Javier Ruiz Jiménez

Effective Job Search Using LinkedIn (II)

You have been following recommended daily habits for a better job as described in the Effective Job Search Using LinkedIn (I) and you are ready to start updating your LinkedIn profile and building your resume.

Remember that you are looking for a better job; it doesn’t necessarily mean earning more money, having a bigger team, or having more responsibility. Better is something different to each person, and it also depends on your current personal situation.

Let’s start by finding your passion.

“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Mark Twain

Let me show an example of passion:

José Manuel Hermo Barreiro, known as “Patelo”, is a retired nautical mechanic. His passion started when he was a kid and received a book about engines.

He has now been retired for 15 years, which he has spent building amazing handmade miniature engines with a lathe machine and sandpaper.

Take a look at his latest miniature creation, the engine room of a transatlantic liner with 4 V-16 engines, 2 marine reduction gears, 2 gearboxes, and 2 propellers. It has 2186 small pieces, 1884 screws and 7800 hours of work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IEGmD_aV3w

Make an inventory, find your passion

It is time to look back and make a list of what makes you happy in your life. You probably already know what your passion is. But maybe you have found that your passion is different from what you studied; choosing a profession while you are in high school and have no professional experience is a bet.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Hopefully, answering those questions has brought back happy memories from the past that can help you identify what your real passion is.

My answers to those questions are:

Now turn your passion into a job that you can do and in which you are the best; that is where you want to focus your time.

Mine is leading high performance engineering teams that build software products and run cloud infrastructures that solve complex technical problems.

Yours can be completely different, for example taking care of animals; the important thing is that at this step you have identified your passion.

If you find your true job passion, chances are that you will excel, because you will enjoy spending time studying and practicing, and the earned experience will make you the best at it.

Find corresponding job descriptions

Now that you have found your true job passion, visit different job posting websites and look for job descriptions that match your passion.

You might find many jobs that require skills that you don’t have or that are for a remote location. Don’t worry; we will deal with that later on. Save all the jobs that match your passion, regardless of the required skills.

LinkedIn lets recruiters find candidates among all its members, that is, 500 million profiles competing (intentionally or not) for 6 seconds of a recruiter’s attention.

This step will be useful for aligning your resume with the market’s needs.

Identify all the relevant keywords (skills, requirements, tasks/activities, knowledge, technologies) found in the job descriptions and make a list or a mind map, take sticky notes, or use Trello.

Identify synonyms and put them together.

Once you have added the keywords for a fair amount of job descriptions:

  1. Classify them in sections like responsibilities, tasks, skills, technologies, education, experience, etc.
  2. Identify the ones that you are comfortable adding to your resume (you have the knowledge).
  3. Identify other keywords that you cannot yet add to your resume because you don’t have expertise in or knowledge of them but would like to add in the future. Maybe you don’t have experience managing a team or with a specific technology.

If you want to be found and selected for your dream job, your profile has to use the same words as the companies, ATS (Applicant Tracking System) and recruiters looking for talent.

Select a resume template

Be sure to have your resume “on paper” ready as soon as you start making changes to your LinkedIn profile because recruiters will ask for it.

There are many places on the Internet that offer advice, templates and services around resumes and LinkedIn profiles. My favorite place, which is completely free, is Hloom, it has a section dedicated to resumes and great tips on how to select the appropriate template depending on your experience and intended usage (e.g., if you want to switch careers there is a recommended template).

There are three formats: chronological, functional, and a combination of both. Personally, I use the combination format because I want to highlight my skills independently from my experience or business titles.

I like to edit my resume in Google Docs because that way I can always access it on the go, make changes if needed, generate a PDF and send it right away from my computer or cellular phone.

Update your LinkedIn profile

Now that you know your passion and have classified the keywords into sections, you can use that information to fill in the different LinkedIn profile sections.

If you want to know more about LinkedIn profile optimization make sure to read Donna Serdula’s articles.

Fill in all the profile sections, leaving the Headline and the Summary for the end.

Work experience

Add as many work experiences as companies and titles you have had in your career.

For each company make sure to select its official name from the drop-down list that LinkedIn shows instead of writing a non-official name, that way it will be easier to find you by the official company name and the company logo will show beside the work experience entry.

Set the correct dates and write a concise description that explains your achievements and not only the technology used or the processes followed. Make sure to add numbers to show the impact of your contribution.

Make sure to include some of the keywords you identified earlier in the work experience descriptions.

If you don’t have experience in a company or you are in a transition between jobs, create your own LinkedIn company, or write a name that is not in the selector, and explain what you have been doing during that time. See article Effective Job Search using LinkedIn (I) for some ideas about using your free time to get a better job.

Maybe it is your personal blog, where you have been writing about technology, or you are starting something new. If you are studying, add that too and explain how it will improve your capabilities.

If you have had any other jobs, like teaching, working at a restaurant, selling products, and so on, make sure to add them to your profile.

Those jobs, even if not related to your current profession, show many positive qualities to the recruiter, such as stress and time management, patience, listening, effort, sacrifice, and selling abilities.

For example, a dive instructor has to have a lot of patience, communication skills and a high sense of responsibility. Those skills and qualities are a great complement to any professional profile.

Education

Add an education section for each degree, and make sure to write the correct name for the degree. Look at your diploma or ask your school for the correct name.

Include some of the keywords you identified earlier in the education description field.

Volunteer experience

Spending time helping others is a great way to Pay It Forward. If you have volunteer experience, add it to your profile. As with the rest of the sections make sure to choose an existing organization from the drop-down list.

Being a volunteer, a team member, or a sports player shows attitudes that are useful in companies and projects.

Make sure to include some of the keywords you identified earlier in the work experience descriptions.

Skills & endorsements

Your profile probably has some skills already listed from LinkedIn endorsement suggestions. Delete, add, and arrange the skills that best represent you. Review the endorsement settings so that your contacts can endorse you.

Recommendations

Recommendations about you are written by your contacts. You should write unsolicited recommendations for the people who have worked with you, and in some cases you might get one back.

If you are transitioning between jobs, bosses, or departments, make sure to ask them for a recommendation. It is easier to write recommendations and receive authentic and thoughtful revised recommendations when you are still in contact. For recommendations, I like to use my notes from One-on-ones.

Accomplishments

In accomplishments you can add publications, certifications, patents, courses, projects, honors and awards, test scores, languages, and organizations.

For languages make sure to add all the languages you know and don’t forget to add your main language (a common error in many profiles).

Headline and summary

In my opinion, headline and summary are the most important fields in a LinkedIn profile apart from the picture. This is the reason why I recommend filling this section last, once you have a clear picture of the overall profile.

Make your resume

Now that your LinkedIn profile is ready, use the content to manually create your “paper” resume. Keep it short and follow best practices from places like Hloom.

Review and change LinkedIn settings

Make your LinkedIn profile public. See LinkedIn Public Profile Visibility for instructions.

Update your Career interests to let recruiters know that you are open to offers. It will also be used by LinkedIn to show you jobs you may be interested in. On the career interests page, you can select job titles, locations, industries, and company size.

Be ready

I always like to tell my friends that I had an interview at Ikea. Since it is a company that doesn’t leave anyone indifferent, I receive many questions about the interview process.

My answer is that it was really fun: while answering questions about myself and talking to the recruiter, I had the opportunity to test furniture, try different chairs and desks at the office furniture department, and buy them later.

During the interview I used an Ikea pencil and a catalogue to take notes and, as agreed with the recruiter, I sent her an updated resume later on using my phone.

If you are looking for a job, be ready to receive a call, no matter where you are. Feel confident about your capabilities and enjoy the interview process.

What other tips can you add for finding a job that you enjoy doing?