Amanda Clark — June 29, 2018 — June 29, 2018
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LinkedIn is designed, first and foremost, to be an asset for professional development. For jobseekers, it’s absolutely critical: Before launching any kind of job search, we recommend reviewing your LinkedIn profile, optimizing it completely, and ensuring it includes all the pertinent facts about your professional achievements.
But there’s more to LinkedIn than just creating a profile. Actually, the social platform includes a number of key features that can help you in your job search. Here are four that you may not have heard about before.
How You Match
LinkedIn job postings include a feature called How You Match, which is exactly what it sounds like—a way for you to compare your professional background against the requirements of the job itself. This is a handy way to quickly assess whether you have the education, skills, job title, and years of experience required for the position in question. In some cases, it may save you from pursuing a position you’re really not eligible for, or one that might be too much of a long shot.
Ask for a Referral
If you find a job listing that you’re interested in, and if you have a LinkedIn contact who’s connected to the company in question, you can click on the Ask for a Referral link and then create a personalized message, asking for an endorsement. Being referred by someone on the “inside” is a proven way to increase your competitive edge; in fact, referred candidates are up to four times more likely to be considered for an open position!
See Your Commute
Sometimes, the commute time can make or break your interest in a particular job. Luckily, LinkedIn now allows you to determine what your commute would actually be to any given job listing. Using the LinkedIn mobile app, you can use the See Your Commute feature to gauge the approximate time between your home address and your (potential) new office—another helpful way for you to narrow your search.
Open Candidate
Looking for a way to let people in your LinkedIn network know you’re in the job market, without tipping off your current employer? The Open Candidate tool will let you do just that, enabling you to use your LinkedIn network advantageously while also maintaining some privacy and discretion.
These tools are all useful—but only once you’ve mastered the basics.
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