LinkedIn is pretty powerful, if you understand some of the ways you can use it! It is more than an online resume. It is more than your modern day rolodex. It is a massive database of user-supplied information! Let’s look at some of the ways you can tap into this!
Following Companies
You’ve developed a list of target companies. You know, places you would like to work or at least you think you may. FYI, these are not just companies that are posting jobs. This list is any company that could potentially hire you!
With your list in hand, follow these companies!
Read their profiles.
See who you are connected to (or should be connected to).
Check out their “Insights” tab. You will see a list of companies viewed by other LinkedIn users. It says: “People who looked at [company] also viewed:” Chances are, the companies listed there are competitors or similar. See if you should add them to your growing target list! Then, follow them too! If you want to be extra sleuthy, you can see where employees used to work and where they went after. Again, more potential targets for you!
Part of your regular routine is to monitor the updates of companies you are following. This is easily done by clicking on the “company” tab on your home page of LinkedIn.
Now that you are following companies, LinkedIn is smart enough to suggest other companies you may want to follow. This is similar to the function you have seen with recommendations of people to connect with.
Searching Companies by Industry/Location Etc.
Sure, you can search for companies in many different ways:
- Name
- Location
- Industry
- Relationship (1st, 2nd, 3rd degree connections, or all LinkedIn members)
- Size (number of employees)
- Number of followers
- Fortune 500 ranking
Give it a try! See what new companies you can add to your target list and begin following for potential opportunities!
Search by Skills & Expertise
From the drop down menu “More” select Skills & Expertise. Enter in a key word for your work/occupation.
In your results you will see LinkedIn profiles of people with this skill and on the side you will see other related skills. On the right side, please notice the “Related Companies” listed. Aha, perhaps there are more here for you to follow.
Scroll to the bottom and you will notice recommended Groups on LinkedIn. If you are looking for industry groups to join, this could be your ticket!
Search by Job Title
Use “Advanced People Search” to search by Job Title. (Use the job titles you have found during your research.) You may want to start by filtering your search by “current title only”. You can also filter your results by location. Invest a little bit of time to see what companies people work for.
Opportunities…Not Jobs
I have purposely NOT discussed the “Job” search functionality within LinkedIn. Searching for posted jobs certainly is possible and something you can do on LinkedIn. I am pretty sure you can figure this out.
Are there other tricks or creative ways you are harnessing the power and accessing the data from LinkedIn? Leave a comment! Inquiring minds want to know!
