Securing Your Next Role With LinkedIn

Whether in senior management or a newly hired intern, LinkedIn is a perfect platform to grow relationships, build your network, and prepare yourself for your next role. Here are three things to help you be successful:

#1. Participate in Relevant Conversations

If you're looking for a job in a particular industry, commercial, federal, real estate, whatever it may be, you need to be looking for ways to participate in the conversations of people who influence that space.

Find the content like it, and engage with it so that people see you as being associated with that topic. 

Here's what happens when you like or comment on something: 

First of all, the author is notified that you liked it.

Boom, that's awareness. 

Second, a portion of your network will see you interacted with that content.

This is something we forget on LinkedIn: every time we like or comment on something, LinkedIn takes that post and puts it in front of our audience, building our brand.

So you want to be intentional about the content you engage with on LinkedIn to build credibility a become known as a thought leader in that sphere.

When you comment on content, comment in a way that adds value, not just to the people you're connected to, but more importantly to the audience that you want to find you attractive.

You've heard me say this in many of my newsletters: A commenting strategy is the key to success on LinkedIn, and participating in a conversation on LinkedIn means leaving thoughtful comments that further the discussion. 

If you're looking for a new role, a new job, or a new position, you need to be commenting a minimum of three times a day on multiple different people’s posts — your coworkers, your colleagues, your industry, partners, vendors, sponsors, anyone who you can provide value to and show that you are actively involved in the industry or the space you want to transition into.

A thoughtful comment means you've moved beyond; congrats, well done, thanks for sharing, to comments that add value to the role that you expect to step into.

Get to know people in the industry, engage with their content and react. You don't necessarily have to connect with them, but ultimately if you do, realize that you are there to add value to the relationship.

Think about not what you can get from them but what you can give.

Over time, if you demonstrate the ability to give in various ways, others will find you valuable and will want you on their team.

#2. Create Relevant Content

We hear that content is everything, creating videos, creating content, creating posts, creating Canva, creating, creating, creating, creating. It's exhausting. 

While you should create content, realize that a limited audience will see that content.

So instead of pumping out as much content as you can, create content geared toward the audience of the sphere you want to transition into.

Let me give you a quick example:

My friend Adi was an intern and decided to raise his awareness at the large multinational company he worked for. To raise his profile, he began interviewing executives at the company, asking for their insights into the intern's role, and then posted the interviews on his LinkedIn profile.

This allowed him, as an intern, to post content to LinkedIn from leaders throughout the organization, from the CEO to the CRO, and the general counsel, allowing Adi to be seen adding value.

This method works for anyone. Adi was an intern, but I've seen CEOs who are looking to retire from their current position and possibly take on a board role do the same thing, finding ways to participate in other people's conversations and adding the value that they've built up over their entire careers.

You should also recruit friends and colleagues to participate in your conversations. 

You can do this in the comments section itself by tagging individuals with an @ symbol who you know who have something to say. 

For example, you might want to transition into the board game publishing industry, so you write a post about board games. In the comments, you tag me, @Richard Bliss, because you know I like board games. For example:

@Richard, I know that you have some involvement in the board games industry. What's your impression on the topic of AI-generating board game art?

Here's what's going to happen. As you call out these individuals in the comments, they're going to get notified, and they're going to see exactly what you want them to say.

As they comment on your content, your content will now be shared with their audiences, providing you with an even broader range of viewers.

If you do these things, you'll see a 300 to 500% jump in the number of people looking at your profile in a single week.

And when people view your profile, you want to make sure it clearly identifies who you are and tells a story about you.

#3 Tell a Story with Your Profile

Use your ‘About’ section to talk about who you are as an individual, what motivates you, what drives you, what guides you, what vision you have, and what's influenced you.

Find a way to tell that story about the internal you, not simply what you've done in the past but what that means for the future. Use this section to highlight your transitional skills that apply to the new role you desire.

Make sure your headshot is professional, not cut out from a wedding party picture or a family beach photo. You want your photo to be clear, cropped to frame your face, and reflect what you currently look like.

Make sure your background image captures your personal brand. 

If you are looking to change roles, companies, or industries but still need your banner to highlight the company you currently work for, here is a secret to accomplish that while still reflecting your personal brand:

Say you're into Greyhound rescue, add dogs to your banner image, or if you're a graphic designer, add some of your designs to your banner. Whatever image reflects your brand, use it, and then use Canva to drop your company’s logo in the upper right-hand corner. 

Conclusion

Remember, when looking for your next gig, use LinkedIn as an active networking platform rather than a passive resume holder.

Engaging with content, creating posts that invite conversation, and telling a story on your profile are three key ways of building your influence so that you are prepared to transition into the new role.

Doing these things will help you understand how to make that transition, build your brand, and give value before you start asking for that job.

About the Author

Richard Bliss is the founder and president of BlissPoint, a social media consulting company that helps improve executives’ online communications and sales teams’ social selling behaviors. A LinkedIn Top Voices Influencer, experienced executive communications manager, and social media coach, Richard has helped thousands of people master social media tools and become fluent in social conversations, building their platforms and confidence to reach their audience and define their brand effectively.