Advanced Techniques for Using LinkedIn to Change Careers

  • 1 min read

We all know that a tough economy means you have to set yourself apart from other candidates, especially if you are changing industries or functions. Here are a couple tips for using LinkedIn to conduct research and establish contacts within the new industry you are targeting.

Industry Research

First, use the search feature at the top to Search Companies. Type in a keyword for your industry, such as “consumer goods.” You can then find all the companies in the industry, and modify your search based on preferences for location and company size.

Company Research

As you click on each company, you can get a clear overview of company size, key statistics, and news about each company. You can also click on each of the news links and figure out what periodicals most of the industry news comes from. If you are serious about the industry and the company, you can put these news sources in your feed and keep up with them every day.

Resume Research

On each company’s page, there is a section for New Hires. If you want to know what types of work you need to have on your resume to land a job at each company, take a look at each person’s profile to see where they worked at and what types of work they have done in the past. You can also get an idea of what the different career paths are and common titles.

Networking

What do you do if you don’t know anyone in the company? Sometimes the fastest way to network is actually online. Send an email to people at companies within the industry who have a job you would want and set up an informational interview over the phone. Here’s an example template:

Dear <name of contact>:

I am a <current position> with previous experience as a <previous position> in the <name of industry>. I am writing you in hopes of understanding more about working for <target company>.

<Paragraph(s) about why I’m passionate about the target industry, target company, and/or target position. End the paragraph(s) with why you would be perfect for the position you are targeting.>

If you have a few minutes, I would love to hear about your thoughts and experiences from working at <target company>. Some of the questions I have are:

· What persuaded you to work for <target company>?

· How is the company culture at <target company>?

· What are the potential career paths at <target company>?

· What is a typical day like as a <target position>?

I’d also appreciate any advice you could give me about pursuing full-time opportunities. Thank you very much for your time.

This is an easy way to quickly develop contacts in an industry. Bonus: If you have an alumni database from your undergraduate or graduate institution, you can search for contacts at your target companies there also, and get a higher response rate! Good luck.

Picture of Monica O'Brien

Monica O'Brien

Monica O’Brien is an MBA candidate with years of experience in business, strategy, and technology. She currently consults start-ups in the Chicago area on establishing their social media strategies. Monica attends the Chicago Booth School of Business (at the University of Chicago), currently ranked the #1 MBA program in the country by BusinessWeek, and is one of the 2007 Chicago Business Fellows. She concentrates in Marketing, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship. Monica holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, with a minor in Physics, from Truman State University. Her blog, Twenty Set, gives career advice to young professionals. Monica writes candidly about her own experiences. She has also written for Mashable and ProBlogger, and has been featured in major publications like the Christian Science Monitor.

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

The Society of Authors just launched a label that goes on the back of a book jacket reading “Human Authored,” and it runs entirely on an honour code, which means the only thing standing between a reader and the truth is a writer’s word

The Society of Authors just launched a label that goes on the back of a book jacket reading “Human Authored,” and it runs entirely on an honour code, which means the only thing standing between a reader and the truth is a writer’s word

The Blog Herald
A song engineered with a sound therapist to slow your heart rate has been available since 2011 — and almost nobody who talks about anxiety has mentioned it to you

A song engineered with a sound therapist to slow your heart rate has been available since 2011 — and almost nobody who talks about anxiety has mentioned it to you

The Vessel
A Pew Research survey found 64% of American adults still choose print over e-books — and the reason has less to do with nostalgia than attention span

A Pew Research survey found 64% of American adults still choose print over e-books — and the reason has less to do with nostalgia than attention span

Global English Editing
For a while we assumed the slow cooling of a long marriage was just the price of time — until researchers found that couples who spent about seven minutes, three times a year, describing their worst fight the way a neutral outsider might see it simply stopped sliding apart

For a while we assumed the slow cooling of a long marriage was just the price of time — until researchers found that couples who spent about seven minutes, three times a year, describing their worst fight the way a neutral outsider might see it simply stopped sliding apart

The Vessel
When researchers had people confide something painful to a friend sitting right beside them, the ones whose blood pressure climbed the highest weren’t leaning on someone difficult — they were turning to a friend they genuinely love and still, just slightly, hold their breath around

When researchers had people confide something painful to a friend sitting right beside them, the ones whose blood pressure climbed the highest weren’t leaning on someone difficult — they were turning to a friend they genuinely love and still, just slightly, hold their breath around

The Vessel
The writers whose work reads as unmistakably human aren’t the ones avoiding AI on principle — they’re the ones who never stopped writing like themselves in the first place

The writers whose work reads as unmistakably human aren’t the ones avoiding AI on principle — they’re the ones who never stopped writing like themselves in the first place

Global English Editing
Load more
CATEGORIES
Explore