The number of LinkedIn features for job seekers is tremendous. But I bet you are not aware of many of them. 

LinkedIn introduces hundreds of features each year, many specifically for job seekers. Yet most job seekers are unaware of those that could be helpful in their job searches.

I will cover features you should know about and ways to use LinkedIn to power up your job search.

Career Explorer

Career Explorer is a hidden feature since it is not accessible through your LinkedIn profile. You have to go to https://linkedin.github.io/career-explorer/ to find it.  This tool helps you explore career transitions or see what skills you need to move up in your field. You will see a lot of text when you open it up. If you want to read it, fine. But it may be better to scroll down to the bottom.

You will enter the following information:

1. Your geographic area

2. Enter the position of interest

Once you do, you will see a list of the skills that LinkedIn says the people with that title have as their top skills right below.

To the right, you will see other related job titles. In this section, you will see the skills overlap between the title you selected and the related position. You will also see the skills that LinkedIn doesn’t recognize you have, and you might want to work to gain. Lastly, you will see popularity, which is how often people move from the selected title to this title.

Market Value Titles

Have you noticed that you will see a drop-down when you enter a position in your Experience section? LinkedIn will suggest a group of titles when you start typing in a title. These are the market-value titles that are in LinkedIn’s library. It is important that you use these titles and not the non-standard titles that your employer uses, which many people type in. Why? Because that LinkedIn library title is what recruiters who use the LinkedIn Recruiter software will most often choose to find candidates. If your experience shows non-standard titles, you may not come up in recruiter searches.

If you are concerned about not using your official title, you can add it to the narrative you enter about the job.

QR Codes

Say you are at a gathering and would like to swap your LinkedIn profile information with someone. There is a QR code on the mobile app that makes this easy. Go to the search screen, and you will see a QR code icon in the corner. Tap on it. 

You will then have the option to have the person scan your QR code, share the code with someone, or scan another person’s QR code.

This is a great way to get information about a networking contact if you no longer use business cards (or it is inappropriate to use an old one, such as being out of work).

Skills Added To Experience and About Sections

After many years of being an afterthought, skills are taking much more importance on LinkedIn profiles. LinkedIn is now using skills to show others those you have and how long you have had those skills. This could be important in how you show up in search results.

The two places you want to add your skills are in your About section (up to 5) and your Experience section for each position. If you use the Career Explorer feature, you will know the skills most associated with each market title. You will want to attach those to each job and highlight them in your About section.

Collaborative Articles

LinkedIn has a great way to show your expertise through collaborative articles. These articles (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/topics/home/) cover many areas, such as marketing, sustainability, construction, manufacturing, and many more. Each article has sections with a prompt to solicit your thoughts. Not everyone is eligible to contribute. LinkedIn identifies members who are likely to be experts in a certain topic based on their work experience, skills proficiency (another reason to be strategic about your skills), and prior engagement on the platform. If you currently cannot contribute, a new feature allows you to request to contribute, which you will see at the bottom of the article. Your request will be reviewed, and you will be allowed to add your information if approved.

It is a great way to build your brand and get noticed for your expertise. Plus, you can earn a badge to show you are a top voice.

I’m Interested

A new feature from early 2023 that allows you to notify recruiters at companies that you are interested in their organization. Your profile information will be shared with those recruiters. Only those organizations that use LinkedIn Recruiter software will have this feature.

Resume Visibility

Have you looked at your settings lately? There is a new one that might be of interest. This feature allows your profile to appear in recruiter search results when they search for skills, experiences, education, and accomplishments that match data found in saved resumes over the past two years. You must have at least one saved resume to enable this feature.

Settings -> Data privacy -> Job Seeking Preferences -> Job Application Preferences -> Share Your Resume Data With All Recruiters (toggle on).

Or another way to access it.

Jobs Tab -> Application Settings ->  Share your resume data with recruiters (toggle on)

Conclusion

Most job seekers set up their profiles and use the Jobs tab to look for and apply for jobs. Maybe they use the search feature to find specific people. That is fine, but it is important that you understand that LinkedIn offers so much more. Knowing and using these additional tools can help you stand out from your competition. And since they are free, why not use them?

Shelley Piedmont is a Career Coach. She wants to help job seekers put their best foot forward by providing the tools for a successful job search. I help job seekers prepare for interviews. You can engage me to help you prep for any type of interview. Schedule a 15-minute no-obligation consultation.