Ok, I received quite a few emails asking me to do a part 2 of the Master LinkedIn article but I’ve been wondering which direction to go in. So I’ll talk about the most practical side of it – the main goal of most on LinkedIn: how it helps you get a job.
So here are the 2 Marketing strategies that can explain your options if we consider you the way you would consider a product: PUSH and PULL. You can either PUSH yourself towards the people and positions you’d like or you can PULL them towards you. However, the perfect strategy is a mix of both and that’s not hard to achieve on LinkedIn. Let me give you some pointers.
Join Groups
There are so many interest-based groups on LinkedIn that there must be at least one that is perfect for you. For architects, I recommend you join «The ARCHITECT» group. Its description covers quite precisely what LinkedIn groups are all about: «…connects design professionals by exchanging ideas, developing contacts and sharing information. It is a place for job postings, discussions, and opportunities to meet other architects.» Once you are accepted as a member, why not be active? Comment when you can – give your professional opinion on the topics raised and you’ll notice a spike in your profile views because people will want to see who’s that person behind the great statements. So you PUSH your knowledge towards potential employers and then you PULL them onto your profile. Take the profile view as a sign of at least a bit of interest, so add that person to your connections. If they accept, write them a message to thank them for that. Then wait a bit – maybe a week – and write them to introduce yourself and tell them how you can help them and how they can help you.
See point 2 in our Architect-US recommendations for a trick on how to get American Companies to consider you, even though you don’t live in the U.S.A.!
Write out your Keywords
Have your profile as complete as possible not just in terms of quality but of quantity as well. Think of keywords that you want to be associated with and that really apply to you. For example, a recruiter might search for: «Photoshop«, «Autocad«, «design architect«, «internship«, «English«, «creative«, «detail-oriented» and the more of these you have on your profile, the higher up in their results you’ll come up. But don’t just paste all those in your Skills section – that’ll look desperate. Distribute them throughout your profile: «Photoshop» and «Autocad» can go in Skills, write in your Profile Summary (your biography in free style) that you are a creative and detail-oriented architecture graduate that would like the job opportunity to be a design architect and are open to internships and entry-level positions. Even just in this sentence, you’ve included quite a few keywords that are sure to attract attention. And now list all the languages you know in the section, dedicated to that information.
Think like an Employer
Alongside keywords, think about what might be of interest to an employer/recruiter. They usually search by location, so make sure you have yours set (city and country). Also, pick your industry category – even if you are still not in it. If you would like to be an architect but have been working part-time hospitality jobs to pay those education bills, still set your industry as «Architecture & Planning«, as that’s what you are aiming for. We already mentioned languages, but be very careful – if you lie on here you’ll get caught in the interview afterward, so it’s not worth it! Put all your Certifications, Publications…why not even upload a summarized version of your Portfolio? This way you can jump on top of the candidate list for interviews, as the employer will for sure ask the rest to send portfolios first! I don’t understand people that upload their CVs, though, as your LinkedIn profile IS your curriculum vitae but even better!
Shoot & Hope or Locate & Target
Then there’s the directly asking for a job strategy, but there are even options for that!
- Post a status, creatively asking for an opportunity and if it’s witty enough, it’ll circulate around LinkedIn and you’ll get contacted but that’s a longshot. But hey, that’s my opinion, so do give it a try. Videos always get noticed the most. Or a photo that’s interesting enough to pay attention to amongst all the rest of interesting things that come up on one’s feed!
- Research some 20 companies you’d love to work at. Find on LinkedIn 2 people that seem approachable (for architects: try someone from HR and a Principal) and add them. So of these 40 people, at least 20 will accept your connection request. Write them all, but not a copy-paste message. Find on their profile what they’re passionate about and start with that. Be respectful and friendly. Tell them a bit about you (not more than 2-3 sentences – «ain’t nobody got time» for reading an autobiography), tell them why you’d like to work in their company, tell them why they should hire you and whatever else you feel is essential to mention. Of the 20, at least 5 will write you back (sooner or later, so have patience) and hopefully at least 1 will show interest in you. Seems like hard work, but it’s not and it’s definitely worth it!
Following these steps, you’ll soon need a J1 Visa sponsor and -oh-what-a-coincidence- that’s what we do, so just sign up for our J1 Visa Program.
(Say Emilia sent you!) We look forward to helping you go to the U.S. and making your dreams come true!
