The twin questions of what—at its very heart–is LinkedIn and how to mount the most proactive strategic job search possible get at the heart of the same thing.  And they each uncover important concepts about the value of LinkedIn to your job search.  It’s important to have specific LinkedIn job search strategies to get the highest-quality new career. Let’s get started. 

Use LinkedIn tools strategically

It’s important to remain cognizant of the idea that information on your LinkedIn page can rank very high in search results.  That’s why, first off, it’s important to have strategic key words in your LinkedIn heading.

But, as I’ll outline a bit more below, it’s also important to place content on LinkedIn.  This can take the form of full-length articles, polls, questions, etc.  The keywords used in these posts are pure gold for search results.

Impress with content

There’s a pretty good reason that recruiters and anyone doing the hiring often short circuit the old-fashioned process.  They’re looking for something more–or at least other than–information on the resume.  Essentially, they’re looking for proof instead of claims.

LinkedIn couldn’t serve better here, and this concept demonstrates why so many jobs are filled by poaching rather than through traditional channels.  By posting articles, commenting on articles, and otherwise getting your ideas out there, you’re proving to potential employers how interesting your ideas are, if they indeed are.  This gives you a chance to demonstrate that you’re keeping up with the field, that you question trends, look at things differently, etc.  Becoming a full-on thought leader is a tall order, but getting in a few kidney punches here and there can easily land you a position.

Speak to your audience

Networking is important, and building up rapport with people parallel to you in the job hierarchy is one of the things LinkedIn is all about.  But we’re talking about getting poached and developing LinkedIn job search strategies here.

Along these lines, one of the things to do—and LinkedIn is set up for this—is to get your finger on the pulse of management in your field.  Look at their questions and concerns and try to speak to these.  It’s essentially the advertising principle—are there problems that your product (you) can speak to?  This is how you jump the line and put yourself ahead of thousands of people.

The tools are out there.  But LinkedIn is nothing on its own.  You’ll get out of it what you put into it.