As a college student looking to enter the workforce, LinkedIn is one of the most useful tools in your pocket. LinkedIn is constantly updating its resources and features that you can use to network with professionals and research companies. Here are some of the most recent changes LinkedIn made to its website and app and how they can help you in all aspects of professional development.
Track Companies You’re Interested in with LinkedIn Pages If there are particular organizations that you would like to work for, you can set an alert for them on their LinkedIn pages. Whenever the company has a job posting, you are sent an email notification so you can send your resume and complete additional steps in the application process right away. With LinkedIn Pages, this messaging system is now even more efficient. When you set a job alert for a certain company LinkedIn will now allow recruiters at the company to see that you set a job alert for positions they have posted. This extra notification system increases the chances of the company contacting candidates who show interest in positions right off the bat. Network with Employees Within a Company In addition to just being able to see information about the company, the new LinkedIn Pages feature also shows employees who work for the company and their LinkedIn profiles. By looking at previous work experience and educational backgrounds of employees, you can gain insight on the type of people and/or career paths the company looks to hire. You can even check to see if any alumni of your school work at that company. If you find a Marist alumnus or alumna at the company, reach out to them to connect or hold and informational interview. This type of networking could increase your odds of landing an interview or job with your dream company. Companies Acting as Users and Encouraging Conversations LinkedIn has now given its company profiles new ways to engage with communities of employees, colleagues, related businesses, and prospective employees. Organization profiles can function as individual profiles in that they are able to post Q&As and respond to comments from other LinkedIn users. Individual users are able to research a company’s relevant hashtags. So a candidate or prospective employee is more aware of an organization’s interests and values it promotes before they go in for an interview. Prepare for the Dreaded (Salary) Question For many potential job candidates who have entered the interview stage, the question they dread most of all is what type of salary they are looking for. How much money should I be looking to make in an entry level role? Is what I want too much or too little considering my work experience? LinkedIn Salary is a feature that will make it easier for you to answer these questions. This feature allows you to search by both company and job title to see average pay checks within the organization and field of work. After you compare similar level positions at companies of equal size, you will be prepared to negotiate your salary if necessary. There’s an App for That: Manage Your LinkedIn Profile from Multiple Devices You can manage your LinkedIn account on a mobile app. If you’re at a conference or other networking event and wish to keep your conversation going online, you can simply bring up a QR Code of your LinkedIn profile on your phone. This is a great alternative carrying and collecting business cards, which could get lost or misplaced following the event. You can even save your QR code as a photo on your phone and send the photo over any message service. Schedule Meetings with Ease The LinkedIn app has now made it easier to schedule meetings with colleagues or new connections. The app allows you to share your calendar with people you are messaging so everyone can see each other’s common availability. Even better, the LinkedIn app will share your one-time location with the people who you are messaging and quickly find a convenient place for everyone to meet. Tailor Your Job Search to Your Preferences LinkedIn has continued to personalize the job hunting experience so that you can find the opportunity that is the best fit for you. For someone who wishes to work remotely, LinkedIn now provides the option to specifically request in the search query only jobs where one would be able to work remotely all the time. In a global workforce where telecommuting is on the rise, this feature can open up a lot of doors for job seekers and help them rule out opportunities more quickly. Please note that most entry level jobs will likely require that you work in an office for an extended period of time before offering the option for working remotely permanently or for a day or two per week. Day by day, LinkedIn is becoming more essential for today’s job seeker. From allowing potential employees to do in-depth research on companies and their values to tailoring your job search to your specific preferences, LinkedIn has many tools that can help anyone land the position that is right for them. If you want to stay updated on LinkedIn’s new features and updates, subscribe to its official blog here. The graphic below shows ways you can enhance your LinkedIn profile during your job search.
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