LinkedIn is packed with opportunities—almost 6 million job posts in the US alone.

Whether you’re a recent grad or a seasoned professional, the business networking platform can help you find jobs while also pointing recruiters in your direction – as long as you have a stand-out LinkedIn profile, that is.

In this guide, we explain how to use LinkedIn to search for a job and share templates for messages, connection requests, and posts.

Key Takeaways

A LinkedIn profile with outcome-centered experience descriptions, skill labels, and a high-res photo helps you appear in more search results and wow job posters.
Tailor your resume for different job postings you find on LinkedIn. Also, turn on job alerts for filter combos that deliver excellent matches.
Networking on LinkedIn can be key to finding your next job. Sending tailored connection requests, arranging chats with existing connections, and sharing your openness to work can give you a leg-up.

How To Use LinkedIn To Search for a Job: 7 Top Tips

1. Polish your profile

Before starting your job hunt on LinkedIn, refine your profile from top to bottom.

Top of the profile

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Profile photo: Opt for a high-resolution photo that shows your face and conveys your personality. Think professional but approachable.
Headline: State what you do or would like to do. Recent grads could go for something like “Aspiring Digital Marketer” or “LinkedIn University Marketing Grad,” while experienced professionals can list their specialization, former employer, or current job title.
Open to work: Turn on your “Open to work” label on the blue ribbon below your profile headline. You can make it visible to all LinkedIn members or invisible (seen only by recruiters using LinkedIn Recruiter).
About: Summarize your work experience, skills, and what you’re aiming for next.

LinkedIn’s ‘Open to work’ functionality, displaying options to specify the type of work a user is open to and who can see that the user is open to work.

Middle of the profile

Experience: Add relevant jobs and company names with bullet points for top achievements—e.g., “Led the IT transformation delivery for a Fortune 500 company.” Add 2-3 relevant skills, such as “Leadership” or “Software development,” to each experience.

Bottom of the profile

Skills: List the soft and hard skills you’re great at (e.g., communication and advanced Excel modeling). Pin the three most relevant to your desired job. Then, ask your contacts (e.g., professors or line managers) to visit your profile and click “Endorse” under relevant skills. This helps verify your skillset.
Recommendations: Direct message (DM) your contacts separately to ask if they can offer recommendations. Ideally, have 2-3 that vary in tone and focus—e.g., one focused on your soft skills, like adaptability, and another on hard skills, like trend forecasting.

2. Apply via LinkedIn Jobs

Now, you’re ready to begin your job search. There are two ways to do this:

Use LinkedIn recommendations

Click “Jobs” in LinkedIn’s toolbar and check out the “Top job picks for you” list. Click “Show all” to expand this list.

For more targeted suggestions, click “Preferences” on the left-hand side ribbon and tailor:

Job titles: Enter up to 5 variations—e.g., “Software engineer,” “Software developer,” and “Web developer.”
Preferred location types: Choose from on-site, hybrid, and remote.
Employment types: Select from full-time, part-time, contract, temporary, and internship.

Search manually

To manually search for jobs on LinkedIn, go to the Jobs section. Then, add your desired job title in the top search bar and a city or country in the location bar.

Next, follow these steps:

Adjust filters: Tailor your search by adjusting filters for experience level (e.g., entry-level, director), job type (e.g., full-time, part-time), remote work options, companies, salary level, and location. You can also add or remove related job titles and choose job functions (e.g., IT, sales, finance).
Read through job results: Look at top-level job info (i.e., job title, company, location, and salary) on the left and more detailed info on the right. Do the results match what you&r...