If you’re looking for sales jobs, you’ve got a LinkedIn account. But is it working hard enough for you?
Aside from being the perfect online place to network with industry professionals and influencers, LinkedIn offers unique ways to make you stand out from the ranks of job hunters all eager to snatch up your dream sales jobs.
You might be using the site every day but with new functionalities added all the time, there is every chance you may be missing out on a key way to reach the people you need to.
Below are some excellent ways to make sure your LinkedIn experience is as beneficial to you as possible.
Talk about yourself – concisely
The career information section of every LinkedIn profile is the most misused part of the network. Here is your chance to give headhunters a ballsy run-down of your past experiences in the sales industry – so how well does yours sell you?
In the employment game you are a product, so put your skills to use. Point out every good aspect of your career so far in short, snappy terms and leave out the waffle and irrelevant experience. 100-300 words is the recommended length. Good job all salespeople love a challenge.
Get more recommendations
You might think recommendations are just LinkedIn’s way of getting you to use their site more. You would be right in a way, however they are also used like references by recruiters to see how many of your previous roles still want to be tied to your name.
It’s sneaky, but think about it; if you left a role on bad terms, would a recommendation written by the organisation’s CEO be removed? Of course it would. These mini ego-boosts make you look like a stellar professional, of course, but they also prove that you’re a capable and dependable member of any workforce, past or present.
Stress your skills
In the ‘Skills & Expertise‘ section of your LinkedIn profile, there should be a comprehensive guide to every single skill you are trained and experienced in.
Don’t rush this part – these skills are used by the LinkedIn search engine as tags to help recruiters and head-hunters find potential leads – that means you.
They are also used to prompt your connections to ‘endorse’ you for said skills. If you put irrelevant skills, they’ll endorse you for irrelevant skills. It’s pretty self-explanatory. Get started by endorsing some of your connections and you’ll soon get them flooding in.
Connect connect connect
The great thing about LinkedIn has that other social networks can’t boast about is a network of connections all signed up for the same reasons: to do business, to connect in a professional manner and to increase the prospects of their own personal and company goals.
If your ideal sales jobs are based in another part of the world where you’re not well-connected, join groups related to the companies you’re interested in and get involved with their discussions.
Even easier than this, try to find connections who live and perhaps even work in your desired area. LinkedIn will let you know whether they are a 1st, 2nd or 3rd level connection – it will then enable you to find out who you are connected to who knows this person. You can ask your 1st level connections to introduce you to your desired contact, and in LinkedIn world, this is an entirely acceptable way to meet somebody. Give it a try.
Change your URL
You would not believe how many people still live out their lives with a messy standard LinkedIn URL. Why do it to yourself?
“Oh hey, good to meet you earlier! Look, I’ve got to rush off to a meeting right now, but I’ll catch up later. What’s your LinkedIn?”
“Uhhh, it’s linkedin.com/in/2342452user797_trtlpny”
Catchy.
Here’s how you do it:
Go to your profile. Click the grey ‘edit’ button. Underneath your profile picture (we’ll come to that next) there will be a URL. That’s yours. Click on it to edit it with your own name and a few embellishments, if your name is quite a popular one. Keep it professional, you never know who you’ll be writing it down for in the future.
Change your profile picture
We’re guessing LinkedIn isn’t your favourite social networking site. That guess being correct, we’re going to go for another point and assume your profile picture hasn’t been changed since you last updated your entire profile when you graduated or left your last job.
Simple and smart is best. Some swear by a big smile, others by a portfolio-style headshot. Whichever you go for, remember this is often the first time a potential employer will look upon your fine features. It kind-of matters.
Have you ever found a job through LinkedIn? Got some more questions for our social recruitment experts? Join the discussion in our LinkedIn group or add a comment in the section below.
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