Activating LinkedIn Tools to Power Up Your Job Search

LinkedIn continues to grow in both its networking reach and its strength as a job search support strategy. If you are in an active job search, consider using the tools in your LinkedIn profile's headline section to help you.

At the bottom of the headline section, you will find two boxes, "Open to work" and "Share that you're hiring . . ." The "Open to work" box is the one, of course, for job seekers to use. Open this box and you will see a variety of choices to make to help recruiters and others to help find you in LinkedIn. Add job titles and locations according to your preferences. Click on the appropriate response relating to start date. Identify job types (full-time, part-time, etc.) to which you are open.

VERY IMPORTANT: If your job search is confidential, be sure to click on "Recruiters only" as to who gets access to this information. It's always important to safeguard the security of your current position. However, something to further consider is if your company has HR personnel who mine LinkedIn for new candidates, they could still come across your information in a search in their capacity as "Recruiter". Therefore, it is always very important to give serious consideration as to whether or not to use these tools.

Remember, too, that if you do decide to use these tools, whether or not recruiters find you depends upon more than your checking a box giving permission to be found. The power of LinkedIn hierarchies in searches depends upon such factors as number of connections, the robustness of profiles, recommendations, etc. There are literally, millions of profiles on LinkedIn. Like many things in life the ability to rise to the top is competitive in nature.