LinkedIn tips

Give Endorsements to Get Endorsements on LinkedIn | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter encourages you to give endorsements on LinkedIn in order to get endorsements on LinkedIn.

linkedin_logo-svg

[spp-transcript]

Here’s a way to really stand out from your competition.

Understand that there are a lot of recruiters both corporate and third-party recruiters who are using a product called LinkedIn Recruiter to identify candidates on the web.  What we are doing is going out there to evaluate skills and (1) search engine optimizing your profile with keywords that might be used as part of the search for what you do is a big part of how you might become visible. Another way to stand out is by receiving endorsements.

You can ask your entire network to endorse you, but, frankly, you look like a mooch when you do that.  I want to suggest that you reach out by giving endorsements.  Remember the old saying, “Give more.  Get more.”  Giving endorsements, particularly to those who know you so that they profit by the relationship, will help you get endorsements back in return.

I want to say that there is reciprocity because I don’t give endorsements because I don’t really know the work that you do.  I don’t sit next to you. I’m a coach.  I’ve done recruiting.  If I give endorsements, people will believe that your entire list of endorsements is bogus!,  Instead, I want to encourage you  to give endorsements to those who you have a basis of judging their work.  Complement people.

You’ll discover that your number of endorsements will increase.  Knowing that there is a bias that recruiters and employers have toward passive candidates, you will look like the superior person to them by having large numbers of endorsements.  After all, when you think about it, when you look at my LinkedIn profile and see that I have been endorsed 500 some odd times for one attribute or another, there is a message and that, especially, especially when you notice that the average recruiter may have fewer than 20.

Stand out from my work because people have seen it and like it.  Look for that same thing, too, but give it in order to get it.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you really think employers are trying to help you?

You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

Be Careful Using the LinkedIn Job Search App | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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HILVERSUM, NETHERLANDS - JANUARY 28, 2014: Linkedin is a social networking website for people in professional occupations. As of June 2013 more than 259 million users in more than 200 countries.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses the features of the new LinkedIn Job Search app and how not to use it.

 

[spp-transcript]

I want to talk with you about the LinkedIn job search app, currently in iOS only.  The app allows you to search for jobs through mobile device.

Big deal.

What they are doing is a few different things.  The 1st thing is maintaining privacy.  Historically, LinkedIn notifies members or connections of yours about activity that you are engaged.  You may not really care about that but if you are connected to your manager, that’s a problem, of course.  The mobile app doesn’t do that. It maintains complete privacy about your activities across your network.

Let me read some of the additional functionality to you:

it allows you to search by title, location, or keywords.

It will recommend jobs to you based upon saved searches, jobs that you have viewed and your LinkedIn profile.

It will give you notifications when new jobs match what you are looking for

it does processing from your LinkedIn profile.

Fundamentally, the idea of being able to. Find out about jobs through an app is a good idea.  However, if you are going to be applying for job, make sure “I’m sure that what they’re going to suggest that you forge your LinkedIn profile to an employer as part of the replication process.  What they are trying to do is replace the resume), you have to make sure that your profile demonstrates a fit for the role, otherwise, it is just like a generic resume. It will work sometimes, but not often enough.

Again, before you apply for job you have to make sure the profile fits otherwise you are just wasting everyone’s time.

[/spp-transcript]

 

Do you think employers are trying to help you?

You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

The Secret to Getting More People Contacting You on LinkedIn | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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HILVERSUM, NETHERLANDS - JANUARY 28, 2014: Linkedin is a social networking website for people in professional occupations. As of June 2013 more than 259 million users in more than 200 countries.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter explains how to get more people reaching out to you on LinkedIn.

 

[spp-transcript]

Let’s talk today about LinkedIn and asked the question, “Why aren’t you getting enough calls or contacts from your LinkedIn profile?”

Generally, there are 2 reasons.

You haven’t made it easy enough for people to find you.  Here’s how to make it easier.  You know how in your resume, when you uploaded to an applicant tracking system, the system is looking for keywords in your resume and how they need to be positioned in certain places on your resume in order for you to be found?

With LinkedIn, when recruiters, both corporate and third-party recruiters, are searching for resumes, they are doing much the same thing.  The system has to identify you by your keywords in order for you to be found.

For example, all those times that you talk about being a “visionary,” “hardcharging,” “dynamic,” “a top performer,” is taking away from keywords.  If you are in IT, you are use to buzz words.  I use that is negative slang, as it was intended to.  Think of it as what it is you do, the technology employed, the nature of the applications are infrastructure that you work in, and how many people you manage, are the resources on-site or offshore, and get that into your resume.

Again, on-site and offshore are keywords.  J2EE JEE are keywords Cisco. Take in terms of the keywords to be found.

If you’re in accounting, GAAP, Oracle, Accounts Receivable,SOX, compliance.

If your financial markets, you may make sure that you mention operations, front office, middle office, back office… You get the idea.

What you need to do is think of positioning your keywords visibly in your LinkedIn profile so it is easy for the LinkedIn search engine to find you, as well.

Remember, from the employer’s perspective, they can’t see a lot about you if you are a 3rd level connection unless they use LinkedIn Recruiter. For those who don’t use LinkedIn Recruiter, they are stil trying to find people AND you want to make it easy for them to connect with you.

In your summary area, I want you to include your email address and phone number if you ae looking for work and just your email address if you aren’t looking.

Why?

The person who gets ahead isn’t always the smartest or work the hardest, although those are great qualities to have. The person who gets ahead is the one who remains alert to opportunities. Sometimes, they are internal to your organization. Most of the time they are external to it.

You may think of yourself as being the happies person in the world at your job, but another $20000 might make you a lot happier and you will probably still be doing great work.

So, make sure your email address and phone numbers are in the summary if you are looking for work. Make it easy for people to find you with useflu keywords and you will notice the numbers of your contacts go up.

By the way, if you are not looking for work and want to make a change to your profile, turn off the notifications feature for your contacts in the config section of your LinkedIn profile. This way, everyone will not be notified when you make a small change. Your boss who you are connected with isn’t going to be notified that you made this small change.  Then, turn it back on afterwards.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you?

You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

Activating Your LinkedIn Network | No BS Job Search Advice Radio

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Jeff Altman. The Big Game Hunter explains how to quickly activate your LinkedIn network of connections.

 

[spp-transcript]

I want to give you a tip, today, about how to get your LinkedIn network activated I notified that you are looking for a position. I don’t claim credit for this 1. I have seen a number of people do this and I think it is a very smart idea.

Let’s say you were laid off in May, in whatever year you are listening to this podcast. What you do is get a job on your profile and list your job title, the company you are at, “now available.”  Maybe use the phrase in transition.  I like the term now available better because in transition is 1 of those catchphrases.  Now available is not a catchphrase.

But the phrase, “Now Available,” in the job title and LinkedIn will broadcast the message to everyone that you are connected with to let them know that you are looking for work.  Some people will respond to congratulating you because they are not really paying attention.  But a lot of people will be notified and then you can follow up with them and speak with them further.

[/spp-transcript]

 

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

How Are Recommendations Viewed on LinkedIn?

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[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY4nVlIkF48[/svp]
How are recommendations on Linkedin viewed by recruiters/prospective employers?

Given that there is no way to determine the authenticity or sincerity of a recommendation what trust value is assigned to the various recommendations while sourcing profiles?

HILVERSUM, NETHERLANDS - JANUARY 28, 2014: Linkedin is a social networking website for people in professional occupations. As of June 2013 more than 259 million users in more than 200 countries.

[spp-transcript]

How are recommendations on LinkedIn viewed by recruiters and prospective employers?  Given that there is no way to determine the authenticity or validity of the recommendation, what trust value is assigned to the various recommendations that appear on profiles?

Great question!

I want to start by pointing out references are really no different and how are references looked at?  They are looked at like a final verification.  References have the same issue that’s being questioned about LinkedIn recommendations. I have had people try to pass off bogus references to me and you can just smell them a mile away.

So how are recommendations viewed?  They may be looked at at several times during the process.

They can be looked at when people are sourcing on LinkedIn.  Personally, I will read some and know pretty quickly whether or not the person really knows them.  It’s pretty easy to spot. 1 of those, “Hey endorse me and I will endorse you” references that were prevalent a while back.  I get those requests all the time from India and, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not in India so I have no way of judging someone who is working there.  I don’t comply with those requests because, what am I going to say? She’s a really great person?  He’s a really good guy?  Those are really useless recommendations so why bother?  What good is it going to do?  Why would they believe me, in the US?  You can look at the recommendations and break them down to one’s work, whether someone really knows the person, whether what is said is very thin , or whether there is substance there

We ignore thin references.  The substantial ones provide a story in them about how you were the hero gets a higher weight in my mind.

Another way that they are look that is for quantity, as well as quality.  For example, I have hundreds of recommendations from people who had been kind enough to write about my work, whether as a headhunter, or now as a coach, videographer, podcast or and the like.  When you see hundreds of recommendations for someone verses 4, doesn’t that have a meaning for you? They look at it for quantity and, when they are pleasantly surprised by how many they find there, they will like that more.

How are LinkedIn recommendations look that? The same is references.

I mentioned that we would look at a couple of ways that they are look that. They are also look that when a company and its hiring manager are not sure.  Maybe they have done an interview and the just not sure about something , they will go back into the work recommendations and see if there is something that speaks to them to confirm the bias or opinion that they have.

Lastly, they may use them as a reference substitute. I don’t expect to have that happen very often.

Clearly, during the sourcing process, they are looking at the quality of your recommendations, as well as quantity.  During the process, to a lesser degree, they will look at them to confirm something or some opinion that they have about you and your work.

[/spp-transcript]

 

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell you as much as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

A Creative Idea for Marketing Yourself on LinkedIn

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses a creative and clever idea for marketing yourself on LinkedIn.

[spp-transcript]

I just saw a great instance of a creative use of QR codes on LinkedIn. You know how you normally encouraged to put a photo in on your profile page? Someone used a QR code.

It could be in use a little bit better because what the person did is replicate the summary area of the LinkedIn profile but then they directed people to a page where the resume was. Very smart utilization! And it is something easy to do.

There are a lot of apps and services that will help you create a QR code. In another video, I suggest that everyone had their resume online using a service like wix.com.Wix is a free service; you can post anything that you want there. But your resume up there because they were recruiters out there who are trying to find resumes on line.

Give them a free vehicle to find it. This way they don’t have to contend with the job boards and the tens of thousands of dollars to find people. That is is about simply about third-party recruiters, that’s about corporate recruiters as well.

So create a page on wix.com for your resume; they use a QR code on LinkedIn that directs people to their resume from the LinkedIn profile.

I suspect (I haven’t looked at this carefully, yet) that instead of substituting for the picture, there are places where you can upload images onto your profile and then direct people to your resume homepage.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Finding More People on LinkedIn

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses how to find more people to network with on LinkedIn.

[spp-transcript]

A lot of people take a lazy approach to searching LinkedIn by using the search box in the top of their profile page or homepage. Frankly, it’s a waste. Here’s why.

Instead of using that search box, I want you click on the word, “Advanced,” to the right of that box. You will be taken to a page that has advanced search features.

The default seems to be first and second level connections plus group members for groups that you are part of. Click the, “third and everyone else,” option.

You want to make sure your searching groups, you want to search by keyword… You can search by company, the school the person attended, you can search by location by using the function in the left-hand column, “lives in or near.” Within the US, you can narrow that to ZIP Code.

There are a lot of ways that you can target people using the advanced search features.

What language was the profile written in? It may seem idiotic to you but I will screen out the person from Burma.

Who they currently work for. Industry they are in. There are a whole host of functions that are far more useful if you try to reach out to people on the advanced search function of LinkedIn then there is on the standard search.

So don’t take the shortcut because you will be eliminating a lot of people who you could be networking with by doing so.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Should I Accept a LinkedIn Connection Request from a Recruiter?

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[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyNPfuCzqXs[/svp]
Recently a recruiter from a big software company showed interest in hiring me on LinkedIn. He also sent me a connection request. It means if I don’t connect he might not move forward, and if I do, he might just get my contacts and move away!

 

[spp-transcript]

I just got back from the gym so excuse me if I appear sweaty. I am sweaty!

I received a message for someone I think is a really good question: Should I accept a LinkedIn connection request from a recruiter? Recently, a recruiter for a big software for show interest in hiring me on LinkedIn. He also said the connection request. It means if I don’t connect, he might not move for and, if I do, you might just get my contacts and move away!

The fear that so many people have is incredible to me.

Start by saying that LinkedIn is selling the entire database to recruiters for about $400 per month, $450, something like that. Big software company? These guys have all that data are available to them. Don’t sweat that aspect of it.

The real question is if you are concerned about the impact of not accepting, then accept. However, if you are concerned that this recruiter is going to take your contacts from you, let me let you in on a secret. If you go your privacy settings on LinkedIn (you’ll find it in the upper right-hand corner of your homepage, behind that pretty little picture of you, click on it and one of the choices offered to you involves privacy for your account).
Click on the privacy option and you’ll see that you can block individual people and you are able to not share data with others. If you have any concerns about this individual, block them it’s really that simple. They will be able to see your updates; do not to be able to see your connection requests; they will be able to see any of the people in the network. You just going to block them. So this is a non-issue.

For you as a job hunter, I want to remind you of something. Your network is your net worth. Unlike days of all, where people were afraid of everything, we’ve all opened ourselves up. We’re trying to do more things to become known and noticed.

This recruiter may be trying to get a sense of you over time, maybe not for this job search but with the next one in mind. I will tell you that if he doesn’t hire you or she doesn’t hire you because you didn’t accept the connection request from them, they are idiots!

First of all, as a recruiter, they don’t hire anyone; hiring manager makes that decision. Maybe you don’t get in the door, but it’s unlikely. They have metrics on them about filling jobs. If you are the right talent, the hiring managers interested in hiring you, don’t sweat the decision not to connect with the recruiter.

The real important thing is that you need to connect with more recruiters, not less. More people need to know more about you. You can’t hide in the corner of the closet until such time as you’re looking for something else.

After all, the data is already out there about you. Let me show you. If you go to this little search tool, www.li-usa.info, do a search and what you’ll find is a Google search tool that searches every US LinkedIn profile that is available publicly.

You’re there. People can find you easily. I don’t know if it will let you see the connected with but, thanks for that is a possibility. As I’ve said, all the data is out there already. LinkedIn is selling it in droves. Don’t sweat this.

If anything, you should be going in the opposite direction by connecting with more people. I’ll tell you why.

A person who gets ahead isn’t always the smartest or work the hardest, although those are great qualities to have. The person who gets ahead is the one who remains open to opportunities. Sometimes, those are internal to organization. Most of the time, they are external to it.

If you’re hired by this big software firm, and a year from now, five years from now, 10 years from now, you decide to change jobs again. Do you want to be operating from that corner of the closet again or do you want more people to know about you? If you are smart, the latter is the right answer.

So, can it with this person and, if you have any concerns about them, block them using privacy settings.

[/spp-transcript]

 

Do you really think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn http://bit.ly/thebiggamehunter

Minimize How Recruiters Use Your Data

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[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyJTQH459LI[/svp]
Did you know that recruiters are using your LinkedIn data to find people to place in new jobs? Here’s how to minimize that from happening.

 

[spp-transcript]

There are a lot of different ways that recruiters are able to use people’s data to their own advantage. I’m going to walk you through a few things that you can do to minimize that from happening and save yourself some aggravation.

I say, “save yourself some aggravation,” because, while they are looking at your profile they are able to decide to never call you. Here’s how it works.

Who can see your connections? You can find this in the privacy and help settings by going to the top ribbon, all the way to the right where your photo or icon would be, you’ll find the drop down menu with that is an option. Once you are in the privacy and settings area, you’ll click, “Manage It.”

From there, you want to go to the privacy tab. They are, you can edit your public profile, who can see your connections (interesting! Do you want everyone to see your connections? Probably not. Change that you only you).

How you rank. If you’re someone like me you want everyone to see how you rank. If you are average Jane or Joe, you may be 1 million down from the top and not want to show that. Next is the fun one – – “viewers of this profile also viewed.”

If you look at your home LinkedIn page, you’ll see in the right column that there are other people appearing there with similar kinds of backgrounds to yours.

What recruiters, in effect, are doing is looking at a number of people have profiles at the same time without a lot of effort.

Good for recruiters. Bad for you. Why? Because a lot of you can’t stand up to competition. I also want to say that there is a different level of competition when job hunting in smaller cities versus larger ones (in smaller towns, there are fewer people competing for these jobs). The numbers in a large city make it less desirable to do this kind of stuff because “Look at this profile! There are 1000 more like it.”).

So when you look at, “viewers of this profile also looked at,” you want to change it to, “No,”and reduce your competition.

Followers. Choose who can view your public updates. Everyone! Opened up so people can find out more about you and create a brand impression.

This is a nice feature that allows you to communicate more openly with businesses and with people that you are connected with.

One last thing with regard to LinkedIn and networking. Be involved with groups. I’m sure that you’ve heard this before, LinkedIn advantages people who post regularly in four or more groups.

This may be hard for you to do unless you have community where you use public transportation. Then you have time to do something constructive for your career while you’re commuting.

Hear that message – – LinkedIn advantages people who actively participate in four or more groups.

[/spp-transcript]

 

 

 

Do you really think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn http://bit.ly/thebiggamehunter