Eric Pye

Career Services Advisor

CMA Alberta / Alberta Accountants Unification Agency

Effective Job Search Techniques

JOB SEARCH AND NETWORK

WITH LINKEDIN

• Develop your personal “brand” (brand = reputation)

• Research:

• Corporate pages• Groups

• Online networking:

• Keep updated on people you know• Make new connections

Why use LinkedIn?

• 259 million users

• 40% users access LinkedIn daily

• 184 million monthly unique visitors

• 38% LinkedIn visits via mobile

• 3 million corporate pages

• 2.1 million groups

LinkedIn Facts (Oct. 2013)

• LinkedIn is a PROFESSIONAL network

• LinkedIn ≠ Facebook

• Careful about personal opinions – don’t “vent”

• Don’t expect to be headhunted, but…

• 94% of recruiters “vet” candidate details on LinkedIn• Added value: projects, recommendations, endorsements

• LinkedIn ≠ Networking (it’s a networking TOOL)

Things to Remember

• Your Profile

• Home Page

• Connecting

• Groups

• Job Search

• Expanding your Network

Overview

Your ProfileBANNER: PROFESSIONAL PHOTO & TAILORED HEADLINE

Photo: Headshot in professional attire with plain background. Profiles with photos get 7x more views.

Banner: Focus on positives. Highlight specialties, and avoid sad sack terms like “in transition” or “looking for new opportunities.”

Your ProfileSUMMARY: YOUR SPECIALTIES, EXPERIENCE & SKILLS

Summary: Your “banner ad.” Who, what when, where, why…

Guidelines: 1st person (3rd person comes across as pretentious). Use plain English, and key words for searchability and impact.

Your ProfileJOB DESCRIPTIONS: CURRENT JOB (DETAILED)

Comprehensive: 6-10 bullets with similar level of information as your resume. Give a clear idea of where you’re at in your career, and the kind of duties you’re comfortable with.

Your ProfileJOB DESCRIPTION: PAST JOB (LESS DETAIL, RECOMMENDATIONS)

Bare Bones: Job title, employer, dates, recommendations.

Motivate Contact: Encourage others to connect and find out more by keeping an element of mystery.

Your ProfilePROJECTS: HIGHLIGHT YOUR WORK

Credibility: Seeing is believing. Back up your job descriptions.

Link: Connect profile to concrete examples of output.

Your ProfileEDUCATION: GIVE SOME DETAIL ABOUT COURSES AND SCHOOL

Supplement Resume: Added detail about content and reputation of program, courses completed and other details.

Your ProfileSKILLS: HIGHLIGHT ABILITIES

Get found: Skills are searchable. Include technical, soft and I.T.

Ranking: Endorsements from connections get you ranked higher.

Edit Your ProfileEASY TO ACCESS FROM YOUR PROFILE PAGE

Edit Your ProfileCLICK BLUE EDITING OPTIONS: PENCIL, CAMERA, CONTACT, LINKS

Edit Your ProfileCONTACT DETAILS HELP OTHERS REACH YOU, INCLUDING URL

Privacy worries?: Create a LinkedIn-specific email that can be changed if needed. Leave other contact info blank.

Edit Your ProfilePERSONALIZE YOUR LINKEDIN URL (PROFILE ADDRESS)

Make yourself easy to find: The standard URL ends with a string of numbers. Personalize your LinkedIn address with some combination of your name, and then add your URL to your resume contact details.

Edit Your ProfileADD AND RE-ORDER SKILLS: SHOWCASE YOUR ABILITIES

Standards: When adding, choose from suggestions in drop-down.

Highlight: Give priority to and raise profile of relevant skills.

Your Home Page

• A one-stop “hub” for LinkedIn communication

• Similar to the Facebook home page

• Updates from contacts on jobs, shares, connections

• Latest job opportunities based on your skills and work experience

• See who’s looked at your profile

• Re-connect with past contacts

• Keep up-to-date on industry news

Your Home PageGET UPDATED: NEWS, SUGGESTED CONTACTS , PROFILE VIEWS

Your Home PageGET UPDATED: SHARES, LIKES, JOBS

Connecting

• Connect with past colleagues, classmates and teachers

• Connect after a networking meeting or course

• Connecting has several advantages:

• Access to your contact’s network• Updates on your home page• Endorsements and recommendations• Up-to-date contact details

ConnectingFIND A BUSINESS CONTACT ON LINKEDIN

Search Bar: Input what/who you want. Results in drop-down.

Categories: Results under Connections, Organizations, Groups…

ConnectingCONNECT OR FOLLOW FROM YOUR CONTACT’S PROFILE PAGE

Picture: Helps you identify the right person.

How you’ll connect: Follow influencers without connecting. Connect for 2-way communication.

ConnectingWARNING! WARNING! WARNING! NOT EVERYONE IS A “LION”

Advice for connecting: I am not a “Linked In Open Networker,” and I don't accept every connection request. I am open to connecting when I see a purpose beyond inflating my numbers. If you want to connect, don't use the standard LinkedIn message, or tell me I'm a person you trust. Let me know why you're contacting me and what you hope to gain from a networking relationship. This is standard etiquette on LinkedIn.

Don’t be “That Guy”: Most people don’t like being spammed for connections by strangers for no reason.

ConnectingTHE CONNECTION WINDOW & PRE-FILLED MESSAGE

This is the standard LinkedIn connection message that people hate.

ConnectingTAILOR YOUR CONNECTION REQUEST

A better way: Give context to your connection and be specific with your “ask.”

Connecting

• CAUTION!

• This is IMPORTANT…

• Do NOT connect using your mobile phone

• The LinkedIn mobile app does not allow you to personalize your connection request

• Wait until you’re home, and send your connection request from your PC using the full website

Groups

• Participating in groups has many advantages:

• Ask questions and learn from other group members

• Share info and articles, get known as credible source

• Find out about professional networking events

• Connect with other group members

GroupsFIND GROUPS IN THE “INTERESTS” MENU

GroupsJOIN GROUPS RELATED TO YOUR INTERESTS

GroupsPOSTS FROM GROUP MEMBERS APPEAR ON YOUR HOME PAGE

See the original on the Group Page: Click the title to open the original post and get more details.

GroupsORIGINAL POST ON GROUP PAGE

Posts often include links to external content (articles, info-graphics, etc.)

There are multiple options for interacting with the poster.

GroupsINTERACTING WITH GROUP MEMBERS

Options: Like or comment on the post, follow an individual member, or REPLY PRIVATELY WITHOUT BEING CONNECTED!

Job Search

• Job searching on LinkedIn is convenient:

• Find jobs and research companies• Connect with recruiters• Apply for jobs directly

• A simple search for “Accounting” yielded 109 jobs within 15 km of downtown Calgary, most with “blue chip” companies (Jan. 19, 2014)

Job SearchENTER A JOB TITLE OR TOPIC IN THE SEARCH BAR

Job SearchUSE FILTERING OPTIONS, AND CLICK LINKS FOR DETAILS

Job SearchDETAILED JOB POST, RECRUITER DETAILS, APPLY DIRECTLY

Cool Features: Apply for the job directly through LinkedIn, see who the recruiter is, and potentially connect with him/her.

Job SearchSEE HOW YOU’RE CONNECTED ON THE RECRUITER’S PROFILE

Click through to the recruiter’s profile.

See how you’re connected.

Ask your contact for an introduction before you apply.

Job SearchAPPLY DIRECTLY, UPLOAD RESUME & COVER LETTER

Expanding your Network

• Coffee meetings are important for research, and for developing a strong reputation

• 50-80% of jobs available today haven’t been advertised

• Networking exposes you to the hidden job market:

• Impress with your attitude and creativity• Get notified by contacts when new positions are posted• Get referred/introduced by your contacts• Overcome unspoken concerns (employment gaps, age,

language, lack of experience) and bypass ATS

Expanding your Network

• To improve your chances of getting hired by companies that interest you, you need to meet and impress the people who influence recruiting decisions

• LinkedIn can help:

• Find out who works in roles that interest you• Learn how you’re connected to those people• Leverage your contacts by asking for introductions• Once connected, use coffee meetings to learn about the

make-up and challenges faced by both organization and department, and about the best way to get hired

Expanding your NetworkSTART WITH A COMPANY YOU WANT TO WORK FOR

Expanding your NetworkRESEARCH ON THE CORPORATE PAGE

Expanding your NetworkFIND OUT HOW YOU’RE CONNECTED TO THE COMPANY

1st degree: You know someone. Meet them!

2nd degree: Someone you know knows them. Click the number to discover who can help you, and how you can get introduced!

Expanding your NetworkCHECK YOUR 2ND-DEGREE CONNECTIONS

Filter by location.

Search for related job titles and departments.

Expanding your NetworkFIND OUT WHO CAN INTRODUCE YOU

When you discover someone worth speaking to, see who your shared connections are, and who can best introduce you.

Expanding your Network

Hi Kathy, I saw on LinkedIn that you know Sunil Mahashabde at Suncor. I’m wondering if you would introduce me. I’d like to learn a bit about Suncor and their recruiting department. If you can make an introduction, please let Sunil know that I’ll only need about 15-20 minutes of his time. I’m happy to meet anywhere convenient for him, and coffee’s on me. Looking forward to hearing back from you. Regards, Eric

ASK YOUR CONTACT FOR AN INTRODUCTION

Make it easy to say “yes”: Be clear about your purpose. Don’t ask for too much. Most of all, don’t mention wanting to get a job from the meeting (focus on information and learning). Then wait for your contact to get back to you with email or phone details.

• Your Profile: Detailed, but not too detailed

• Home Page: Your communication hub

• Connecting: Your online Rolodex

• Groups: Learn, share, build your reputation

• Job Search: Apply directly with LinkedIn

• Expanding your Network: Meet influencers and access the hidden job market

Conclusion

Questions?

• For more on networking and LinkedIn, check the AAUA Career Services resource page at:

http://www.cma-alberta.com/Career-Services/Job-Seekers/Job-Search-Resources