Your next job opportunity can come from someone you already know

MANILA, Philippines – One of the easiest and most impactful ways to help you connect to a new job opportunity is by growing your LinkedIn network and engaging with them. 

Proactively growing one’s network is something that people often brush aside. But in reality, creating a good network is low-hanging fruit when it comes to landing a job. 

Based on data from the 2020 LinkedIn Opportunity Index, 64 percent of Filipinos have provided job referrals to people from their network. This means that the door to your next opportunity might be just a connection away. Here are some tips that can help you. 

Connect with people you know on LinkedIn

Growing your network can be challenging if you don’t know where to start. A quick tip – start with people you already know. These include your friends, family, former colleagues, and contacts from your internships, summer jobs, volunteer work, and alumni from your school. They are likely to be open to connecting with you since you already have something in common. 

To help you find them on LinkedIn, you can start by syncing your address book or checking the “People You May Know” feature on the “My Network” tab on LinkedIn. This feature allows you to find and connect with people who went to the same school as you, who work in similar roles or industries, or who are based in the same city. 

If you’re reaching out to someone you haven’t spoken to in a while, break the ice by engaging with their posts and greeting them on their special days and whenever they have personal or professional milestones. 

Share your insights 

Regularly explore LinkedIn, offering your thoughts on conversations relevant to your desired industry, learnings from your personal life, or take-aways from a connection’s post. These not only help grow your network, but also show future employers or colleagues how you think and what you value.  

In addition to posting your own content, a great way to share your insights is by finding information and conversations on topics that are interesting to you and commenting on them. Searching hashtags is a fast way to do this. If you recently discovered a video conferencing hack that helped your team have more efficient meetings, search #videoconference, and comment on posts with your advice.

You can also share your story and tag co-workers or close connections who may need similar advice. You can follow and join conversations for topics on LinkedIn by simply searching for a hashtag and hitting “follow.”

Highlight your skills 

 When updating your skills, identify what is relevant to you and employers or colleagues you want to work with. Think of what you should be presenting on LinkedIn as your “core skills.” For example, instead of listing down “content strategy specialist” as your position, break down your roles in terms of what people actually search for. e.g., copywriting, brand strategy, creative writing, etc.

In addition, add soft skills such as decision making, communication, and persuasion. While technical skills are still sought by companies, soft skills are relevant across a wide range of jobs. Creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, and emotional intelligence rank as the top five soft skills in 2020.

Give & request for recommendations 

Recommendations are personal testimonials from your network that vouch for what you can do and what it is like working with you. 

LinkedIn has made the process easier with a drop-down menu that allows you to reach out to specific contacts and request recommendations. Take time to personalize your request, let the person you’re contacting know that you value their opinion of you.

Pro tip: an excellent way to start a request? Recommend them first. 

Go through your network and find people you feel comfortable endorsing. This is a two-way street — you feel genuine about endorsing them and their endorsement is something you’d deeply value. 

Once you’ve endorsed them, they’d most likely return the favor. If they don’t, don’t be afraid to make a polite request for a recommendation.

Keep your profile active

The more active you are, the higher the chance of landing your dream job.

So be proactive in all aspects. Keep endorsing; keep sharing, liking, and commenting; don’t be afraid to update your skills list regularly Your skills today may not be the same skills you’d want to highlight next year. Your LinkedIn profile should reflect that.

With these tips, you’ll be able to find the opportunity for you and even help others connect with theirs.  – Rappler.com