LinkedIn offers many free and paid tools to help job seekers in their search for full-time or contingent opportunities.
Today’s market demands continuous adaptability from job seekers to stand out in an increasingly competitive and uncertain job market.
Digital networking on the world’s number one professional network is more important now than ever – especially when 97 per cent of HR and staffing professionals were using LinkedIn in their recruitment efforts pre-pandemic.
How to use LinkedIn to find a new job
Optimizing a LinkedIn profile for candidacy may take a little work depending on how active and updated yours is. Before setting out on your search, it’s important to ensure the following is in order to build your personal brand online:
- Your LinkedIn profile has a photo
- Your LinkedIn profile is 100% complete
- Your work history section aligns with your resume (dates, titles, etc.)
- You have connections and engage with relevant content
- You have recommendations or have given recommendations
- You contribute to industry-specific groups
- You follow specific companies you would like to work for
Once you have a completed LinkedIn profile and have either established your online brand or are still working to cultivate it, you can delve deeper into the LinkedIn job search toolkit.
First thing’s first: Do you want a public or private job search?
It’s important to note that job search activity is private, by default. No updates will be sent out when you apply for a job. However, you can promote your job search or hide certain activity that would indicate you’re looking. Here’s how:
Public: Use the #OpenToWork feature
Let recruiters or hiring teams know you’re open to new opportunities with LinkedIn’s #OpenToWork feature. This tool allows you to specify the types of job titles you’re interested in as well as the location(s). This will help your profile populate in search results when many recruiters or hiring teams look for qualified talent. The feature also allows you to keep your job search private and visible only to recruiters.
Private: Set your privacy settings
If you’re currently employed and would like to keep certain activity like updating your profile private, you can set privacy features to reflect how connections can view your LinkedIn activity.
Search for Jobs
Located on the top of your LinkedIn homepage, the jobs icon easily helps you search for job postings by using filters, keywords and advanced search options to find the job titles you’re after.
You can also select from the job postings suggested by LinkedIn based on your qualifications and experience.
Set job alerts
Job alerts can be configurated based on your previous searches, preferences, and companies you’re interested in. Job seekers will be alerted to relevant job opportunities via email or other notifications. You can also save jobs and apply to them later.
Join groups
Joining LinkedIn groups to share and comment on relevant topics is important to building your personal brand, but it’s also a great way to get connected to other LinkedIn members in your industry of interest. These professionals can turn into adding connections, which can then become opportunities.
Request referrals
Your network can help connect you to opportunities. If you share a professional connection with someone who works at a company that is hiring, LinkedIn offers a referral tool that enables you to request a referral to the position you’re seeking at that organization. However, there are do’s and don’ts when requesting referrals!
Take skills assessments
LinkedIn also offers short 15-20 minute skill assessments to validate a skill. Once an assessment is passed, you can add a badge to the skills section of your profile to highlight your proficiencies.
Add skills
LinkedIn allows you to select and add up to 50 skills to your profile page. Maintaining a relevant list of skills will help recruiters and other connections to understand your strengths and also ensure your profile is searchable when recruiters are looking for candidates.
Reach out to a recruiter
If you’ve applied to a position online and would like to follow up on your application, send the recruiter responsible for filling the position a message on LinkedIn and ensure to include the job number with your message. Similarly, if you have a recruiter among your connections who recruits for positions in your industry of interest, you can introduce yourself through a LinkedIn message also. However, there is an art to the professional schmooze when reaching out to a recruiter on LinkedIn.
As the digital workforce continues to expand, so too do your opportunities to leverage LinkedIn, make connections, and discover great job opportunities. Whether you’re reaching out to former colleagues, engaging in informational interviews, or using LinkedIn to research companies, every step brings you closer to success in your job hunt.
Are you working with a recruiter to find your next great opportunity?
There’s a difference between applying and getting noticed. If your job hunt has stalled, or if you’re unsure how to position your experience for a new industry or role, partnering with a recruiter can bring clarity and momentum. At Procom, we do more than broker introductions. We help candidates refine how they show up in today’s talent market, offering practical insight into job descriptions, hiring timelines, and what employers are really prioritizing.
Our recruiters are embedded in the sectors they support, from emerging tech to enterprise-level IT, and they speak the language of hiring managers because they’re in those conversations every day. If you’re tired of applying into a void or receiving generic feedback, it might be time to work with someone who understands what “qualified” really looks like—and how to make sure your profile reflects it.
