There are two kinds of LinkedIn users: those who set up their profile and sit back, waiting to be found by employers — they might job search on LinkedIn and read a few posts, but they don’t interact much with their network — and, then there are those who use LinkedIn to interact with their connections, to start conversations in groups, and extend their network – leading eventually to unseen and sometimes unexpected opportunities.
We know that interacting with your connections and making new ones is the best way to advance your career and possibly get access to those jobs that are not advertised, and yet many job seekers don’t make the best of the opportunities offered by LinkedIn to do so. As with every aspect of social media, there isn’t only one way of getting things done, but there some things LinkedIn users can do, which are worth trying.
To help with that LinkedIn recently introduced new features to the desktop design, with the stated goal of increasing interactivity and conversations among users.
These updates include:
To help you interact directly with your network, there is a new real-time messaging interface, which makes it easier to message a connection wherever you are on LinkedIn. The site also intends to help job seekers by providing information about useful contacts – for example, suggesting contacts in jobs you may be interested in, and offering you other information about relevant contacts worth following up with, based on your profile and activities.
To help you find people, companies, groups, posts and jobs, LinkedIn have enhanced the search bar, allowing users to search for anything from on one search, with options to narrow the search in various ways.
To encourage you to engage with others, LinkedIn plan to offer better insights into who’s viewing your content, including details about the job titles and companies of those who are interested in your updates. This will give you a chance to assess the impact of your posts, to make sure you are reaching those people whom you intend to reach.
To make your profile stand out better, LinkedIn will offer specific suggestions for your profile, including suggesting skills sought by recruiters in your field.
To better understand the impact of your shares, users will be able to learn more about who is viewing their shares with detail about them such as their companies, job titles and locations.
So, if you are one of those more passive LinkedIn users, get onto the site and use this opportunity to change the way you use it, to strengthen your network relationships, have a better impact, and expand their network further.