If you’re looking for a new tech role, yeah, you should pay attention to LinkedIn

Back in the day, people updated their resumes only when they were on the market — though at least one recruiter advises you keep it updated all the time, especially in this moment of mass tech layoffs. Either way, with LinkedIn and the rise of the gig and creator economy, your professional journey is being watched all the time.

Data Mentorship Program recently hosted an event led by Amy Elliott, a senior data and analytics leader who is also building her own career development company. We focused on why and how to use this social media platform to your advantage when searching for a new role, especially in the data field.

Below is an excerpt from our conversation.

Why is LinkedIn an important tool for job seekers in the tech and data industry?

Networking has always been a great way to find new job opportunities, and LinkedIn is the top professional social media platform, with lots of opportunities to network with recruiters and hiring managers. It’s a great place to learn from industry leaders, and learn more about people working at your target companies and roles, while connecting with recruiters who can help get you in front of opportunities that may not be listed publicly.

What are some important LinkedIn tips for someone looking to transition into a data career?

If you are changing careers or transitioning into a data career, make sure to show what you’re learning, highlight your transferable skills, and engage with content to bring more visibility to your profile and increase your network.

• Show what you are learning — Make sure to link to your portfolio in the about section of your profile, talk about the languages and tools you’re using in the About, Experience, and Education sections, and list any certifications you have received.
• Highlight your transferable skills — If you have ever done anything with data, even if it was just in Excel or used graphs/dashboards to make decisions. Don’t forget about soft skills: Understanding the business, communication, and problem solving are all critical skills any data professional needs.
• Engage with content — There are so many data and analytics thought leaders who are actively posting on LinkedIn, the easiest way is to find a few and engage in the content they are posting.  You can also post your own content, if you don’t want to write a lot, share articles or other posts and be sure to include a personal note.

Do tech recruiters look at my LinkedIn profile? If yes, what are they looking for?

Yes — but only if they can find you. There are a lot of different responsibilities for recruiters, they don’t just review resumes submitted for roles. Recruiters will also source for candidates leveraging LinkedIn’s search and LinkedIn Recruiter platform.

When they search for candidates they typically enter a few keywords, current and previous job titles, specific companies, and years of experience or years in the role just to name a few. When they look at your profile, they are going to be looking for keywords. Just like a resume, they won’t spend a lot of time looking over your profile unless there is something that really catches their interest. If they are looking for someone with specific experience like Azure, for instance, they are going to look where you have that experience.

OK, I get that LinkedIn is important, but do I need to pay for a LinkedIn Premium account?

Some people have found it useful; however, it’s not needed at all. I haven’t used LinkedIn Premium, but I’ve thought about trying it out at some point. You can do a lot with the free version of LinkedIn, and from what I can tell having, Premium does put you at the top of the list when recruiters search for candidates.

The three key things they highlight as the benefit is InMail credits, the ability to see more details about who’s viewed your profile, and LinkedIn Learning video courses. It’s a personal choice based on how you plan on leveraging LinkedIn.

As someone who is job hunting right now, should I care about LinkedIn searches and appearances? How do I use that data?

Yes, at the very least you should be looking at these two sections on a regular basis. I started tracking my data about a year ago. I’ll take a screenshot of my daily views when I first wake up and weekly search appearances on Wednesday evenings (as they tend to change out around lunchtime for me). Every week or so, I’ll enter that data into a spreadsheet that populates a dashboard. This has helped me figure out how to adjust my profile and learn more about who views my profile.

Your profile views are a 90-day rolling total. I only track that 90-day total and sometimes make note of someone specific who viewed my profile, like people at companies I’m interviewing for.

Your search appearances update every week (typically on Wednesdays for me) and will show you how many times you showed up in a search, what keywords were used, what companies they work for, and what roles. I find tracking job roles and keywords the most valuable. Job roles help me understand the type of people who are viewing my profile — is it the target audience I want looking at my profile? — and keywords help me figure out how to update my profile.

Do I need to post content on LinkedIn to land a job in tech?

No, you do not need to post content to get a job.  Posting content also does not increase your chance of showing up in searches; only having a solid profile will. Posting content can be very time-consuming, and you need to have a lot of followers to make much of a difference.

One of the benefits of posting on LinkedIn is it will increase your visibility in general. You can post your original thoughts — be sure to include an image, as that can double engagement rate — or you can reshare others’ posts and include your own thoughts. LinkedIn has the option of scheduling posts, which can make posting content much easier if you can schedule time once a week or month to preschedule your content.

How should I leverage LinkedIn Jobs?

LinkedIn Jobs is a convenient way to search for and apply for roles. You can save them for later, apply directly through LinkedIn, or track roles you applied for directly on the site (if they don’t have the “easy apply” option).

You can now search for remote-only roles or within a specific radius of a ZIP code.  You can also easily subscribe to your search and get daily emails with new roles that were listed. The “save for later” option is nice if you aren’t ready to apply immediately; this is found in the same spot as the roles you’ve already applied to.

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Your next job opportunity will be as good as your LinkedIn profile. If you are transitioning industries, make sure to spend time telling a story and highlighting your capabilities on your LinkedIn profile.