LinkedIn Jobs

I’d like to spend a few minutes today going over a simple LinkedIn job search tip that I noticed some people are doing – when in actuality every single person should be doing, but isn’t.  It increases your relevance to the company you’re interested in and increases your chances of scoring an interview dramatically.

Combing through the various job boards is extremely tiring, time consuming and a job by itself. But if you want to be thorough and maximize your chances of finding a job, it’s a must-do.  When I refer to executive search, I’m not referring to finding an executive job.  Instead, I’m referring to the level of dedication and time required that one needs to invest in order to find a job in this difficult economic environment.

When you’re looking at jobs online and find jobs relevant to you, you should mentally be classifying the jobs in one of these categories:

1) First tier company (dream job);

2) Second tier company (would be happy with the job);

3) Third tier company (not interested, but would consider);

4) Any other company (I have bills to pay…)

Applying for jobs is purely a numbers game – the more jobs you apply, the higher the chances you’ll earn interviews.  Some people may say it’s about quality, but everyone I know who literally applies to hundreds of jobs a week has been getting interviews on a consistent basis.  Depending on your time, I recommend that you separate First Tier jobs from the rest of the other jobs and take a different approach applying for these jobs in particular.  Login to LinkedIn, and in the search box, [Search by People] for the Company you’re applying for.  I’m going to use Microsoft in this example.

A List of Contacts

You’ll notice that you can refine your search on the left, by Company and Relationship. We recommend messaging people and asking them whether they have any information on the posting, know anyone in the particular division, can provide a HR contact or better yet, submit your resume directly to HR with a recommendation.

You’ll soon realize that you can’t message everyone!  LinkedIn has a special feature called ‘InMail,’ which will end up costing you an arm and leg if you do it on a frequent basis.  However, if you have a shared connection with that person, you can usually message the shared connection without cost and ask for the direct person’s contact information or to give you an introduction.

You’ll be surprised at how successful this technique works.   Is it time consuming? YES – EXTREMELY! – That’s why we only recommend doing it for your first-tier jobs.  I personally receive a dozen or so requests a day on LinkedIn.  Although I don’t respond to all of them, I’m usually happy to pass along the information to a friend or colleague.

For the JobConcierge members, you’ll receive a list of jobs each week that your assigned HR professional found. Search&Apply members have the luxury of having JobConcierge apply to those jobs for them as well.  We recommend that you apply to First Tier jobs yourself and let your JobConcierge apply to the rest for you.  You’ll save at least a dozen hours each week and also increase your odds by working your LinkedIn connections. Good luck with your job search.

About the Author: Jason Lee is the CEO at JobConcierge. JobConcierge is a human-powered executive job search service where real people search through over 300 job boards to find you exactly the right job and submit your applications. JobConcierge also has a variety of free resources including a comprehensive local job fairs list, best niche job boards online, and a collection of the best job search advice online. You can sign up for the free trial here.

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