LinkedIn is becoming a huge part of job hunting in the UK.
As of July 2024, over 42 million people in the UK were using LinkedIn. Last year, YouGov found that looking for and applying for jobs was the main reason people are using the platform.
The number of Britons using LinkedIn for their job hunt is growing, so it’s more important than ever to understand how the platform can work for you. There are many ways you can optimise and adapt your online presence to make the most of LinkedIn’s features, catch the attention of employers, and find your next role.
Here are our tips for how to use LinkedIn in your job hunt.
Optimising your profile
Finances Online found that 72% of recruiters use LinkedIn when looking for new hires, so your LinkedIn profile is, in many cases, the essential first impression you make.
Here are seven essential steps you should take to create an online presence that stands out from the crowd.
- Your profile picture doesn’t need to be a professionally taken headshot, but it should be business-appropriate with no background distractions to highlight your professionalism.
- If you have photographs that show a recent accomplishment – such as winning an award – these make a great profile banner. This is a way to reference your current role or highlight a key achievement at the same time.
- Set your profile to public so that more recruiters can find you, and make sure your contact information is up-to-date.
- Write a headline that includes keywords and phrases for the type of job you’re looking for. Look at the job description of the role you want, or similar roles in a company you’d like to work for, and use these terms to advertise your skills.
- Your About Section and Experience will be similar to the information on your CV. The main difference is that, on LinkedIn, it’s more common to use first-person pronouns when talking about your professional history.
- Stay away from buzzwords and clichés. Go back to the keywords you chose for your headline and make these the focus instead of overused words like “teamwork” and “dedication”. With any accomplishment you list, you should have data to back up your claims.
- Selecting the ‘Open To Work’ feature on your profile tells other users that you’re interested in new professional opportunities. You can tailor this to be specific about the kind of positions you are seeking. If advertising yourself as ‘Open To Work’ will cause conflict with your existing employer, you can set this so it can only be seen by recruiters.
Engaging with recruiters
If you want to reach out to recruiters directly on LinkedIn, there’s a correct way to do so.
When you send a connection request on LinkedIn, you have the option to add a personalised note to introduce yourself. We recommend doing this with recruiters to go into more detail about why you want to connect with them.
Talk about the opportunities you’re interested in and express an interest in the roles they are trying to fill. This way, if there are no vacancies open right now, they will have your details for openings in the future.
Avoid sending too many messages if a recruiter doesn’t respond immediately. There’s nothing wrong with a polite follow-up, but spamming a recruiter with messages will get you noticed for the wrong reasons.
If a recruiter contacts you with a position you’re interested in, reply promptly and find out more information. If the opportunity isn’t for you, highlight the roles you are interested in so you stay front-of-mind for future opportunities.
Setting up job alerts
One of the biggest draws for using LinkedIn in your job hunt is the job alert system.
On the Jobs tab, you can tailor your preferences to filter the jobs that LinkedIn shows you. You can customise these results by:
- Experience level
- Salary
- Location
Once you’ve set your preferences, you can set up job alerts. LinkedIn will send you a selection of relevant job opportunities to your inbox as often as you like, without wasting your time with roles that don’t fit your skills or experience.
While there is an option to upload a CV for LinkedIn’s Easy Apply feature, we recommend tailoring your CV to each role you apply for.
A bespoke CV is much more attractive to recruiters than a generic one.
We hope this guide has given you new ideas on how to use LinkedIn in your job hunt.
A better understanding of the platform will help you stand out from the crowd as the site continues to grow in popularity among job seekers.
If you’d like professional help with your LinkedIn profile, our experienced writers know exactly how to grab the attention of prospective employers and we would love to help you in your job hunt.
Our CV Bundles include a LinkedIn profile alongside a CV and Cover Letter.