discrepancies between the resume and the Profile show up quickly, but so do accomplishments and other positive things.

LinkedIn has become the Online Portfolio of millions of professionals, and it offers 5 very important benefits to job seekers when employers make the LinkedIn-resume comparison.

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Employers - AND Employees – Benefit from Employee LinkedIn Participation

It may be a surprise to some, but LinkedIn isn’t useful only for job search and recruiting.  Active participation is good for your career and good for your employer as well.

NOTE:  Before you join LinkedIn or participate in any social media, be sure to check for an official policy from your employer about employee use of social media. Some employers ban social media use by employees, at least while the employees are at work. Some don’t want any mention of the employer at all, while others think social media is great and encourage employee participation. So, it’s best to check for a policy and/or guidelines to be sure.

In fact, your employer may benefit from your active participation in LinkedIn. Even if you are the only employee who is a LinkedIn member, your participation puts your employer “on the map” (virtually) as an organization.

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I strongly recommend that – if at all possible (and sometimes it is not possible) - people continue working in their old jobs while looking for their new jobs.  If you have the option, you are much more attractive to an employer when you are still employed.  Not logical, but very human (here’s why).

Someone in Twitter recently disagreed with my recommendation in that article that people be sure their LinkedIn Profile is complete while they continue working in their current jobs. This person felt that being in LinkedIn signifies that someone is job searching.

Yes, being active in LinkedIn can mean you are job hunting. But, most people in LinkedIn are working on expanding their network, getting in touch with thought leaders, former colleagues, and new potential clients, all to help them with their job performance. (More on how LinkedIn benefits your employer)

So, being in LinkedIn can also mean you are a savvy business person, leveraging current technology to improve your ability to do your existing job better, through better networking, and learning new skills.

NOTE:  Some employers do not want their employees using social media, particularly during working hours and/or using the employer’s computers, networks, etc. Check for a “Social Media Use” policy (and also an “Email and Internet Use” policy), to be sure that you are in compliance.

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For the past few years, I’ve kept a running total of how people land their new jobs – an off-line process to keep the playing field level.

Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, Web job sites are not the primary source of jobs for most of the job seekers I interview.  Fewer than 15% of them mention a job site (e.g. Monster, CareerBuilder, even Craigslist).

But, I’ve noticed an interesting trend recently, when Iask people how they landed their new job AND when the answer is a Web site, the Web site mentioned with increasing frequency is LinkedIn!

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