THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE

to landing your dream job.

COMPLETE
Craft a profile that draws
recruiters’ attention and
puts you in the running
for LinkedIn’s coveted
All-Star status

CONNECT
Build a strong net-
work of recruiters
and influencers at
companies you love

CAPITALIZE
Take your presence
to the next level and
position yourself to
attract new and excit-
ing job opportunities

1
 HELLO AND WELCOME
Not too long ago, I came across a question on Quora:
“Does being on LinkedIn really help me get hired?”
My immediate thought was, “Hell yes, it does!”

Only a year before I read that question, a recruiter called me with an

incredible position at Amazon. How did she find me? You guessed it. She
found me on LinkedIn.

Without the slightest hint of exaggeration, LinkedIn changed my life.

Not only did it land me the job of my dreams, but it's connected me with
what feels like a bottomless well of opportunities. Every week, recruiters
reach out to me with new pitches to work for their companies.

That's right: I regularly get contacted by recruiters trying to sell me on

working for them.

I’m not trying to boast about how wonderful my LinkedIn profile is. What
I’m saying is this: By leveraging LinkedIn the right way, you and I have the
power to flip the traditional model of job-seeking on its head.

There are currently 11 million job openings posted on LinkedIn. 20,000

companies use the platform to recruit and just under 9 out of 10 recruit-
ers use it to find new talent (Source: Smith).

Are you tired of filling out job applications that never seem to get a re-
sponse? Have you emailed your resume into the wind one too many
times? Good news: with LinkedIn, you can stop filling out applications
that go no where and start having recruiters seek you out.

Does this sound good? Then this guide is for you. In the following pages,
I’m going to teach you how to build an awesome Linkedin profile, con-
nect with people who can help you, and capitalize on the power of Linke-
dIn to have your next opportunity land in your lap.

Ready to find your next job? Let’s get started!

3
HOW TO
USE THIS
GUIDE
There are many ways to use LinkedIn for job searching, personal branding, sales
development, and so on. Rather than overload you, I’ve chosen to focus on the
most important things you need to know to build a stellar profile and find your
next job.
The guide breaks out into 3 major sections:
1. Complete: How to craft a profile that successfully draws recruiters’ attention
and puts you in the running for LinkedIn’s coveted All-Star status.
2. Connect: How to build a strong network that will put you in touch with re-
cruiters and influencers at companies where you want to work.
3. Capitalize: How to take your presence to the next level, attract attention to
your profile, and position yourself to attract new and exciting job opportunities.
Take each section at your own pace and revisit this guide from time to time as
you optimize your profile over the next few weeks.
One last thing: LinkedIn’s simple interface is designed to hold your hand as you
work through the platform. For that reason, a step-by-step guide on how to up-
load your profile picture or plug in past job experience would be a waste of your
time.
Instead, this guide will tell you the important stuff that gets you noticed and
gets you hired.
A quick word about LinkedIn Premium:
LinkedIn offers a premium service with plenty of features to help you make the
most of the platform. This guide is going to assume you’re not a Premium mem-
ber. It’s a great value-add, but there’s no need to go Premium right away.
4 5
WHAT’S INSIDE
**SECTION 1 “COMPLETE”................................................................ 6
MAKING A FIRST IMPRESSION........................................................ 8
PICK A STELLAR PROFILE PICTURE................................................ 9
CAPITALIZE ON COVER IMAGES...................................................10
HEADLINES: GO WITH CLARITY....................................................11
THE SUMMARY ..................................................................................12
EXPERIENCE .......................................................................................16
SKILLS & ENDORSEMENTS ...........................................................18
EDUCATION . ......................................................................................19
INDUSTRY & LOCATION...................................................................20
RECOMMENDATIONS......................................................................21
**SECTION 2 “CONNECT”................................................................24
QUANTITY & QUALITY.....................................................................25
HOW TO BUILD YOUR NETWORK...............................................27
**SECTION 3 “CAPITALIZE”..............................................................30
NUTURE YOUR NETWORK ............................................................31
GATHER INFLUENCE.........................................................................32
HARVEST: COFFEE CHATS AND CALLS.......................................34
CONCLUSION......................................................................................36
 Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job

SECTION 1 “COMPLETE”
GETTING STARTED
If you already have a LinkedIn
profile, skip ahead to the next
page entitled “Making a First
Impression”. If you are new to
LinkedIn, you’ll be glad to know
the process of creating a profile
is simple. Just download the app,
or head over to https://www.
linkedin.com/reg/join and fill
out a few things including name,
email, password, the most recent
job (if applicable), city, and photo
(although you can skip the photo
for now).

After you complete the basic

registration process and confirm
According to LinkedIn’s statistics, users who complete their profiles are 40 times your email address, LinkedIn will
more likely to receive opportunities. Even so, only half of the platform’s 500+ ask if you want to import your
million users have taken the time to bring their profiles up to 100% completion contacts. Skip that for now. If
(Source: Eassom). you invite contacts too soon, all
they’ll see is a fairly empty page.
Along with 100% completion comes LinkedIn’s coveted All-Star rating. Any- I suggest making connections af-
thing less than All-Star and you’ll have less luck being found. Why? Because ter you spend time polishing your
users with completed profiles get 40 times more likely to receive opportunities profile a bit.
through Linkedin. (Source: Eassom).
Again, we’ll cover that in section
To qualify for All-Star status, your profile needs to include the following 7 things. 3.

1) Profile Picture Once you’ve entered your infor-

2) Headline mation, and selected a few inter-
3) Summary Description ests to follow, LinkedIn will shoot
4) Work Experience (if you don’t have much yet, that’s ok) you out onto your bare-bones
5) Skills profile page.
6) Industry & Location
7) Education From here, you’re free to com-
plete your profile at your own
Once you complete the seven elements listed above, you’ll still need to add pace with the suggestions I lay
50 connections to your profile in order to be considered All-Star. Don’t worry, out in this guide. Let’s take a look
LinkedIn makes this part really easy. After we wrap up with completing your pro- at the most important things
file, we’ll cover making connections and provide a bonus section on creating a you’ll need to know as you do.
custom URL for your profile. For now, let’s start with the basics of building your
profile.
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 Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job
PICK A STELLAR PROFILE PICTURE
MAKING A FIRST IMPRESSION
“In the same way that I tend to make up my mind about people within thirty
seconds of meeting them, I also make up my mind about whether a business
proposal excites me within about thirty seconds of looking at it. I rely far more
on gut instinct than researching huge amounts of statistics.”
- Richard Branson (Founder - Virgin Atlantic)
Like it or not; your profile’s success depends more on a recruiter’s gut reaction
than your skills or job expertise. Recruiters will make up their mind about you
in the first few seconds of looking at your profile. So, let’s make those first few
seconds count with a stellar profile picture.
8 9
Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job
Tim Salau Michael Henson Michaela Alexis Jay Shetty Ning Li
You see these profile pictures above? These are stellar. According to photogra-
pher Terence Kearns, the headshot is 90% psychology, 10% camera work. Head-
shots directly reflect their subject’s self-perception. That’s why, if you put up an
amateurish shot, recruiters may subconsciously think ‘amateur.’
Sound superficial?
If you’re a recruiter and you’re rifling through a seemingly endless list of candi-
dates, you don’t have time to dig into every profile you encounter. If the picture
is terrible, you just assume the profile is bad, too, and move on to the next one.
Also, it’s worth noting that, according to Linkedin’s official blog, members who
include a profile photo receive 21x more profile views
and up to 36x more messages (Source: Fisher).
This doesn’t mean you have to go out and hire a pho-
tographer because phones, like the iPhone 7 or newer
have portrait mode, which rivals most headshots from
professional cameras. If, however you’d like to hire a
professional and don’t know where to start, the ser-
vice Snappr makes it easy to book a quick (and rela-
tively inexpensive) session.
But don’t just stop there.
Get several headshots and stack them up against one
another. Using Photofeeler, you can upload your shots
and get other people to rank each one on a whole
range of perception categories: competency, likability,
authenticity, trustworthiness, etc. Pick the photo that
most accurately represents you to recruiters.
 Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job

CAPITALIZE ON COVER IMAGES

An important aspect of making a first impression on LinkedIn is your banner
image. While you don’t have to do this in order to achieve all-star status, it gives
you one more opportunity to showcase your unique credentials at a glance. Judi
Fox spells out 5 specific ways to make the most of your banner image:

1. Social Proof – Use your image

to display the high-profile clients
and companies you’ve worked with
in the past. Example: Dr. Natalia
Wiechowski.

2. Say What You Do – List out the

specific services you provide or
areas in which you have expertise.
Example: Neil Patel.
3. Prove Expertise – Prove your
legitimacy with images of you in
action and/or text snapshots of
your social reach. Example: Tim
Schmoyer.
HEADLINES: GO WITH CLARITY
The headline is a 120 max length description that appears under, or to the right
of your name (depending on how it’s being viewed: desktop or mobile). The pur-
pose of the headline is to tell recruiters what you do and/or what you excel at.
I’ve seen some impressive headlines that do a great job of making the reader
want to learn more. However, there’s one simple mistake that’s often over-
looked; most headlines get truncated in search (i.e. if you don’t get to the point
quick enough then recruiters won’t know what you stand for).

Let me elaborate. If I’ve accessed Linkedin on my desktop, all 120 characters of

4. Social Channels – Give profile
viewers alternate options for en-
gaging with your and your content.
Example: Rachel Chang.
the headline will be displayed. But, profile search results on desktop only dis-
play 73 characters. Moreover, search results for mobile truncate headlines to
32 characters. The key takaway here is get to the point as soon as possible, and
lead the headline with your most important piece of information.
There are two strategies I like to stick to when crafting a headline:

5. Personality – Pick an image or
set of images that highlight your
unique sense of per sonality. Ex-
ample: Michaela Alexis.
Each of these strategies has one
thing in common: they put you above the fold. In other words, they give a re-
cruiter the opportunity to figure out who you are without having to scroll down
and read your profile. That’s going to put you at a huge advantage over other
profiles. Or hey, you could just have a photo of your family - like I do.
1. The Basics - [Job title, Company – tagline]. Here’s an example of a tagline I’ve
used in the past: “Senior Manager of Product Management, Amazon – Man on a
Mission”
2. Three Takeaways - For my newest tagline (pictured above). I kept the job
title, but added, three key takeaways that I want others to see including, “career
coach”, “content creator”, and “public speaker.”
Don’t be afraid to switch up your headline every couple months/weeks to see
what garners the most attention.

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 Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job
THE SUMMARY
You’ll notice that LinkedIn profiles are primarily driven by one thing: text.
As the introduction to your profile, the summary section represents one of
the most crucial moments in a recruiters’ experience when they find you on
LinkedIn.
WRITE A STORY
After the profile picture, and headline,
your profile is one extended oppor-
tunity to write a story about who you
are, where you’ve been, and where
you’d like to go.
There’s no shortage of research show-
ing how powerful storytelling is in
changing people’s attitudes, beliefs,
and behaviors. It’s also an incredible
sales and branding tool.
So, use the power of storytelling to
your advantage as you write your pro-
file. Don’t just give visitors the run-
down of your life experience; craft
a narrative that connects with your
reader.
HOOK THEM FAST WITH STYLE
If you’ve ever seen another profile on
LinkedIn, you’ll notice that only three
lines are visible until you click either
the text (on mobile) or “show more”
on desktop. Your goal is to hook the
reader and make them read the entire
description.
How do you do that?
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Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job
Your summary doesn’t have to fit all 6 of these categories. However, if you can
include one or more in your first few lines, you’ll establish enough of a connec-
tion to keep your reader hooked.
NAILING YOUR TONE
Another crucial aspect of writing your summary is tone. On one side, a stuffy
summary will turn off most recruiters. On the other, a flippant or unprofes-
sional profile will do the same.
Kate Reilly has written a great rundown of the 7 things successful recruiters
do to convey their own personal brand on LinkedIn:
• Authenticity – Be who you are and write as you speak.
• Humor – Don’t take yourself too seriously.
• Targeting – Tell the reader who you want to work with/for and why.
• Relational – Show how you value relationships and collaboration.
• Benefits Language – Tell a recruiter what’s in it for them if they reach out
to you.
• Get Specific – Detail what it is you have to offer.
• Conversational Tone - Invite your reader into a dialogue, not a monologue.
This isn’t just what recruiters do to attract talent; it’s what resonates most
with them as they work their way through profile after profile.
In a helpful breakdown of excellent
LinkedIn summaries, William Arruda
shows how each capitalize on one or
more of the following six categories
in order to hook the reader:
• Purpose – What’s your mission in
life?
• Promise – What do you have to
offer that no one else has?
• Punctuated list – What attributes
constitute the core of your personal
brand?
• Passion – What lights your fire?
• Provocative statement – What do
people need to hear that might catch
them off guard?
• Point in time – How does your life
story intersect with all of the above?
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Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job

PICK A STRATEGY

Building on what I shared about style, tone, and story, it’s important to give
your summary section a sense of cohesion. The best way to do this is to choose
a specific strategy before you start writing. Aja Frost has listed five examples of
winning summary strategies on LinkedIn:

• Mission-Based – This summary focuses on who you are, what you do, and
why you do it. It moves from general to specific, showing how you bring tangi-
ble valuable to the people you work with and for.

• Personality – More than the mission-based summary, the personality ap-

proach focuses on connecting with people. It’s great for networking and build-
ing relationships, but you have to be careful: this strategy can be a turnoff to
more results-oriented recruiters.

• Blended – A combination of the mission-based and personality strategies, a

blended summary allows you to make your case without sacrificing personality.
From my perspective, this is going to be the best option for most LinkedIn pro-
files.

• Short-and-Sweet – If you’re in a conservative or technical industry, then this

is a smart strategy. Get in, share your relevant credentials and backstory, then
get out.

• Accomplishments – Much like the short-and-sweet, this strategy makes your

case in as few words as possible. A good way to look at this strategy is that it
allows you to tell your professional story from the perspective of your most
significant achievements.

ADD A LITTLE SPICE

Keep your summary from fizzling by adding a final touch of personality. Here
are a few of the additional items I’ve used to capture recruiters’ interest:

• Personality Test Results – I recently took the Enneagram test and found it to
be scary accurate. So, I added one line that says “Into the Enneagram? - I'm a #3
(The Achiever).”

• Fun Facts – Some people say to leave this stuff out. I completely disagree.
Are you a singer on the side? Can you solve a rubix cube blindfolded? Great, I’d
love to learn more about this in a few bullets.

• Call to action – It’s important to have a section that lets people know how to
connect with you. Have some other social media profiles that may be relevant?
Add them here!

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 Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job

EXPERIENCE
The next section of your profile offers a simple opportunity to share your
work and life experience. Especially if you’re a student, you may feel like you
don’t have much to add here.

Don’t sell yourself short. Whatever experience you do have can be crafted to
continue and support the narrative from your summary section. Keep in mind,
this should mirror your resume.

For each experience, briefly tell a story of where you worked, why you worked
there, and what you accomplished. Think of each description as a condensed
version of your summary section.

Most recruiters and employers want to see an orientation towards achieve-

ment. The best way to do that is to add quantifiable bullet points to each list-
ing. Most of the LinkedIn profiles I see are way too vague. Instead, you should
focus on quantifying your experience as much as possible.

Bad: “Oversaw business development.”

Good: “Closed $500,000 in new accounts within 12 months, a year-over-year
change of 25%”

Bad: “worked with merchant service providers to generate new business”

Good: “worked with 3 merchant service providers to generate $20K in addi-
tional revenue, a 10% increase from Q1 2018, to Q1 2019.

For each bullet point, I like to ask three questions: how many; how much;
what’s the impact? Those three questions help me to create bullet points that
not only tell the story of what I’ve accomplished in the past but how it relates
to what I can do in the future.

You may not be able to share all the details from every past experience or you
may not have anything quantifiable yet - that’s ok! The key point is this: if you
make things specific, your resume will stand out in the eyes of recruiters.

For more on how to craft amazing bullet points, check out this video I posted
to YouTube.

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 Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job
SKILLS & ENDORSEMENTS
SKILLS
Too many people downplay the Skills
& Endorsements section. LinkedIn has
another story to tell: “Skills are among
the most common queries performed
by recruiters and hiring managers
(link).
Skills are keywords, and keywords are
critical to getting you found. As Linke-
dIn’s data shows, members with 5 or
more skills listed hear from recruiters
up to 33 times more than others. On
top of that, their profiles get viewed up
to 17 times as much as other LinkedIn
members (Source: Fisher)
Identify: Because LinkedIn allows you
to choose up to 50 skills to include,
you’ll want to think more strategical-
ly about which skills you add to your
profile.
Start by looking at your peers in order
to see which skills they list. Expand
your search out to noted personalities
in your field, superiors at your current
position, colleagues, etc.
Put yourself in the shoes of an em-
ployer and ask what skills they want
in their next hire. Those are the skills
to highlight in your profile—based, of
course, in past education and experi-
ence.
18
Add: Adding skills to your profile is
easy. Once logged in, simply scroll
down to the Skills & Endorsements
section and click ‘add a new skill.’
A popup will appear with a simple
text-entry box and a list of skills sug-
gestions based on the current content
of your LinkedIn profile.
Organize: Just like with the summary,
your Skills & Endorsements section will
only display your top 3 skills until the
viewer clicks “Show more.”
By clicking the pencil icon, you can
re-arrange your skills in order to decide
which 3 come out on top. You’ll want
to be strategic here; don’t just choose
the skills that you know an employer
wants to see. Choose the skills you be-
lieve you can get endorsements for.
ENDORSEMENTS
Endorsements infuse your profile with
some added credibility, but how do
you go about getting them?
As with most things, you need to be
willing to give before you can receive.
The best approach here is to begin en-
dorsing people for specific skills you’ve
seen in action. This will typically be all
you need to do in order to start attract-
ing endorsers.
Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job
EDUCATION
The Education section is one of the
more straightforward elements on
your profile. That also makes it one
of the easiest to neglect. Here are 4
things to keep in mind as you fill in
your education experience:
• Highest First – Keep your high-
est degree or certification at the
top of the list, even if it may not be
directly relevant to your industry.
• Everything is Relevant – Be sure
to show all your education, re-
gardless of whether you think your
degree in music is relevant to your
hunt for a job in web development.
• Tell a Story – Don’t just say what
you studied; tell people (in the de-
scription) why you studied it, what
you learned, and how that experi-
ence relates to real, tangible bene-
fits for anyone who might want to
hire you. To step it up a notch you
can even add or link to external
documents, photos, sites, videos,
and presentations.
• Keywords Matter – Make sure to
include the relevant keywords for
your industry in the description of
each education experience.
While you always want to keep
things as concise as possible on
LinkedIn, don’t neglect the Educa-
tion section, it’s another oppor-
tunity to sweeten your profile and
help you stand out with recruiters.
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 Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job

INDUSTRY & LOCATION RECOMMENDATIONS

Overlooking industry & location is like leaving money on the ta-
ble. Why? Because when professional users (e.g., recruiters) get on
LinkedIn to find a new hire, one of the first things they do is open
up their advanced search options and choose their criteria. Can you
guess what kind of things they’re looking for? Bingo: industry &
location.
We’re all more likely to shop at a store or visit a restaurant when it’s been rec-
ommended to us by a friend. Recruiting on LinkedIn works the same way, even if
we don’t happen to know the ‘friend’ making the recommendation.
Like the Skills & Endorsements section, this part of your profile invites others
to put themselves on the line to vouch for you and your professional expertise.
With a few high-quality recommendations, you can give recruiters some adition-
al assurance to reach out. So, how do you get them?

WRITE BEFORE YOU ASK

Just like endorsements, you need to give before you can receive. So, identify the
person you’d like to ask and then write them a stellar recommendation. Not only
will this give them a good reason to return the favor, but it’ll show them what
you consider to a great recommendation.

The process is easy. Just go to the person’s LinkedIn profile, click the ‘More’
button, and then click ‘Recommend.’ A pop-up will appear with a few questions
about your relationship, followed by a text box where you can input your recom-
mendation.

INDUSTRY LOCATION HOW TO DO IT

First, remember to think
like a recruiter. What
do you want them to
be looking for when
they find you? If you’re
looking to move into a
new industry, choose
that industry. If multiple
options describe what
you do, then play the
field by alternating them
from time to time.
Like above, put your-
self in the recruiter’s
shoes first. If you live
in a metro area, choose
the broadest area that
applies to you (exam-
ple: Greater Chicago
Area vs. Lincoln Park).
If you want to move to
a new city, choose that
location instead of your
current one.
Go to your profile on
LinkedIn and click the
pencil to the right of
your picture. Scroll
about half way down to
where it asks for your
ZIP code. Enter it in and
then choose from the
list of locations within
that area. Next, choose
your industry from the
list just below that. Easy,
right?

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 Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job
WHAT DOES A GREAT RECOMMENDATION LOOK LIKE?
Recommendations should be short and sweet. They need to be informative
enough to say something meaningful, yet concise enough to actually be read.
You should also keep fluffy praise to a minimum; instead, focus on concrete
points of affirmation. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about below:
You’ll notice that this recommendation starts with context. Profile readers have
no idea who you or your recommender are, so you need to quickly tell the story
of how you know each other.
Next, it lays out two specific superpowers. First, John distilled complex topics
into actionable steps for engineers. Second, he withstood (and is able to with-
stand) intense pressure. These are two skills that translate to real value for re-
cruiters who are looking for someone with those specific traits.
REQUEST A RECOMMENDATION
Once you’re done writing, reach out to that person in a message or an email. Let
them know you wrote a recommendation and ask for one in return. Be polite
and professional. The last thing you want is to give the impression that you feel
entitled to their reciprocity.
To request a recommendation, head back to that person’s profile, click the
‘More’ button, and then click ‘Request Recommendation.’ Another pop-up will
appear asking questions about your relationship, followed by a text box where
you can input a short message. There, briefly recap your message about writing
them a recommendation and appreciating one in return.
That’s all it takes to pull in a few top-notch recommendations for your profile.
Remember: quality is always better than quantity. 3-5 solid recommendations
should be plenty. For more on recommendations, check out this YouTube video I
recorded.
22
Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job
CUSTOM URL
Although this technically isn’t a part of your profile, you should know a few
things about customizing your profile’s URL (i.e., its web address)—before you
move on to the next section.
Creating a custom URL is easy. On a non-mobile device ensure you are on the
profile view - i.e “view profile”. Once there click ‘Edit public profile & URL’ on
the top right of the page. At the top right of the next page, you’ll see a section
titled ‘Edit URL.’ Click the little pencil icon to edit your URL. In the end, your
URL should look like mine: If your name is taken, just use something that’s sim-
ple and easy to share. There are 3 important reasons why you should customize
your URL:
1. It’ll make you easier to find.
2. It’ll boost your credibility.
3. It’ll clean up your profile link for resumes/email signatures/business cards.
This might seem like a small detail but, in the end, details make the difference. If
you want to set yourself apart on LinkedIn, you need to hop on every advantage
you can find.
CONCLUSION
In section #1 “Complete”, we’ve looked at the basics of crafting a LinkedIn pro-
file that’ll not only put you in line for All-Star status but attract interest from po-
tential employers. If you implement just what you’ve read so far, you’ll already
be ahead of 90% of the pack on LinkedIn.
Don’t forget; you’ll always have an opportunity to refine your profile (I do it
constantly). While it’s vital that you keep adding experience, recommendations,
and skills to your profile, don’t get hung up there. Once you have 100% of your
All-Star requirements complete, it’s time to move on to Section 2 “Connect.”
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SECTION 2 “CONNECT” QUANTITY & QUALITY

When it comes to connections, recruiters care about two things, quantity and
quality.

QUANTITY

Some recruiters are turned off by profiles with less than 500 connections (the
max count that can be displayed on profiles). Thankfully, this isn’t a hard and
fast rule. For recent graduates, recruiters won't automatically rule out your pro-
file just because you haven’t gotten to 500.

If you've been established in your industry for several years, however, a limit-
ed network may suggest to recruiters you either don't play well with others or
aren't valued in your field (even though this isn’t true!).

QUALITY

In the eyes of recruiters, what matters most is the quality of your connections.
Recruiters don’t care if you’ve got connections with 1,000 random people. They
want to know who those people are, why they matter, and what those connec-
tions have to say about you. Here’s what I mean by that.

If you’ve got your sights set on a particular company, then the best connections
you can make are with people who already work there. If a recruiter from Ora-
cle wants to make a hire, they’re going to feel much more comfortable contact-
ing the person with 25 connections in the company than with someone who
doesn’t have any.

The quality of your connections will especially come into play later when we
look at engaging your network, gathering influence through content creation,
Now that you’ve got your profile complete enough to qualify for and making real-life connections.
All-Star status, it’s time to start building out your connections.

Your profile will only be as strong as the network of professional

connections you attach to it. And, according to LinkedIn, peo-
ple with strong networks get 13 times more job opportunities
(Source: Schinker).

So, in this section, I’ll show you how to connect with the right
people so that they can connect you with your next opportunity.

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Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job
HOW TO BUILD YOUR NETWORK
It’s time to start building your network. Before I share 6 methods for adding connec-
tions, it’s important you don’t get bogged down right now in worrying about the “qual-
ity” of your connections just yet. Build a base first of anyone you meet, and over time
you can become more discerning.
METHOD 1 - IMPORT EMAIL CONTACTS
The easiest way to get started on your
network is to go to the ‘My Network’
tab and import your existing contacts.
The process is simple: just add your
email address, log in to your email
provider, and then LinkedIn will pres-
ent you with a screen full of contacts.
This should be enough to catapult you
over the 50-contact threshold for All-
Star Status.
Photo by WeWork
METHOD 2 - USE LINKEDIN SUGGES-
TIONS
When you click the ‘My Network’ tab
at the top of your profile, you’ll find in
the center of the screen a grid of peo-
ple LinkedIn thinks you might know.
If nobody’s there or your options are
limited, don’t worry. The more people
you connect to, the better LinkedIn
will be able to suggest connections.
Keep in mind, LinkedIn puts a limit on
daily invites, depending on the size of
your network and the number of peo-
ple you’ve invited recently.
26
METHOD 3 - LOOK OUTSIDE YOUR
NETWORK
Once your contacts are imported,
it’s time to expand out to people you
don’t already know. Here, you want to
focus on industry leaders and compa-
ny insiders.
If you don’t know who exactly to con-
nect with, start with a simple keyword
search.
And remember, when sending a con-
nection request, be sure to include a
personalized note. The person on the
receiving end will be far more likely
to accept the request. The best way
to approach this is to find a piece of
work they’ve shared or created on
LinkedIn as a point of connection.
Here’s an example:
Dear Steve,
I recently read your article on LinkedIn
recommendations. I really appreciated
what you said about how to structure
a recommendation. I’ve offered simi-
lar advice to my clients in the past. I’d
love to connect with you so that we
can keep this conversation going.
Thanks,
John
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 Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job

METHOD 4 - FOCUS ON RECRUITERS From there, all that’s left is to enter

Regardless of whether I’m looking for
a gig or not, I’ve made it a habit to sit
down for 30 minutes a month and add
recruiters from companies where my
experience would be relevant.
into the conversation. Don’t promote
yourself! Instead, concentrate on add-
ing as much value as possible. In the fi-
nal section of this guide, I’ll have a few
more things about how to use groups
to help grow your influence.

You can do the same using LinkedIn’s METHOD 6 - ATTEND EVENTS

built-in search engine. Just go to the
top left of your profile, type the com-
pany name you are interested in, fol-
lowed by the word “recruiter” into the
search bar, and you’re on your way.
For students, particularly, you should
take time to build up an arsenal of
“campus recruiters.” These people fo-
cus specifically on recruiting new hires
straight out of college. If a campus
recruiter accepts your invitation, follow
up with a personalized message and
keep the conversation going!
One of the best ways to build online
connections is to work on your offline
network. Better than an impersonal
message, local events give you the op-
portunity to get to know one another,
and kick off a relationship that can be
nurtured further online.
Great places to find events include
Meetup.com or LinkedIn Local—a glob-
al community designed by LinkedIn
users. They’ve got events in virtually
every corner of the globe.

METHOD 5 - JOIN GROUPS At many of these events, attendees

are encouraged to turn on the “Find
LinkedIn Groups are virtual forums Nearby” feature in LinkedIn’s mobile
where users can join communities of app. This lets you to find a large group
like-minded professionals and chat of people to connect with all at once.
about industry-specific topics.
CONCLUSION
Groups are a great place to start con-
versations, share expertise, and form Building your network isn’t just a step
connections with people you may not on the journey; it’s a regular habit
have known before. This is a great way you’ll want to work into your routine.
to grow your network, establish your That doesn’t mean you have to obsess
credibility, and expand your reach. over connecting with as many people
as possible. But you will need to get
To join a group, simply click the “work” strategic about growing your network
icon at the top right of the page. Select so that you end up on the receiving
“Groups” from the menu that appears. end of as many new opportunities as
You’ll immediately see a list of groups possible.
to join based on your profile interests.
Request to join a few that interest you In the next section, I’m going to show
and then wait for the group moderator you how to do just that.
to approve it.

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 Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job
SECTION 3 “CAPITALIZE”
Now that you’ve completed your profile and begun to
build a solid network, it’s time to start capitalizing on
the full value of your LinkedIn presence. To do that,
we’re going to focus on three things: nurturing, gather-
ing, and harvesting.
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Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job
NUTURE YOUR NETWORK
50% of LinkedIn members say they’ve found a job through mutual connections.
That statistic speaks volumes about the value of LinkedIn for job hunting. Even
more, it points to the critical importance of nurturing and maintaining an en-
gaged network on the platform. Here’s how to do just that:
1. ENGAGE WITH CONTENT FROM OTHERS IN YOUR NEWS FEED
Think of the news feed as LinkedIn’s information superhighway. This is the first
thing you see when you log in. On it, you’ll find work anniversaries, birthdays,
new job positions, articles, videos, images, etc. You can think of each entry on
the news feed as an opportunity to build relationships with people you’ve either
connected with or followed.
Spend a few hours a week engaging with content that resonates with you by
liking, sharing, and making insightful comments. For example: if someone posts
a video that you enjoy, leave a comment on something that stood out to you
(preferably towards the middle or end so they know you actually watched the
video).
Pro tip: When commenting on someone else’s post be sure to tag that user.
Tagging someone is very powerful because it shows as a notification on the per-
son’s phone and in the LinkedIn app. To tag a person, all you have to do is enter
an @ and start typing a person’s full name. LinkedIn will take care of the rest.
In case you’re not convinced, I once commented on an article from Uber’s head
of product for Sky Taxis. A day later he messaged me and asked if I was inter-
ested in a job. Another time, I left a comment on an article posted by the head
of product recruiting from LinkedIn. A day later, she reached out and asked if I
wanted to interview. Take it from me; this stuff works.
2. PASS AROUND QUALITY CONTENT
Sharing high-value content is a great way to nurture your network. For one
thing, it gives people news they can use to make their lives better. For another,
it teaches them to think of you as a valuable person when they constantly see
gold coming from you in their news feed.
The best way to share someone else’s stuff is to write a quick summary and post
that as your comment along with a link to the content. The goal of your summa-
ry is to distill the content down to its essence so that even if they don’t click the
link, they know what the piece is about.
Make sure to tag the user responsible for the article or video you’re posting.
Again, you want to make sure to get their attention.
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GATHER INFLUENCE 3. STAY THE COURSE

As you nurture your network, you’ll also want to attract new people. The first
way to do that, of course, is to make sure you’re an All-Star. This is where the
floodgates open. All-Star status was my ticket to gathering over 3,400 follow-
ers, 6,000+ average views per video per week, and 1,200 connection requests
this month. But you have to be proactive as well.
Once your profile is optimized, its time to go on
offense.
1. POSITION YOURSELF
LinkedIn is the premier space for establishing a per-
sonal brand online. It’s not enough to just create a
profile; you need to create a persona. You can ei-
ther do this by positioning yourself as an expert, or
document your jouney (i.e. what you are learning,
reading, struggling with, loving, etc). How do you
do that? Keep reading.
Content creation may seem like a lot of work, but it’s worth it. Write an article
or record a video about how the next best app is going to disrupt Google and
you better believe the Googlers in your network will notice. Give them some-
thing worth engaging with, and you just might stumble into a life-changing
conversation with your next boss.
How do you get there? By consistently showing up and putting in the work.
Remember, if you have been spending time engaging consistently on another
people’s content, they will reciprocate.
A few pro tips:
• If someone takes the time to comment on your content, be SURE to write
them back!
• If you post video, make sure you do it natively through LinkedIn (i.e. don’t
post a link to a YouTube video or facebook post). Why? because Linkedin wants
people to stay on the platform!

2. CREATE CONTENT One last note: LinkedIn Groups are a great place to share your content. Remem-
ber to focus more on adding value than promoting your own skills and exper-
In addition to sharing other people’s content, you’ll tise. Solve other people’s problems first, and then they’ll connect you with the
want to develop material of your own. I’ll talk about people who can solve yours.
articles and videos in a moment, but for now even
simple micro-posts of 200 words or less are a great
place to start.

Articles establish your expertise and alert every-

one in your network that you’re contributing to the
field. They also help expand your reach and in-
crease influence as readers share your stuff.

By the way, can you guess who’s going to see these

articles? Recruiters. When you add a recruiter to
your network, they’ll be privy to your work. If they
click through, they’ll see you know your stuff and will be more inclined to reach
out with an opportunity (pro tip, tag recruiters on relevant articles/posts you
create).

To write an article, simply go to your feed and click ‘write an article’ at the top
center of the page.

If you hadn’t noticed, I’m more of a video guy, and LinkedIn video is blowing
up right now. Across every social media channel, videos are leading the way in
viewership, engagement, and sharing (but articles and micro-posts do awesome
on Linkedin as well - utilize what works best for you!).
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HARVEST: COFFEE CHATS AND 3. ADD VALUE

CALLS
In a recent survey, 35% of the professionals said that a casual conversation on
LinkedIn led to a new opportunity (Source: Decembrele). That number alone
points to the value of not just connecting with people on LinkedIn, but finding
reasons to strike up a conversation with them as well.
In a recent video I created on YouTube entitled “How to Network on Linke-
dIn - Find a Job without Asking” I shared a story about a guy named Paul who
wanted to know if I’d be interested in a 30 min coffee chat - I said sure! Here’s
Paul’s strategy (pro-tip: people are more likely to accept a meeting if they know
it’s time-boxed).
Towards the end of our meeting, Paul handed me a signed copy of Lewis How-
es’ The School of Greatness as a token of his appreciation for our time. He’d
enjoyed the book, and he thought I could benefit from it as well.
I was impressed by the gesture. More than that, it showed me that Paul delivers
value. He didn’t just show up at the meeting to get
something; he wanted to give what he could.
On a call or over coffee, listen for ways to add value
to the other person’s life. Sure, they’re the expert or
the employer, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have
something to contribute. Find that something and
offer it up as a token of your appreciation for that
person and their time. How do you do it?

1. LEAD WITH PERSONAL CONNEC-
TION
When Paul reached out to me on
LinkedIn, he’d didn’t lead by asking me
to help him find a job at Amazon. Trust
me, plenty of people send me LinkedIn
messages asking for precisely that.
Instead, he talked about how much he
resonated with my story. As a young
dad, he was struggling to find a stable
career path to support his family. He’d
done all the things he should’ve done
but just couldn’t find anything.
As I read Paul’s message, I found my-
self connecting with his struggles. Af-
ter all, I’d been where he was and had
made it my business to help people
just like him. So, I agreed to meet.
If you’re going to reach out to some-
one to set up a call or a meeting, the
first thing you need to do is forge a
personal connection. Connect with
their story, engage with their content,
talk about their impact on you per-
sonally—whatever you do, be a human
being first.
2. FOCUS ON LEARNING
When Paul and I sat down together,
I led off with the question “how can
I help you?” I felt compelled to cut
to the chase, and I expected to hear
something specific about what kind of
job he’d like to find. But I didn’t hear
anything like that at all.
Instead, Paul put the ball back in my
court. He asked me to expand on my
story, and he paid attention to what
I had to say. That was the great thing
about Paul; he approached me with a
genuine desire to learn. As I talked and
he listened, I felt more and more com-
pelled to help.
When you connect with someone on
a call or over a cup of coffee, approach
that meeting with a desire to learn
from the other person. Don’t pep-
per them with your wants and needs.
Instead, get them to open up about
themselves. Not only will you learn
more, but they’ll be even more inclined
to help!
To reach out, all you have to do is pick the person
you’d like to call out of your network. This can be a
recruiter at a company you’d like to work for, a lead-
er in your industry, or anyone else, really. All that
matters is that you have a connection and you want
to learn from them.
As long as that person is a first degree Linkedin
connection, you’ll be able to send a quick instant
message. If they’re a 2nd or 3rd degree, however,
you’ll either have to get introduced or send them an
InMail. Note: InMail requires a Premium account.
As you craft your message, follow this simple outline:
• Connect – Lead off with a personal connection.
Talk about them and how you resonate with their
story, expertise, content, etc.
• Learn – Describe your situation and how you
could benefit from the time together. Remember to focus on learning; not ask-
ing for a job.
• Value – In the invitation, the best way you can offer value is by putting a
timebox around the meeting (30 minutes) and making it as convenient for the
other person as possible.
Remember: Nothing about this should ever feel like a hard sell. Forge a connec-
tion, get to know the other person, and find ways to add value to their life with-
out expecting anything in return.

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 Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job
CONCLUSION
Can LinkedIn help you get hired? Hell yes, it can!
I know from my own story, not to mention the sto-
ries of many people I’ve worked with that LinkedIn is
the way to turn the tables on traditional job hunting.
In this guide, you’ve learned 3 incredibly valuable
things:
1. How to complete your LinkedIn profile, become
an All-Star, and get in front of as many recruiters as
possible.
2. How to connect with others and build a strong
presence on LinkedIn.
3. How to capitalize on your network to draw in
countless opportunities as opposed to applying and
praying for call-backs.
Now, it’s up to you. Are you willing to put in the time
and do the work to build an All-Star profile that’ll ac-
tually get you noticed? If so, then I’m confident you’ll
find that there’s no limit to where LinkedIn can take
you. Best wishes on your journey!
John Marty
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Definitive Guide to Landing your Dream Job
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Aslam, Salman Aslam. “Linkedin by the Numbers:
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Numbers: Stats, Demographics & Fun Facts, 6 Jan.
2019, www.omnicoreagency.com/linkedin-statis-
tics/.
Fisher, Catherine. “5 Steps to Improve Your LinkedIn
Profile in Minutes.” Recent Posts, 3 Aug. 2016, blog.
linkedin.com/2016/08/03/5-steps-to-improve-
your-linkedin-profile-in-minutes-.
Eassom, Helen. “Why You Should Complete Your
LinkedIn Profile.” Wiley.com, 9 Feb. 2017, www.
wiley.com/network/researchers/promoting-your-ar-
ticle/why-you-should-complete-your-linkedin-pro-
file.
Smith, Craig. “21 Interesting LinkedIn Job Statistics.”
DMR, DMR, 8 Dec. 2018, expandedramblings.com/
index.php/linkedin-job-statistics/.
Schinker Follow, Oliver. “Networking on LinkedIn
101.” LinkedIn SlideShare, 14 Mar. 2018, www.
slideshare.net/linkedin/networking-on-linkedin-101.
Decembrele, Blaire. “The Best Way to Land Your
Next Job Opportunity.” Recent Posts, 22 June 2017,
blog.linkedin.com/2017/june/22/the-best-way-to-
land-your-next-job-opportunity.
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