If you’re searching for a job, your priority needs to be having, and maintaining, an employer magnet LinkedIn profile. This includes, but isn’t limited to, a current profile picture, a summary that compellingly tells your career story, plenty of quantified achievements (In business numbers are king.), uploaded projects, articles, and videos – anything that clearly demonstrates the skills, experience, and possible results you can bring to an employer.
Your LinkedIn profile, which employers will read through to decide whether you’re “interview worthy,” needs to answer one question: Why should I take a risk hiring this person?
Once you have a WOW! LinkedIn profile, your next step is to get employers, hiring managers, recruiters, human resources managers and executives to view your profile. Unless your profile is getting views, it’s simply floating around on LinkedIn among the hundreds of millions of other profiles.
The more views your profile receives, the greater the odds you’ll receive reach outs regarding job opportunities. While there are several ways you can influence the number of views your profile receives, the easiest method is to comment on LinkedIn posts.
Before you start commenting, you need to realize not all comments are created equal. You want your comments to stand out and create engagement with the comment’s author and the other commentators. So, before hitting the “comment” button, consider the following:
1. Mention/Acknowledge the author.
When commenting, the golden rule is to mention (reference or acknowledge) the post’s author, to get their attention. To mention the author (or anyone on LinkedIn), type the ‘@’ symbol (at sign) and begin typing the person’s name, which will show in a dropdown box. Important to note: Just typing the author’s name will not notify them they’ve been mentioned. When using the aforementioned method, the person’s name will be bold, thus indicating they’ll receive a LinkedIn notification you mentioned them.
You can also get the attention of other commentators by mentioning them, thus keeping the conversation going.
2. Read the post.
Comments such as “Great post!”, “Thanks for sharing.”, “I completely agree.” and “You nailed it!” in no way shows you actually read the post, understood it or why you agreed/disagreed with it.
Take two to five minutes to read the posts and give thoughtful feedback. Example: “Nick Kossovan, I understand what you’re saying. From my experience, some employers are hiring based on who they know for jobs that pay at least $21 per hour. If employers were only hiring based on educational level and qualifications, I would have already gotten a job that pays at least $21 per hour at my educational level.”
3. Ask a question.
The most effective way to bond with someone is to ask them questions. Also, asking questions shows you’re open to learning, which is a turn-on with employers. Is there anything you didn’t understand, you would like to know more about, or you feel could be viewed from a different angle? Ask!
Example: “Nick Kossovan How were you able to increase your call centre’s customer satisfaction score from 72% to 94% in less than 8 months?”
Choosing the best posts to comment on is critical—choose strategically. (e.g., posts by executives of companies you want to work for). Look for posts that have a high number of comments, and therefore popular. Commenting on popular posts increases the likelihood other commenters will read your comment and engage with it. TIP: Research who the thought leaders are in your profession and industry. Find them on LinkedIn and start building a relationship with them by commenting on their posts and comments by their followers. (Many of whom will be in a position to hire.)
Make commenting on LinkedIn posts part of your job search and career management routine. Aim to comment on three posts in the morning and three in the evening, and you’ll start seeing your profile receiving more profile views, which can do wonders for your job search.
Nick Kossovan, a seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape in Canada, offers advice on searching for a job. Send him your questions at artoffindingwork@gmail.com.