5 LinkedIn Functions You May not Know About; Land work Faster.

The Federal Government continued its mad rush to downsize its workforce this week, but with a somewhat new twist. Leadership took steps to close at least two agency–the Department of Education and the agency overseeing international broadcasting (Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Marti, and others), by putting employees on “administrative leave.” According to a press release, this means the employees do no work but continue receiving “pay and full benefits.”

It seems likely that many, if not all, of the employees placed on leave will be terminated when senior leadership finds a legal way to do it. But if you are among those put on leave, this gives you an opportunity to start your job search while you are still on the payroll. That’s a big plus.

An important step you can take right now is to establish yourself on LinkedIn. LinkedIn, in my view, is one of the few real innovations in job search during the last half-century.

Private-sector jobseekers know by now that LinkedIn is a business and job search-oriented social media platform. You can set up a profile, connect with others, and search for work or business contacts on LinkedIn.

But not everyone is taking advantage of LinkedIn’s power. Those who do will have a competitive edge.

Once you have done the basics—populated your profile and made at least 50 connections–look through LinkedIn’s menus to find features and functions that will set you apart from other downsized workers. Here are just a few “hidden gems” I’ve found by exploring the menus and reading help screens:

1. LinkedIn now has an expanded industry list,
2. You may be found faster when you upload resumes—if you do it right,
3. LinkedIn has powerful interview prep tools,
4.  LinkedIn Learning can augment your formal education, and
5. Subscribing to another member’s content will help you stay informed about your target industry or employer.

As we observed in a previous post, at least 77 jobseekers per second apply for employment on LinkedIn. This means the competition is fierce. Every edge you can get in the job market will help.

LinkedIn has expanded its industry list.

Those of us who created LinkedIn profiles a few years ago remember scratching our heads when we reached the industry selection pulldown in the first section of our profile. The site offered about 175 industry choices when there are thousands of industries in the economy. Now, LinkedIn has loaded the North American Industry Classification (NAIC) list of several thousand industries into their database. You may improve your chances of being found by reviewing the industry selection on your profile for a better match with your target industry.

Go to your profile now to update your industry selection if you haven’t done so in several years—then read the rest of this post.

Upload your resumes to be found faster.

LinkedIn has a setting that allows you to be found based on data in the resumes you upload. Career coaches have told me that some clients have been found based on data in their resumes even though there is very little information in their LinkedIn profile.

Traditionally, we have been advising jobseekers not to attach resumes to their profiles as media documents, so it’s understandable if you are confused. Media that you upload to sections of your profile is not searchable. Resumes that you upload and store using the “”job application” function are searchable when you turn on the setting that makes the data visible for recruiters.

Don’t worry if you do not want your resumes out in the clouds for anyone to see. Only the data in the resume is searchable. In other words, your profile will be found in searches based on keywords in resumes you have uploaded, not just the keywords in your LinkedIn profile.

According to LinkedIn Settings, this is the way you should make your resume data available to recruiters:

LinkedIn has powerful Interview Prep Tools.

Some time ago, I discussed LinkedIn Jobseeker Premium’s interview prep features. It’s still a great feature because it supplements resume coaching, practice with a friend, or an interview prep class. The interview prep function will ask you common interview questions, offer response examples, and then let you record video or type your own responses for practice. You can share your recorded responses with a friend or coach. When I tried it, I even got AI-based feedback on my verbal delivery.

This feature is worth trying when you are paying for a premium account. You should be able to find it under the “jobs” tab on a Premium account, but don’t give up if you don’t see it. Search for “LinkedIn interview prep” using Google. That took me to a help screen with a direct link to the prep tool.

Video interview prep may be more challenging than an actual interview in some respects. You do not receive real-time feedback as you talk to the recording so you lack cues about audience reaction.

LinkedIn Learning can augment formal education.

Another way you can add valuable skills and relevant keywords to your profile is to take LinkedIn Learning online classes. The site has many short courses, and adds more continually. For example, I added a class on blogging to my own profile.

A short online class that requires no assessment or grade cannot offer the same level of credibility and professional training as a university degree, formal industry credential, or government-issued license. Nonetheless, the skills and keywords that are added by the badge may result in a recruiter seeing your profile.

Subscribe to another member’s content.

The subscribe feature, sometimes called “ring my bell,” sends you an alert when members you select post content, including posts and newsletters. It’s useful for receiving updates from thought leaders in your target industry or profession, and leadership of companies where you would like to work next.

It is tempting to have many member pages “ring my bell.” The problem is, when you get a lot of notifications, you will probably start ignoring them. So as with other social media sites, only subscribe to content you really want to see.

Concluding comments

LinkedIn is social media. It is not a job board, although jobs are posted there. You will only get its full value by being active. Use it to connect with everyone you know, and to follow key players in your industry and profession. Subscribe to premium features if your budget allows. Upload your resumes and use the interview prep tools to further enhance your job search.

Again, the most important thing is to be active. Don’t post a profile and then forget about it.