Well here we are again. Just you, me and the wonderful world of LinkedIn. A week ago I posted simple ways to update your LinkedIn profile and the response was so overwhelming I have decided to go in for round two. The other week we focused on how you can easily update elements of your profile to put your best foot forward and this week we are going to focus on where to look in the LinkedIn interface for the perfect job. We shall call this the yin & yang approach? Okay, stop laughing, it’s a Monday, cut me some slack.

Anyway, there are a few different areas that you can snoop around for job listings and leads. Some are more obvious than others so let’s jump in shall we?

Option #1: The Obvious Job Search

 The job search tab. When people ask me what job sites I suggest (other than my own that is ) I suggest they start with LinkedIn. Which is almost always followed up with, “no I mean to search for jobs.” Deep sigh. Unfortunately, LinkedIn has done a poor job of letting its 12 million+ users know that not only is this a professional network for connecting but it is also for hiring. In fact, there are jobs listed on LinkedIn that are exclusive to the interface, which means depending on the popularity of your industry and the activity of LinkedIn users, you may be able to find job opportunities with LinkedIn that you wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else. Ohhh. Ahhh.

So what do you do? Go to the top navigation of the homepage and you will see a “Jobs” tab. Use the dropdown menu and select “Advanced Job Search” and there you go. Easy enough huh? You can filter your search criteria by location, experience level, desired job title, even by company. The best part is—the results that come back are filtered by how many connections you have with someone at that company. It’s a great way to know from the get go if you have an advantage during the hiring process.  The job search functionality of LinkedIn is certainly worth checking out.

Option #2: The Somewhat Unknown

The job listings section of a LinkedIn group. Are you a member of groups? Okay maybe you said yes but have you put real time into making sure you are building out communities in the industry you are passionate about? How many members are in those groups? Are you active in them? I know all of this can be time consuming, but there is real value in participating. Companies are actually adding LinkedIn interaction to the job descriptions of their human resource departments and recruiters. They are now expected to participate in groups and post the open jobs. The idea being that an active networker is a great candidate to consider for pretty much any position.

So what do you do? Click on your groups section from the left side navigation of the LinkedIn profile. Click on the name of the group you want to check out. Once you are redirected to the Group overview page you will see a tab at the top that says, “Jobs.” This function was added quite a while ago, but depending on the activity of the group it may either be booming with new job opportunities or quite empty. If you find it to be the latter, it may be worth dropping a message to the group moderator and asking them to send out a reminder announcement to the group to utilize the job board, as some of the members are currently seeking out new career options. If there are a number of jobs and one catches your eye, I suggest dropping the person who posted the job a personal message. Introduce yourself with the group as your connection and ask if they know which email would be best to send all inquiries and portfolios to for review. This shows you are diligent, professional yet personable. All sorts of good stuff in one shot!

Option #3: The Top Secret Job Search

The "Companies" tab. Okay prepare yourself this one takes a little more time than the others. I mean we are talking at least three or four minutes. I am sorry. It can’t be avoided. Anyway, this involves going straight to the companies themselves and checking out who you know there, what they are all about, and whether or not they have any positions available. Most of us are pretty in tune with the industries we work in, and we know of a company or two that we would love to be in association with. This approach takes that into consideration and saves you the time of checking out all of those not so great job listings.

So what do you do? Go to the “Companies” tab on the top right navigation of the home page. Use the drop down menu and go to “Company Search.” This will drop at the homepage of the section where you can enter in the Company name and location you want to research. For example if you love the culture of a particular agency or you have been reading great things about a local company, put those names in. Then hit the “Search Companies” button. The site will return general information on the company, a mini-profile of its capacities, top executives there, and the best part they will showcase if (and how closely) you are linked to someone at the company. You can then either message them directly for an introduction to inquire about open positions, or you can click on the company website and go check out their “Job Opportunity with Our Company” section. Just be sure to utilize the listed connections in the LinkedIn interface when reaching out.

Too many steps for you? From the Search Companies homepage you will also see a spotlight box with the companies that you are directly (1^st degree) connected to. You can use your time in this tab to just research those companies and any possible job opportunities knowing that you have a direct connection to someone with power at the company.

So there you have it, a few ways to continue using LinkedIn to its full potential. I know some of them get a bit long, but just think about how much time you spend on the internet looking for a job only to end up at a job posting you have no advantage in applying for. That is what using social networking and online communities is all about—meeting people and helping each other obtain goals. So get moving, go check it out…that’s www.linkedin.com.