How to Fix LinkedIn's Biggest Annoyances

Melanie Pinola

Love it or (most likely) hate it, LinkedIn is the leading social network for your career, whether you're looking for a job or just want to stay in touch with others on a professional level. It's also incredibly frustrating to many of us. Here's how you can make LinkedIn less annoying and more useful.

ll social networks have their fair share of annoyances and critics, but LinkedIn appears to have the most (or at least most vociferous), with complaints about the service ranging from it being "useless" to "spammy" and "creepy." Just like getting past our biggest pet peeves about Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, though, there are solutions or workarounds for LinkedIn.

Annoyance #1: SO Many Emails

Join LinkedIn and it seems like you've signed up for an endless stream of spammy emails. Emails saying "please add me to your LinkedIn network," "Jobs at your company," "Congratulate This Person and 3 others," and "News about Some Other Person and more happening with your network." If any little thing happens to any possibly connected person to you on LinkedIn, it's going in your inbox. The ratio of email notifications you get from LinkedIn to the amount of time you spend on the service is absurd.

There's a simple kill switch: This bookmarklet that turns all of the email settings to "no email" in LinkedIn. That's the nuclear option—no emails at all for any type, but there could still be relevant emails you do want to get out of your spam folder and into your inbox (without having to set up complex filters)

To change the frequency of specific types of emails, go to your LinkedIn settings by hovering over your profile photo on the top menu, then Privacy & Settings. In the Communications section, choose "Set the frequency of emails." There you'll be able to restrict emails by category to individual email messages, a weekly digest, or no email. (Here's a more in-depth explanation and tips in video form from my LinkedIn in 30 Minutes publisher.)

I'd set only the emails that are directly to you from other LinkedIn members in your network (those under "Messages from other members") as individual emails and the rest as either weekly digests or no email to keep the inbox spam to a minimum.

Annoyance #2: Too Much Automatic Sharing

Annoyance #3: Lots of Paranoia and Stalking

Annoyance #4: Meaningless Endorsements and Recommendations

See all the annoyances and how to fix them

LinkedIn Profile 101 for Job Seekers - 5 Tips

By Brandi Tape

Your LinkedIn Profile can be an invaluable resource for most job hunters.

Now, before you write the site off as the uptight cousin of Facebook, check out this two part series to learn how to make your LinkedIn profile work for you. We’ve sifted through lists upon lists of the good, bad, and ugly LinkedIn tips to bring you the most valuable information that can help you shine now!

1. You get out what you put in. This is not the time to be lazy here, complete your profile as thoroughly as possible. Sure, having a profile at all will help your odds for that recruiter magically find you, but filling it all the way out will increase your chances of a call or offer if they’re able to discern a little bit about you from your profile as well. Make sure you include details about what your skills are, where you’ve worked, and what people think of you. LinkedIn makes it easy to gauge how well you’ve completed your profile with its built-in meter, prompting you with suggestions with suggestions on how to strengthen it further.

2. Make it yours.

More on tips 1-2, Tips 3-5, and the complete article

Optimize your LinkedIn profile so jobs find you - 10 LinkedIn Tips

Cinnamon Pollard

Think of your LinkedIn profile as a digital version of your CV. It's a gateway to your personal brand so it needs to be complete, professional looking and optimised for maximum exposure.

LinkedIn has become an extremely useful tool for networking and is the sourcing tool of choice for recruiters. In the US 94 per cent of recruiters use LinkedIn for sourcing and recruiting.

It’s also the first place that potential recruiters and employers will look when they are considering you for a role.

These 10 tips will help you optimise your LinkedIn profile so that jobs find you:

1. It’s OK to be vain
Get your vanity URL. This is a custom URL with your name in it that points directly to your profile. Having your name in your vanity URL makes it more likely to appear in a Google search when someone searches for you. This makes it easier for recruiters to find you and share your information with prospective employers.

3. Have a keyword strategy

5. Add sections

Read more about these three LinkedIn Tips, all 10 tips, and the complete article

5 Simple Ways to Spring Clean and Declutter Your LinkedIn Profile

Tomeeka Farrington

Now that the Spring flowers are blooming and weather is warming up it’s only fitting that you extend your cleanup efforts into the social sphere. Time to stop neglecting your LinkedIn profile, think strategically and optimize your professional identity on the “World’s Largest Professional Network.” This way, both you and your employer can receive a fruitful return on social investment. Whether you’ve received every LinkedIn endorsement imaginable or have chosen to flood your profile with all kinds of keyword lingo, it’s time to declutter. Here are 5 simple ways to help you get started:

1.    Keep Score of your Content Marketing
Sick of creating useless posts that flood your LinkedIn page? Can’t seem to write content to encourage reader engagement? Worry no more – LinkedIn recently created a content marketing scoring tool that measures user influence. Taking into consideration profile sponsored updates, company pages, personal groups, employee updates and influence posts, LinkedIn’s content marketing score provides users with tips on how to improve their content marketing strategies. Based on a scale ranging from 1–1000, LinkedIn provides users with a private grade, which reflects the impact of your paid and organic content. With LinkedIn providing you recommendations on ways to improve your score, it’s time you start sprucing up that profile and reach your unique masses.

2.    Take Advantage of the New LinkedIn Publishing Machine

3.    Produce Original Content and Watch it Trend

Read more on these 3 ways, all 5 ways, and the complete article

3 Places to Find Job Postings on LinkedIn

By Arnie Fertig

Over the course of the last few years, the value of traditional job boards has declined, while LinkedIn is now often thought of as THE place to go to find a job. LinkedIn has made the whole process social and interactive. The larger your network, the more opportunity you will have of seeing that perfect position for which you are hunting. There are numerous ways to use this social networking site to be seen and gain business intelligence. Here are a few key ways you can also use it to find specific jobs for which you can apply.

1. Your Activity / Updates feed. When you first login, click on the “Home” menu choice at the top of the page. This feed will take up the left two-thirds of your window. Here, among other things, you’ll find the posts that everyone in your network has made recently.

These updates are constantly changing. Therefore, you’ll have to check back with frequency or else you'll miss many of them. Unfortunately, LinkedIn discontinued its signal functionality, which used to allow you to search this feed for items posted within the last two weeks.

2. LinkedIn’s own job board

Read more about places 1&2, place 3, and the complete USNews article

5 key tips to maximizing your profile on LinkedIn

Kathie Kelly

In a previous post it was discussed how employers are using LinkedIn and other social media tools to find their future employees and get a feel for their online personality. In this post I share 5 key tips in getting the most out of your LinkedIn profile and ensuring it puts you in the driving seat when it comes to finding your perfect job.

Don’t forget this is a professional network and these tips are geared towards portraying yourself in the best possible light for your future employers – remember everything can be searched so think about your long term goals when you post.

Tip #1: Connect with the key movers and shakers in your industry. If you don’t know who they are then search for companies and groups that resonate with your profession. Take note of who posts regularly and try to engage them by adding your comments too. Try an advanced search to find the key contacts within companies that you want to work for – enter location, job title and company name. You can view 2nd and 3^rd tier connections (friends of friends) so the more relevant connections you have in your industry the better.

Tip #2: Regularly post updates.

Tip #3: Ensure your profile is positive

Read more on these 3 tips, all 5 tips, and the complete article

We Can All Be LinkedIn Influencers. Here's How

BY Marla Tabaka @MarlaTabaka

Want to get published next to Richard Branson and Guy Kawasaki?

When LinkedIn launched the publishing network known as LinkedIn Influencer in 2012, members gained instant access to top voices in business such as Richard Branson, Martha Stewart, and Arianna Huffington. Now you have the opportunity to join these powerful voices as LinkedIn opens the doors to its publishing platform to the public.

"The more you converse, the more you know about how your community works and why they need you. LinkedIn publisher opens up the door to community conversations," says Barbara Rozgonyi, founder of CoryWest Media and Chicago's Social Media Club. These conversations can expand your network in a big way, because all likes, comments, and shares will distribute your content beyond your immediate network. You may also find your content distributed as part of "Best of LinkedIn" and even beyond LinkedIn to its partner sites.

Who Writes?

The privilege of publishing extends to 25,000 members on the network, but LinkedIn is steadily expanding the capability to all members in multiple languages over the next few months. Apply here for access; you'll know you have posting privileges when you get an email from LinkedIn.

A caveat: If you're not a writer and your company's creative archives are bare, don't write a word until you ask yourself why you want to stand out on LinkedIn. What's the purpose? As in any marketing or social-media effort, it's best to have a reason, a strategy, and a plan before you begin.

Rozgonyi's "5 Ways to Sidestep the Social Media Sinkhole" garnered more than 3,400 views and was shared 430 times on LinkedIn. Here's her advice on the why and how of a buzzworthy post.

Why publish?

How do you make your post great?

Read the complete Inc. article to find out more

8 LinkedIn Profile Tips

Melissa Leiter

Many people think of LinkedIn as a resume of sorts. While that’s certainly true, it is also so much more.

Get out of the mindset of “traditional resume” and get ready to learn the LinkedIn profile tips you need to know to help further market yourself and your business.

First, let’s take a look at why you need a LinkedIn profile as a small business owner. You’re not looking for a job, so how can you use LinkedIn?

Unlike other social sites, LinkedIn is not generally a place to push out “fun” messages about your product. Rather, LinkedIn is predominantly a networking site to connect with individuals in your industry as well as find, share and engage with more in depth content.

As 260 million users are actively using LinkedIn, there’s a good chance that someone will go to your page at some point to learn a little bit more about you and your company. Especially if they are in your particular industry or looking to learn a little bit more about who runs your company.

This is a perfect opportunity to further showcase your company and your brand by making sure your profile is inline with that brand.

Follow these tips:

3) Your summary. In order to add a bit more of a personal touch to your LInkedIn profile I suggest completing a summary of yourself. This is a great place to talk candidly about why you started your business and what it means to you. Furthermore, if you are looking to gain specific connections on LinkedIn for a certain purpose, here’s a good place to point that out. Try to keep it short and entertaining.

5) Your tagline. This is a great place to emphasize your brand. I highly recommend avoiding the generic. Try to stand out. Instead of just putting “business owner,” get fun with it. Or at the very least describe what kind of business owner you are. I.e. “SF Sustainable Furniture Company Owner.” (Side note: have fun but try not to come off as arrogant.)

8) Groups.

Read more on these tips, all 8 tips, and the complete article

Should I Send LinkedIn Invitations To Recruiters?

Susan Wright-Boucher

Recruiters need candidates and you need a new job. It's an automatic match made in heaven, right? Not so fast. Just like every dating partner is not right for you, not every recruiter will be able to help. In this article, I'll give you quick tips to get attention from the right recruiters for you.

Which Recruiters?

Engaging with a recruiter who doesn't serve your field is like making an appointment with a respiratory therapist when you need a chiropractor. That's kind of a ridiculous example, I know, but here's how it applies to a job search. Every recruiter has a specific focus or area in which they work. Examples of specialization by job function are IT, engineering, and HR. Some recruiters focus on a particular industry such as mining, construction, or finance. Another consideration is geography. You'll want to know that your target recruiter handles the location in which you want to be employed. If you're looking at international relocation, be sure to choose a firm with experience in immigration and international placements.

Invitations That Get Noticed

Sample Introductory Messages

More on Invitations, Introductory Messages, and the complete article

Getting Started Using LinkedIn for Job Search in 6 EASY Steps

Donna Serdula

I received another question, this time from a past client of mine. We optimized his profile a few months ago and as he had expected might happen, he was let go just yesterday. Here is his email and my response…

Donna –

I unfortunately have been given notice by my company, and I am negotiating severance. Can you do me a favor and give me a couple tips and ideas on how and when to update my profile. Obviously, there are a lot of contacts I have in the industry and personal.
Thanks,

Nick

Dear Nick,

Take a couple days to breath and then when you are back and balanced, roll up your sleeves and get started. Here is a list of things you can do.

Put an end date on your current experience and add to your headline something like “Looking to positively impact a new organization”
Start connecting with recruiters. (How? Do an advanced keyword search for YOUR industry and then refine it by choosing Staffing and Recruiting for industry) Add those recruiters who specialize in your industry to your network and include a note telling them that you are interested in new opportunities and to check out your profile.

See all 6 steps and the complete article

11 Tips to Find the Best LinkedIn Groups

BY Jeff Haden

A friend of mine landed his last six clients as a direct result of his participation in LinkedIn Groups. Another sees his groups as a natural extension of his social-media marketing efforts.

And believe it or not (I still find it hard to believe), a third somehow managed to meet her fiancé in an HR-focused group.

LinkedIn groups are informal communities formed around industries, professions, themes, niche topics, etc. Because any LinkedIn member can create one, there are now well over a million groups.
Find and join the right groups, and it's easy to keep up with news and trends, make connections, ask and answer questions, land new clients--even start a romance. (Well, maybe that last one isn't so easy.)
Here's how to find the right groups for you:

1) Set your goals.

6) Then sift through the results.
A search result lists groups in descending order according to the number of members. Under each group is a brief description.

Sometimes the description is helpful. Sometimes, though, the group has veered away from its description and original purpose. The only way to know is to...

7) Join a few groups.

See more on these 3 tips, all 11 tips, and the complete Inc. article

When to refuse LinkedIn connection requests - Quality versus Quantity

By Quentin Fottrell

Facebook may have stretched the definition of “friend” to include even your second cousin’s chiropractor. But users of professional networking site LinkedIn seem to go even further, approving virtually anyone who asks to be a “connection.” Since saying yes can open the door to constant sales pitches and other forms of self-promotion, a backlash was inevitable.

Last month, the International Association of Business Communicators in Cleveland revoked the “Communicator of the Year” award given to Kelly Blazek, who ran an online jobs bank listing there. Blazek wrote a stinging rejection to a LinkedIn connection request from recent college graduate Diana Mekota: “Your invite is inappropriate, beneficial only to you, and tacky. Wow, I cannot wait to let every 26-year-old job seeker mine my top-tier marketing connections to help them land a job.” The reply went viral, Blazek apologized and returned her award.

Experts say it’s perfectly fine to reject a request to connect on LinkedIn, as long as it’s done respectfully. In fact, LinkedIn has long held that connections should be limited to people one has actual connections to. But negotiating the decision can be challenging, says Carl Van Horn, professor of public policy and director of Rutgers’ John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development. The site, after all, is “for advancing your professional interest,” he says.

But other users of the site may judge you by the number and quality of your connections. They are seen as an endorsement and reflect on your professional reputation, says Scott Dobroski, career trends analyst at Glassdoor, so choose them carefully. “It all depends on how comfortable you are with your own transparency online,” he says. He recommends checking out each would-be connection’s Internet footprint and see if they have drunken Facebook or Instagram photos, or even if they’ve ever been convicted of a serious crime that could reflect badly on you. Rival companies or professionals only interested in self-promotion are also best avoided, he adds.

Read the rest of the original MarketWatch article

Lifehack's 10 Job Sites With Unique Opportunities

Job seekers need new and better resources all the time.

Lifehack, one of the world’s top 100 blogs according to Technorati, has suggested ten sites for us with unique opportunities. What a great list! If I were a job seeker, personally, I would concentrate on this list, especially Number 3 on the list. Number 3 is our very own LINKUP.com, which aggregates those hidden, un-advertised, high priority, and un-discovered jobs that are found on corporate job boards ONLY.

Author Thursday Bram (is Thursday a cool first name or what?) is the author:

Even if you’re gainfully employed right now, you’re probably keeping an eye on job listings in your field and news about your industry. It’s just good sense these days: while my grandparents might have been able to build their entire careers with just one employer, climbing the ladder these days often involves moving between companies at least a few times. That means you need resources. You need to be looking at the right job listings, reading relevant industry news and keeping your career-building skills honed.

The right job listings can be hard to find. There are thousands of sites offering job listings online, from Craigslist to Monster, but most of them wind up listing very similar (if not identical) opportunities. The sites listed here are a little more out of the way — but still worth spending some time on.

1. LinkedIn
LinkedIn isn’t an old-fashioned job board, even though it provides a way to search job listings posted by members. Instead, LinkedIn’s value lies in how easy it is to connect with other people working in your industry as well as professionals in general. Many job openings aren’t listed: recruiters would much rather build a network where they can search for the right hire. LinkedIn serves that purpose — but recruiters won’t find you if you aren’t on the site.

2. USAJobs
The entire U.S. federal government directs all of its job postings to USAJobs, many of which never make it to other job listing sites. While some of us may not have thought of working for ‘the man’ as an option, the U.S. government is usually hiring for tens of thousands of jobs at a time — in just about every career field. Writers, engineers, accountants: if it’s a job, the federal government is probably hiring.

3. LinkUp
Many employers skip placing job listings on external boards, keeping their job opportunities a little closer to home. LinkUp uses automatic tools to find jobs listed only on company websites, compiling listings for its users. There aren’t any duplicates — or scams — as you can often find on sites that accept listings from anybody.

4. Idealist
More and more job hunters are placing an emphasis on finding a job that offers some opportunity to give back. Idealist lists jobs from non-profits and idealist organizations. While the site does include volunteer work, it also includes paid positions as well as internships and consulting opportunities.

See all 10 sites and the complete article

How to Build the Perfect LinkedIn Profile - infographic

Jen Hubley Luckwaldt

If you're on LinkedIn, you probably know the basics of how to build a good profile: include a picture, write grabby headlines, and optimize your keywords. But what about the little things that are easy to overlook?

In a recent infographic, social media agency Link Humans digs deeper into the things that really make your social media profile stand out, including:

A photo cropped to show your face. Just having a photo isn't enough. Your photo needs to be clear, and composed or cropped to feature your face. A professional headshot is best, but if you don't have that, it's pretty easy to mimic one by using good light and standing before a solid background, while wearing professional clothing and smiling. Casual snaps you'd use on most social media sites and weekend wear are definitely out.
Include keywords in your headline. Ideally, your headline should appeal to both humans and internal search. On Fast Company, user Amber Mac suggests focusing on how you can help potential employers, instead of just repeating your skills or job title.
Update daily. Too often, we think of our LinkedIn presence as static profiles, a sort of resume on the internet. But to stay top of mind with your connections and recruiters, you need to update as often as possible -- daily, if you can.

Read the full article and the infographic "How to Build the Perfect LinkedIn Profile"

How To Write Your LinkedIn Headline as a Recruiter - 10 Examples

by Jörgen Sundberg

Most of us have realised the importance of the LinkedIn headline by now. It is your 120 character hook to people finding you in a LinkedIn search, it should be about what you do as opposed to what you are. It should be memorable and enticing enough for someone to click on your profile and not your competitors.

I have compiled a little list of a few recruiter’s headlines on LinkedIn, partly because we do a lot of work with recruiters (see our LinkedIn Training for Recruiters) and partly because recruiters are all over LinkedIn like a cheap suit.

4. The Numbers Man

Glen Cathey is an analytics man and his subtle numbers indicate he knows what he’s doing – just like anyone reading his blog Boolean Blackbelt can attest to.

8. Nice tagline and URL

Betsy Curtin’s business plum has a good tagline that she uses as well – Fresh talent, Juicy careers. She has also put her company URL in the headline.

9. The Internal Recruiter

Internal recruiters have very little to prove, they get hoards of applicants every day. Tammy Dutremble has kept it simple as per below.

See all 10 examples and the complete article

10 Ways to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile to Fuel Your Job Search

Ashley Ryall - Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Corporate

4. You’re open to connecting

If you are an HR professional who is confidentially looking for a new job, mention in the “Summary” section that you are open to networking. Something like, “An HR professional with more than five years experience in operations and talent acquisition. I’m open to connecting with people who have similar career interests and can help me grow professionally.”

5. Clearly visible contact information

8. Different than your resume

9. Appropriate activity settings

See more on these 5 ways, all 10 ways, and the complete article

10 ways to communicate with your LinkedIn connections

Bob McIntosh

Having a strong LinkedIn profile is essential to being found by other LinkedIn members and employers, but you’re job isn’t complete unless you’re communicating with your connections and the LinkedIn community as a whole.

I tell my LinkedIn workshop attendees that I spend approximately an hour a day (it’s probably more) on LinkedIn. Their faces register surprise; and I’m sure some of them are thinking, “Does this person have a life.”

Part of the workshop is about explaining the need to communicate with their connections, because networking is about communicating. Other than sending direct messages to your connections, here are 10 ways to connect with your LinkedIn connections.

1. The number one way to communicate is posting Updates.

2. Another way to communicate with your connections is to “Like” their updates.

5. Let us not forget our groups which give us another, significant way to communicate with our connections.

Read more on each of these 3, all 10 ways, and the complete article

8 Steps To Get Noticed On LinkedIn

Stephanie Frasco Clegg

There are over 250 million people on LinkedIn. That means there's a ton of competition. Don't get discouraged and don't worry, because I'm super competitive. Ask my husband. These steps will help you break through the clutter and showcase yourself in the best light possible.

Now, if you're lazy, you might as well stop reading here. Because, like anything I teach, you are going to have to give to get. Yes, it will require some work and consistent activity on your part. But hey, that's true for most things in life where you want to see good results.

So buckle up, because these steps will help you stand out on LinkedIn and take you directly to the land of LinkedIn success.

3. Add Visuals To Showcase Your Work

4. Share Content To Groups

7. Comment And Add Value

Read more on these three steps, all eight steps, and the complete article

LinkedInAdvice.com