Thanks to LinkedIn, My Dream Job Found Me (When I Was Not Looking)

A year ago, I was a tenured associate professor of management and marketing at Saint Vincent College. I had been at the institution for nine years and looked forward to earning the title of full professor. As part of my teaching responsibilities, I had created courses on Essentials of Selling and Internet Marketing. One of the most popular assignments in these courses encouraged students to develop a professional online presence. In particular, students were tasked with establishing a LinkedIn profile that reflected their personal brand promise. Students were expected to use best practices (outlined below) to ensure that their profiles were not simply an overview of their personal achievements but rather took the perspective of future employers and highlighted how students could contribute value to those organizations. Of course, I needed to practice what I preach, so I worked to ensure that my LinkedIn profile set a good example.

Every week, LinkedIn sends an email about “jobs you may be interested in” based on your individual profile. Honestly, in March 2014, I was not interested in any job other than the one that I had at Saint Vincent College. But as I glanced at my inbox one night, the first job that appeared in an email from LinkedIn was for a Clinical Associate Professor of Marketing at the College of William & Mary (W&M). And as I read the description, I realized that it was not simply a job of interest to me, it was my dream job.

At this point my mind was racing. The odds were not in my favor that I would ever know about such an opportunity, let alone be considered for it. I knew nobody at W&M or anybody that even lived in the region. Bloomberg Businessweek had recently selected W&M’s undergraduate marketing program as #1 in the nation and, although I was a solid professor, that ranking was intimidating. Still, I took a leap of faith and hoped the algorithm that LinkedIn had used to determine that I was a good candidate for the job was a positive indicator.

I submitted my application on March 17 (I was definitely hoping the luck of the Irish would be with me). One month later, I received a call from Dr. Larry Ring, the head of the marketing area, asking if I would be interested in visiting the campus. I arrived for an intensive interview process on May 5 and was extended an offer to join the faculty later that week. This past year has turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

I tell my students that two of the most powerful words in the universe are “thank you.” So I decided to write this article (my very first LinkedIn post) to express my appreciation to LinkedIn and share tips that might help your dream job find you.

(1) Personalize your LinkedIn URL (mine is www.linkedin.com/in/dawnedmiston) using these simple steps: https://bit.ly/CustomizeLinkedInURL. A personalized URL not only improves your personal branding, but also helps to ensure your LinkedIn profile is one of the first sites seen by others in search engine results. 

(2) Feature a professional profile photo (it really is worth the investment) and compelling background image. A recent Entrepreneur article noted that, “Facial appearance can affect judgments of attributes such as trustworthiness, aggressiveness and competence.” Look at the profiles of executives that you admire for examples of effective photos. Be certain to update your background photo as well to reflect your professional interests. Pexels.com offers a broad selection of free-to-use images.

(3) Create a headline that reflects your value contribution to others. The headline does not necessarily need to be your current job title; however, it does need to be compelling and simple to understand. You have 120 characters … make them count!

(4) Develop an About section that clearly articulates your brand promise. Keep in mind that most individuals will only spend a few seconds reading your profile so consider a quality vs. quantity approach. Overall, your LinkedIn profile does not need to reflect everything that you have ever done. When developing your About section (and profile) adopt the perspective of potential employers. What would make them take the time to read further about your background?

(5) Leverage the power of keywords. Perhaps the single most critical success factor when developing your LinkedIn profile is the use of significant keywords. When I meet with job seekers and ask to view their LinkedIn profiles, and then ask to view their job descriptions of interest, 90% of these individuals have not used critical keywords mentioned in the job descriptions within their LinkedIn profiles or resumes. I have no doubt that my dream job would not have found me on LinkedIn had I not ensured that my profile contained keywords that are important in my discipline. For example, I had previously used the term "distance education" to describe my experience, but the more common term used in the industry now is "online learning." So I updated my profile ... and now part of my role at W&M is to support the development of our new Online M.S. in Marketing program. 

(6) Visualize your success. During the past few years, LinkedIn has expanded its capabilities to encourage members to share examples of work to include projects and videos. This is a perfect opportunity to make your brand “come alive.” I now require my students to embed their perfect pitch videos in their profiles ... with the hope that LinkedIn can help them find their dream jobs as well.

(note: this article has since been updated to include links to a few new resources since initial publication)