LINKEDIN TO GET JOBS FOR COLLEGE GRADUATES - Part 1

Are you a college graduate, or about to be one who’s looking for a job? Have you applied on job portal websites but unable to get any reply? Well, to be honest, nobody’s interested. The ones who are want experience or people who can back up their education with strong proofs. Job portals list your expertise, but do not convince the employer that you’re speaking the complete truth.

LinkedIn is a networking website for the professionals that recently reached a mark of 200 million users, making it 1 of the top 5 networking websites. You can list your skills, add expertise, ask and give referrals from and to colleagues or classmates, join a company’s LinkedIn profile for regular job updates, list your skills and even let people endorse your skills.

So what exactly do all of these endorsements, referrals, joining pages/communities and making connections do? Let us look at them one by one and understand how these can be beneficial to your profile.

LISTING YOUR SKILLS

Well this is a no-brainer. For companies to get an insight into what you can offer them, you must list the skills you possess. This determines what kind of a profile you have and how can your skills be beneficial to the organization.

This is also where the possibilities of a job portal website end.

ENDORSING SKILLS

Endorsing a skill works just like the like button on Facebook or a +1 button on Google+. It tells a potential employer as to how good your skills are. For example, more the people like your picture or status on Facebook, the more appreciation you get. Similarly, more endorsements on your skills reflects the fact that people whom you've worked or studied with can assure that you possess in depth knowledge of those particular skills.

REFERRALS

Referrals work just like the way they should on your resume. Just like endorsements, referrals indicate your bonding with co-workers, leadership skills and work ethics at the previous company or in the university.

The only difference between a referral and endorsement is that a referral is what a co-worker, classmate or teacher thinks about you in a textual manner, whereas an endorsement is just a ‘Like’ on your skill.

JOINING GROUPS

Most companies post jobs on their website or LinkedIn groups which later creep into job portals, thanks to consultants. LinkedIn is a direct source of job listings and no middlemen (consultants) are involved. The website provides a platform for direct interaction between companies and job seekers.

Well, this is just a brief on what LinkedIn is all about and how it can help a fresher to secure a job in a good company.

This is Part I of II on LinkedIn and its features. Part II will focus on how you can make your LinkedIn profile more presentable to potential employers. So stay tuned for Part II of LinkedIn – networking website for the professionals.

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