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LinkedIn is one the world’s largest professional networking sites.

There are thousands of companies and hundreds of thousands of professionals in every industry and at every level.

Finding a job on LinkedIn requires some persistence and ingenuity, but it can be done. In fact, it’s done every day.

This is a short guide to finding work through LinkedIn.

Getting Started

Firstly, you will need a LinkedIn account. This is a simple and easy process. Go to LinkedIn.com and fill in the blanks. Make sure that you update every part of the online resume.

It’s a bit of a pain putting in all the details, but that is how the computer can help you find the people you used to work with. This is important because those people will “endorse” your skills and be your contacts for looking for new work.

Also, look for the companies that you worked for. Having a list of great companies can be a huge selling point

Making Connections

This is the strategic part of the job hunt.

First thing that you need to do is a bit of soul searching. This will probably mean turning of the computer and taking a walk.

You need to decide what job you really want and what company or companies you want to work for. Once you have that information, you will be able to begin to target your job hunt.

Finding a job in the 21^st Century is not about a) sitting around waiting for the phone to ring magically, b) flailing through the job hunt without a direction or c) counting on someone else to understand what you need in a job.

Now, you should be home from a long walk where you have figured out exactly what you want to do when you grow and more importantly, who you want to do it for.

Start looking on LinkedIn for those people who work for the company you want to work for.

Show and Tell

This section is going to use and example. Speaking in abstracts can get very ugly. This should make it very easy to understand how this process will work.

Sample:

I have decided that I want to work for Microsoft. I like the idea of free snacks.

I don’t know anyone at Microsoft, but I went to college for web design and have my degree.

The first thing I am going to do is search through everyone I graduated with and went to school with. Look for their LinkedIn profiles. I am also going to look for my professors. There is a very good chance that they are listed here to.

Once I find them, I am going to “friend” them, make them part of my network. Then I am going to look at each resume for someone who has worked for Microsoft. There is a great chance that I will find someone who has or does work for Microsoft.

If that didn’t work, I am going to message everyone and ask them who they know that works for MS. Chances are I will have what I need, which is an inside contact that can help me get into the company.

If that didn’t work, I will begin searching for people who do work for MS and start friending them.

Degrees

LinkedIn works on the idea that everyone is so many degree from someone else. According to science, we are all on six degrees from each other.

That means, if I want a job at MS, I just need to pull the strings to figure out who the five people between me and that job are.

There is an extraordinary chance that you are one degree from that job. Find that contact, ask them for help and voila! your paycheck is being signed by Bill Gates.

Bonus Note

Most people want to help. Be genuinely interested in them and their lives, but don’t BS them for a month before you ask for the referral. They know why you showed up.

Get caught up on their life, then ask if they can help. If they say they don’t know what to do, ask if you can contact their supervisor with their name. “I really want to work for MS and I think I can be a great asset. I won’t tell them that you think I am awesome, just that you know me and that you gave me their name. I really appreciate it.”

Don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t work the first time. Unless the company you want to work for only has one employee, chances are you know someone else there.

By| Bob Peryea