Maximize your job search on LinkedIn

The LinkedIn dashboard has a section for jobs. As a new immigrant looking to enter or advance in the Canadian labour market, have you been using it right? Learn how you can maximize your job search on LinkedIn by watching our interview with Career Development Specialist and LinkedIn Trainer Shelly Elsliger.

A complete profile is the first step to shining in front of employers who share job postings on LinkedIn. Your profile is what HRs, recruiters and hiring managers will scan to see if you’re a fit for the role or their company. In conversation with New Canadians reporter Shruti Dargan, Shelly explains the various sections and elements that contribute to it. She also highlights the importance of narrating your story and showcasing your personal brand to employers.

Also read: Informational interview: What is it and how to land one as a newcomer to Canada

Whether your goal is a job search on LinkedIn or you want to use the platform to grow your network, remember that building lasting connections will create opportunities that you didn’t even know existed.

Video transcript:

Shruti Dargan:
On New Canadians today, we are joined by LinkedIn expert Shelly Elsliger, and we will be talking about how newcomers can use LinkedIn for their job search. Welcome, Shelly.

Shelly Elsliger:
Thanks for having me.

Shruti Dargan:
So, let’s talk about the LinkedIn dashboard. How can newcomers use it to find opportunities?

Shelly Elsliger:
So on the LinkedIn dashboard, there is a section for jobs, and the reason that LinkedIn has a job section up there is because you get to take your profile and connect it to the job opportunities that are available on LinkedIn.

Shruti Dargan:
And what about job postings? How can newcomers navigate that?

Shelly Elsliger:
So when an employer or recruiter hires LinkedIn to, you know, put up a job, they can either act as LinkedIn can either act as a connector or a manager. So if you ever see the little IN apply, that means that they are giving LinkedIn full rules and LinkedIn will be using your application to connect you with the particular option. But what happens is that they’re going to be using your profile as the number one thing that they’re going to use to put a judgment on whether you qualify or whether you’re a fit for the job. On the other hand, LinkedIn can also act as a connector. So what happens, in that case, is that the company uses LinkedIn to send out information to who’s, who’s ever interested in the posting or the job. But they go when it comes to actual recruitment and the recruitment process, LinkedIn will send them back to the recruitment process off of the company’s website. So they only go so far, they don’t use it completely.

Shruti Dargan:
And what about the LinkedIn profile? What are the key actions that would help a newcomer to actually create a profile that would be found by employers?

Shelly Elsliger:
So number one, you wanna make sure that your profile is complete. Because if, if the company is using LinkedIn, then for sure it, your LinkedIn profile is going to be important when it comes to making a judgment about whether you qualify for that job. So it’s really, really important to build every section possible to give a really great foundation, a holistic foundation of what you offer in terms of your skillset, your qualifications, your background, and your experience. So really, really, really important. Make sure that your profile is scattered and sprinkled with keywords because, in every section of your profile, they work together to build your story. So you wanna make sure that you know the skills that have been written down on the job posting and make sure that they’re sprinkled and especially in your skills section. The other thing that you can do is think about your location. There is a place to put a postal code. Don’t think about the postal code in terms of where you’re living, but think about the postal code and where in terms of where you wanna work. That way when LinkedIn gets all of this information, they can send opportunities your way that make sense based on what you’ve put, into your profile.

Shruti Dargan:
Okay. And lastly, if there were three top advice that you’d wanna give to our newcomers today, what would that be?

Shelly Elsliger:
So number one make sure that you don’t hesitate when it comes to writing your story or that you don’t think that you have enough experience or you don’t think you have the right experience. Linkedin is for everybody. Everybody has a space on LinkedIn. So own it. Sit down and write all of the accomplishments that you have had in your life. Think about all of the opportunities that have come your way that have gotten you to where you are today. So just don’t hesitate. There’s a space for you on LinkedIn. Number two, know yourself and know your personal brand. If you don’t know your personal brand, then how are other people going to know your personal brand? You have to be your biggest champion. And three, don’t hesitate to reach out to people you don’t know. Just have a strategy. So when you are thinking about reaching out and building your community, make sure you’re telling them your why, so that they understand where you’re coming from. And, that will help to build relationships because, at the end of the day, those connections may help you to better understand where those jobs are and maybe even introduce you.

Shruti Dargan:
Well, that’s great advice. Thank you, Shelly, for joining us today.

Shelly Elsliger:
Thank you.

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