LinkedIn is used by 94% of recruiters to find candidates. According to some research, up to 97% of recruiters use LinkedIn. Despite the high presence of recruiters and hiring managers on the platform, only 36% of job seekers are active on LinkedIn. This disparity gives you, the new developer, a significant advantage.

Below are some LinkedIn tips to help you take advantage of the opportunities it holds.

LinkedIn Tip #1:  Leveling up your profile

Remember to keep your profile page neat and appealing, just like your CV.

• Fill in all personal information, such as your name, age, workplace, working hours, location, school, skills, contact information, and so on. In general, LinkedIn will always suggest updates to the information you need to update. When the profile page has been updated sufficiently, it will have an “all-star” status and greater reach and display than usual. Furthermore, when recruiters visit your personal page, it is easy to follow.
• Profile photo and cover photo: For a profile picture, choose a welcoming photo of your face that you feel speaks the most about your personality. Keep it professional though, you don’t need to have black-tie attire, but make sure you’re comfortable when thinking about future employers or co-workers seeing it. Prioritize choosing a smooth background and a light background to look neater. The cover photo is similar, choose a light background, a quote you like, or a photo that goes well with the avatar. 
• Remember to include your job title beneath your photo. Your title in this section can be your professional title or the role you now have. This is one of the first things a recruiter will see, so try to give them enough compelling information to make sure they click and open your profile.
• Briefly introduce yourself at “About me”: This is the first section visitors read after clicking on your profile. Use it to say hello to your visitors and welcome new connections. Different people are in different stages of their careers. State the things you are looking for. A managerial position? A career or field change? An industry change? Making friends and getting to know like-minded people? A specific role? Here is your chance to state it! What makes you unique? What are your professional interests? What are your work values? Give your visitors a chance to relate to you on a personal level.
• Professional experiences: In 2021, everyone will tell you that you need to focus on keywords and incorporate as many as possible on your profile. This approach will, unfortunately, get you nowhere. What do I mean by this: By adding too many keywords to your profile you will end up showing up in research that has nothing to do with your preferences. Also, it will make your profile look confusing – we do not want that. If keywords are the only content you add to the descriptions of your job experiences, you are not getting far enough. Add detailed responsibilities, and state what you were hired to do and what projects you worked on (leaving out any confidential information). And the most important: show your results. Add a few victories and back them by numbers. Did you build a system that helped increase the team’s productivity by 30%? That’s great – why isn’t it on your profile?

LinkedIn Tip #2: Develop content

An empty Profile is less appealing, so start expressing yourself through writing and sharing. This gives employers a lot of information on which to base their evaluation of your personality, thinking, and work attitude. It also allows the profile to be known by more people through interactions. You can begin by discussing the following topics:

• Topics of work: work experiences, positive, negative, working opinions, sharing about the industry, …
• Personal experience: Life opinions, daily stories,…

LinkedIn Tip #3: Search, reach, interact

After completing the preceding steps, your personal page should be ready to begin building your network:

• Looking for the Top Profiles: Find those with seniority in their profession, many followers, and who are influential. Follow them to both learn and build networks. You can also find and connect with many other Recruiters and CEOs’ profiles.
• Start by checking the companies you admire or would like to work for: For example, if you want to join a company, look up the company’s name. There will be an Employees section where you can view the profiles of those who work there. Make contact with them to learn more about the company culture. Furthermore, if that company is looking for new employees, you can apply directly by clicking on the Job section below the company name.
• Interaction: The first step in making a connection is to leave some comments and respond to others’ posts.
• Like your post: 1-3 hours after you post something, you should like it again in the time frames of 9-10 am, 4-5 pm, and 9-10 pm,… your post will appear on the newsfeed again.
• Do not link external links directly in the post: LinkedIn limits the interaction of posts with links outside the platform, so if you need to attach a link, leave the link in the comments.
• Remember to send a connect request with a “note” to recruiters to create sympathy and increase connection.

LinkedIn Tip #4: Opentowork

Recruiters frequently search for candidates using hashtags and working status, so don’t hesitate to open #opentowork and write a few lines about yourself. After that, you can post your CV and explain why you want the job in greater detail. The CV should be available in both Vietnamese and English.

Furthermore, actively search for jobs by going to My Job, searching keywords for the jobs you want, and applying..

Good luck finding your next role!

We hope these tips and tricks help you explore new roles through LinkedIn. If you’re interested in finding a remote job as a software engineer, view our jobs page to search for open roles that fit you.