If you hop on a free 30-minute discovery call with me, you’ll have plenty of time to ask me anything. Although each person’s remote job search is unique, I still get a lot of FAQs. One of which is:
Can you search for remote jobs on Linkedin?
And, my answer is always: Heck yes you can!
Not only can you use the world’s most popular professional networking site to find remote work, you absolutely SHOULD be searching for remote jobs on LinkedIn.
Here’s why.
A Lot Of People Get Hired on LinkedIn
A quick google search and you’ll find that LinkedIn is a big player when it comes to hiring. And, while you may be accustomed to job search sites like Indeed, Career Builder, or Monster, LinkedIn is a valuable resource too.
But it’s not just the job ads specifically listed on LinkedIn that you should go after. There are also job openings that are never listed.
“Say, what?!?!”
It’s true. According to numerous studies and surveys, between 70 and 80 percent of jobs are never advertised. Instead, these jobs are filled via word of mouth and referrals.
So, how do you tap into this ‘hidden job market’?
You network. And what’s the largest site for professional networking? LinkedIn! To date, more than 575 million people use LinkedIn to connect and create a professional network.
Networking On LinkedIn For Remote Jobs
Local networking events are great if you’re looking for a local job. But, what if you’re on the hunt for a cubicle-free career path?
As a remote job seeker, the hiring process is done virtually. Submitting your resume, interviewing and even onboarding is all done online.
It goes without saying, then, that all your remote job search networking will be done virtually too.
That’s where LinkedIn comes into play.
Find Remote Jobs Via Networking On LinkedIn
A little bit later, I’ll share a video to show you how to actually search for jobs on LinkedIn. But before we get to that, let’s talk about networking on LinkedIn so you can find all of those never-advertised leads.
It all starts with a stellar LinkedIn Profile.
The Basics Of A Great LinkedIn Profile
On LinkedIn, your profile is what other people will see before they even connect with you. A powerful LinkedIn profile makes all the difference in whether or not someone will want to connect with you or completely ignore your request.
Your profile is broken down into 6 major parts:
- Profile Picture
- Headline
- Summary
- Skills
- Experience
- Education
Pictures Are Important
LinkedIn profiles with a picture receive about 21 times more views and 36 times more messages.
Does this mean you need to run out right now and hire a professional photographer to give you just the right headshot?
Nope. You don’t.
A simple headshot taken in good lighting on your iPhone will do the trick too. The point is, a picture is important. Don’t use an old, outdated photo or one of you a little tipsy at last year’s office party.
Keep it simple with a forward-facing headshot in front of a clean background. That’s it.
Your Headline
By default, your headline will be your current job title. You don’t have to keep it.
Instead, I suggest you change your headline to the job you hope to get.
For example, if you want to become a remote customer service professional, then your headline can read:
Customer Service Professional Providing Virtual Support
Remember, don’t make a LinkedIn profile mistake and get cutesy with your headline. Use actual job titles in your headline, i.e., Administrative Assistant, Project Manager, Technical Support Representative. Stay away from creative titles like Customer Happiness Associate, Support Rockstar, Project Management Ninja, etc.
Recruiters on LinkedIn are searching for people with common job titles. As such, LinkedIn places a lot of weight on what your profile headline says when deciding whether or not to show your profile in searches!
Remote Job Search Summary
Here’s a chance to tell your professional story. You don’t have to write a novel (unless you’re a novelist) but you should aim for three to five solid paragraphs here.
If you capture someone’s attention with your headline and profile picture, they’re likely to read your summary next. This is where you can let your personality shine.
It’s best to have a beginning, middle, and end to your summary. I suggest you start with how your career began. Then, address where you are now. Finally, finish with where you hope to go in the future.
People like to see progress (especially hiring managers). So, show them your career progression in a start-to-finish summary.
Highlight Your Remote Skills
We all have a number of hard skills and soft skills to our names. LinkedIn offers a place for you to highlight those which are important to your chosen career path. As you start to type in various skills, LinkedIn will offer suggestions.
Remember to include common skills and traits employers look for in remote workers!
Your Work Experience
Like your resume, LinkedIn has a place for you to include your work history. Here, you can add all the companies you’ve worked for and previous job titles held.
Make sure you include quantifiable achievements at work like “increased customer retention rates by 5% month over month” or “exceeded monthly sales objectives by 10% on average each quarter.”
Hiring managers want to know what you can do for them. The best way to show them is by highlighting your past accomplishments with concrete numbers.
Include Your Education (If Applicable)
If you went to college, great! This is the place to put your alma mater. This section is optional, of course. If you have an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, you can choose to highlight it here. If not, you can leave out the education section altogether.
Start Connection & Networking
Now that your LinkedIn profile is in tiptop shape, it’s time to start networking.
When it comes to networking on LinkedIn, remember it is not a numbers game. You can have 500+ connections and an equal number of endorsements but get very little traction in your remote job search.
That’s why it’s important to focus on quality connections over quantity.
Find Relevant Professionals
To do this, focus on people that are in job positions that you want. Ask those professionals in job titles you’re after for informational interviews. They can provide tons of insight AND become a potential referral for future job openings.
Follow Remote-Friendly Companies
Don’t forget to follow remote-friendly companies on LinkedIn. This way you can more easily find current employees working there and be the first to know when new job openings are posted.
Use LinkedIn Groups
Get active in LinkedIn Groups! Find groups related to your industry or profession. Then, get social!
Don’t be self-promotional or spammy. Instead, offer great advice, answer questions, and share great content. You’ll naturally accrue contacts this way that can lead to future (unadvertised) job leads.
Search For Remote Jobs On LinkedIn
We’ve looked at how to tap into the ‘hidden job market.’ Now, let’s discuss how to conduct a remote job search on LinkedIn.
I could write another 1,000 words on this or I can show you a quick video. If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably ready for a reading break, so video it is:
Call In Backup
As a Certified Professional Career Coach & Forbes Coaches Council Member, I specialize in helping job seekers kick their cubicles to the curb. That includes writing knockout LinkedIn profiles that are fully optimized to impress both search engines and hiring managers.
If LinkedIn is not your forte, that’s okay. Let me take over your profile for you. It’s one of my most popular career coaching services and can lead to tons of job search success.
Learn more about my services and schedule a free 30-minute discovery call today.
Happily,
Ashlee Anderson, CPCC
Ashlee,
I have been searching on Linkedin for many years for both full time and remote jobs. I have changed my profile to the job I am searching for and have experience doing. Everytime I put “remote” in the search boxes in Linkedin it comes up data entry and they are never legit jobs.
I put in both job title and remote, but every time it comes data entry. My profile doesn’t have data entry in it, so I am having a hard time figuring out on how I can just remote in Linkedin and not have data entry only come up. There are more jobs out there to do remote than just data entry. I also put in virtual, but haven’t put telecommute. So, I want to know how I can search on Linkedin for remote jobs that as a whole, not just data entry
There isn’t many full time jobs around me other service or retail jobs. So, I have been trying to find legit work at home jobs with companies that reputable and not scams.
Hi Diane,
That sounds frustrating! But, I think you can remedy that problem in just a few steps. Instead of typing remote directly into the location box, click on the location box and select “remote.” This will bring up all (and I do mean ALL) of the jobs posted that were selected as remote-friendly by the company hiring.
From there, you will get a LONG list of remote jobs (thousands of them). A good way to narrow them down is by using filters. I recommend clicking on “all job filters.” Then you can narrow down the list by “job function.” That way you can find specific remote jobs outside of data entry. I hope this help!
Happily,
Ashlee Anderson, CPCC