How To Use LinkedIn – The New York Times

But don’t just post about anything — this isn’t Facebook or Instagram. “Stick to your area of expertise,” Ms. Wagadia said. “And definitely avoid engaging in political or religious debates. It just leads to a mudslinging contest, and if a recruiter or hiring manager sees that, they’re going to question your judgment.”

Make new connections — but be strategic.

“If you’re looking for a job at a certain company, start by doing an advanced search to find people you have something in common with at the company, and reach out to them,” said Michael Quinn, senior manager at Ernst & Young who specializes in helping organizations attract talent.

Avoid coming off as transactional, though. “Start by looking at their content and engage based on that,” Mr. Quinn said. “Don’t just message people because you want something.” He suggests sharing a little bit about your professional life and commenting on their posts. “If I’m used to seeing your name, and then you send me a message saying, ‘Congrats on the new promotion,’ and then you ask to get on the phone for 15 minutes to learn about how I got to where I am, then it’s much easier for me to say, ‘Yes, I’ll take that phone call,’” he explained. “You’re building a relationship.”

Don’t be shy about needing a new job.

In June, LinkedIn introduced a new feature called “Open to Work,” which allows users to display a badge on their profile photo that indicates they are looking for a new job. And according to the company’s data, it can give your profile a boost. “We’ve seen that people are 40 percent more likely to get a message from a recruiter and 20 percent more likely to get a message from another member if they show that they are ‘Open to Work’ publicly,” Mr. Barnes said. (If you’d rather be discreet, members have the option to display the badge so that it’s only visible to recruiters outside your company.)

A silver lining of the pandemic is that it has stripped away some of the awkwardness around admitting you’ve lost your job. “That transparency didn’t really exist before Covid, and it’s now becoming a key part of our job-seeker ecosystem,” Mr. Barnes said.

Anticipate new job postings and interviews.

LinkedIn claims that data collected in August showed that users are four times more likely to hear back from a job recruiter or hiring manager if they applied for a job posting within the first 10 minutes — so it helps to be quick. “We recommend setting up job alerts, so that listings that meet your specific criteria will be sent to you as soon as they’re posted,” Mr. Barnes said.

In the meantime, the platform allows users to record practice interviews online and evaluate their performance. The tool uses AI-powered feedback to assess how fast you’re talking, how many times you use filler words (“um” and “like”), and sensitive phrases to avoid.