Are You Visible On LinkedIn?
Why you may need to check your profile again
A job seeker recently contacted me for help to land her dream role. She had been job hunting for a while and wasn’t getting the desired results.
Despite her many years of experience, it seemed she was a fresh graduate with no experience. she had been looking for jobs by applying online and responding to job ads. She has also been using LinkedIn to apply for jobs. These were jobs that the algorithms sent her way and those she found via LinkedIn job search.
She told me she had heard recruiters routinely make contacts with professionals on LinkedIn and wondered why it wasn’t the case for her despite her expertise in her field.
All her colleagues seemed to have more luck on LinkedIn. Her friend and colleagues landed a job via Linked but not her yet.
It was a strange scenario, so I looked closely at her profile.
Why LinkedIn Might Be Against You
While going through her LinkedIn profile, I noticed she’s got lots of useful experience and has worked with top companies in her field. Yet, she was not searchable on LinkedIn.
I could not explain why this was the case.
I then looked at her keyword settings on LinkedIn and realised they did not reflect the roles she wanted. She had captured keywords with very low chances of finding her on LinkedIn. These keywords were generic and did not relate to her role, background and experience.
Little wonder why she wasn’t found on LinkedIn by recruiters.
Recruiters Use Keywords To Find You On LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a big platform with hundreds of millions of users from all around the world. One of the easiest ways for recruiters to find you is via keyword searches.
For example, if a recruiter wanted to find a Data Analyst on LinkedIn, they would search for Data Analyst or maybe Data Scientist and then look through the results.
Individuals who pop up at the top of the page have these keywords in their profile. In addition, they have set their profile as open to working with those specific keywords.
So, reviewing your keyword settings might be worthwhile if you are having trouble getting noticed or contacted on LinkedIn.
Why Having Keywords Is Good And Being Searchable Is Great
Having great keywords on LinkedIn helps recruiters find you. You might think it’s unnecessary since you apply for the jobs you want.
If you only focus on this strategy, you will leave many other opportunities you might have been invited for. So having keywords within your profile to make recruiters search for you easy is a great way to advance your job search.
You will be more in control and able to lead the discussions if you are approached for a role.
Recruiters Are Everywhere – But They Need To Find You
Recruiters spend hours every day looking for great candidates to fill open roles. Yes, traditional job ads are open, but companies also invest heavily in recruiters to hunt top talent.
They understand that finding talent is hard and prefer to spend time promoting the organisation and making money for the company.
So why would you leave your job search to chance by being hidden on LinkedIn because of your profile keywords and settings? You might be missing out on many potential opportunities.
Closing Thoughts
Getting the job you want when you want it is fantastic. LinkedIn is a platform where you can find potential opportunities if you are searchable.
Ensure you have the keywords in your LinkedIn profile so recruiters can find and contact you for opportunities.
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