LinkedIn For Professionals: Be Found By IT Recruiters

By now, everyone has heard about LinkedIn as a way for professionals to connect and network with others across almost every industry. But if you are looking for IT jobs in New Zealand, you might not be using the platform to your best advantage. Several IT recruitment agencies utilise LinkedIn to find talent, and if you use it right, an IT recruiter could find you faster than the time and effort you would otherwise spend sifting through leads on your own. IT jobs in New Zealand can be pretty competitive, so if gaining the edge through efficiency sounds appealing, read on to find out how professionals on LinkedIn get four by IT recruitment agencies.

Advanced Tips to Get Noticed By An IT Recruiter

• Connect your LinkedIn account to professional content online news portal

  In the age of social media-driven news content, you have a lot of power to choose which online news outlet you want to follow. However, two online news portals stand out so far – LinkedIn Pulse and Newsle.com. The former is an official application from LinkedIn that promotes and displays news content from industry-leading experts, while the latter allows you to receive a stream of news on your contacts. Both these news portals scour industry publications, local, national newspapers, and more to give you proper news on your contacts (not simply status updates). Finding and connecting to the same content that professionals at IT jobs in New Zealand subscribe to will instantly put you into the same networks – albeit on the margins. But when IT jobs and IT recruitment agencies go on the hunt for talent, they tend to start close to home and work their way out, allowing you to pop up earlier than other candidates.

• Use a great headline

  Your headline on LinkedIn should be thought of as your sales pitch to IT jobs in New Zealand. It should be succinct and yet still highlight to prospective IT jobs that you are knowledgeable and skilled in what you do. Using relevant keywords and phrases that IT recruitment agencies and an IT recruiter in a human resources department would search for will get you noticed.

• Make sure you have a completed profile

  It cannot be stressed enough that an IT recruiter is going to scrutinize your profile, and vague or missing information is going to stick out like a sore thumb. Do highlight all of your achievements in past jobs – IT jobs if applicable – as well as your education and skills. An IT recruiter will think you are potentially unengaging in the workforce if you skimp on filling out these parts. And do ensure that you have enabled “Open To Job Opportunities” so IT jobs in New Zealand know you are available.

• Think about how you are using the space on your profile and tighten your profile

  Time is money and people avoid reading and scrolling through long profiles. Multiple roles in one company can be summarised in one longer-term role and the description can list them one by one to save space. Think about “less is more” if you can make the roles substantial and show progress. Hashtags are a great way to list the attributes you can bring to IT jobs while slimming down lengthy profile bios. IT jobs in New Zealand have been using hashtags to attract candidates who are searching for specific aspects of an IT job they think they’d fit into best, and so the strategy here is to do the reverse. You can always call or do some web-sleuthing to find out what IT recruitment agencies or an IT recruiter inside of the human resources departments at various companies are looking for in a candidate, and highlight that you have those qualities through your hashtags.

• Used Advanced Search to find relevant contacts

  Doing this will allow you to find a more targeted list of connections. To do this, you need to click ‘Advanced’ on the top bar, next to the magnifying lens icon. You can also start with a broader search and drill-down by selecting filters on the left column. This tip will make finding connections that lead to IT recruitment agencies more efficient.

Tips to Enhance your LinkedIn Experience:

There are basic things you can do to enhance your experience on LinkedIn to better learn the platform and how an IT recruiter will interact with it (and you).

• Add all emails to your accountAdding every email you have ever used professionally or academically, in addition to your private email, enhances the chances that prior contacts will find and connect with you. All invites will end up in the email you designate as your primary email, but LinkedIn will recognise that your contacts are trying to reach YOU.

• Have a great photo!Modern profile shots are a clear headshot of you and possibly also include a setting, as appropriate. It should not look like it is cropped out of a group of friends.

• Be selective about posting into groups.Be engaged with like-minded professionals and you will see how often you get noticed by jobs. You will want to be selective and always professional when you post, however, as an IT recruiter can tell what kind of a fit you would be for IT jobs in New Zealand by how your interactions and how you present yourself. Let posts be the best of you. Randomly sharing articles or asking, “Is anyone in the group a Kiwi?” will brand you a ‘newbie’ on LinkedIn.

Sourced NZ

Sourced has the most efficient and extensive network of IT contractors and recruiters online in New Zealand. You can keep up to date with everything happening in New Zealand’s IT and technology market by registering with us, as well as find answers about IT recruitment and businesses at
sourced.nz.