Everyone has that one dream job they're aiming for. We spend 3-4 years preparing for it with our graduation courses and internships.

But there exists one problem!

People put in a lot of effort to acquire the right skills and knowledge, hoping it will give them an advantage over other applicants vying for the same position. But sometimes, despite giving it their all, they may encounter obstacles that make it challenging to inch closer to that desired job.

The LinkedIn Spiral

All those countless hours spent on LinkedIn- adding and rewriting ‘Experience’, ‘Education’, ‘Profile Intro’ and always on the lookout for something meaningful in the ‘Jobs’ section- it all can take you spiraling down into a rabbit hole.

And, it all can get very tiring and monotonous.

But not all good things should take time, should they?

Not at all if one learns to really navigate their way through LinkedIn!

LinkedIn is an incredibly valuable tool for job seekers ‘if’ they know how to leverage its true potential. Just as a conductor perfectly orchestrating a symphony, you can orchestrate LinkedIn like a symphony with these 4 tired and tested techniques:

1. Use SEO-like techniques in your profile intro to get noticed faster

This technique involves leveraging SEO-like strategies to enhance your visibility on LinkedIn, and it's simpler than you may anticipate.

LinkedIn’s algorithm scans profiles and selects them based on certain industry-specific words. E.g. digital marketer, content strategist.

The key is to have as many such trending words in your profile as possible to make the LinkedIn algorithm find you easily.

When you come across a nicely written profile of someone with a similar job or industry that you aspire for:

> Copy their profile text, section by section, and paste it into a ‘word cloud tool’ of your preference. You can also use this website for this step.

> This tool will scan that text and identify the trending keywords within it that the recruiters might use to find potential candidates.

> Use these keywords while writing your LinkedIn profile and experience sections.

By doing so, you increase your chances of being discovered by both human recruiters and automated searches on LinkedIn.

Watch this video tutorial if you want to see the magic happen with your own eyes.

2. Customize your LinkedIn profile URL to stand out from the crowd.

Did you know you can add the keywords of your choice to your LinkedIn URL?

What message does a personalized LinkedIn URL convey? It reflects your attention to detail and your commitment as a candidate who strives to present themselves in the best possible light.

It also makes it easier for the recruiters to find you because now your URL is SEO-optimized.

Here are the steps to change the URL:

Step 1: Click on ‘Me’ and click ‘View Profile’.

Source

Step 2. Click on ‘Public Profile & URL’.

Step 3. Click on ‘Edit Your Custom URL’ and start typing.

To ensure simplicity, limit your custom LinkedIn URL to a maximum of 20 alphanumeric characters without special characters or spaces.

You can use a mixture of your name and your job role or degree name.

3. Leveraging the power of ‘#’ to find hidden jobs.

This is a technique that not many job seekers use. Mostly they just head out to the ‘Jobs’ section and look for the listed openings.

But this is a strategy to find jobs in the so called ‘hidden job market’ on LinkedIn. By this we mean that many companies don’t always post their openings in the ‘Jobs’ section.

Sometimes someone from the company directly posts them to LinkedIn’s wall. Look at the image below:

The key to discovering these jobs is to notice the hashtags that such posts carry. See in the above image the kind of hashtags that the user has used.

Simply put such a hashtag in the search bar like you search people or companies and BOOM!! You will have access to all these hidden job posts from all across LinkedIn.

A couple of hashtags that are commonly used are #NowHiring, #GetHired, #Hiring, #Recruiting, #RemoteWork and #Jobs.

4. Leverage the power of videos for your profile.

In the age of vlogs and reels, what’s better than to showcase your potential in a video?

Recruiters have to go through several profiles for screening the right candidate. But if they have the option to screen you by just clicking on the play button, they will surely do it.

With a video in your profile, you can easily showcase your presentation skills along with your leadership skills. A video also acts as a good documentation of the work you have done.

And even if you are a fresher with no prior experience, you can still go to the ‘Education’ section in your profile and add videos showcasing yourself giving a class presentation, delivering an on-stage speech, or other such activities.

Watch this video to learn how to add media to your profile.

Now that you know about these quick hacks, you are already ahead of your competition.

Remember, to build a great career, you need to start by investing in yourself. One way of doing this is by continuously learning new tools. Having good knowledge of the workarounds and the hidden features of such tools will give you an edge over your competitors.