Skills are more important than ever in landing opportunities -- whether you’re on the hunt for a new job, looking to grow your side hustle or interested in making a career pivot. In fact, 87% of hirers agree that skills are crucial in evaluating candidates.
Here are three ways you can use LinkedIn to land opportunities through skills:
1. Explore a new career path with transferable skills
Our Career Explorer tool can uncover careers you could transition into -- and might not have considered -- by mapping the skills you have that can be applied to thousands of job titles. For example, a food server has a 71% skill match to customer service specialist, a job that is currently in high demand.
Career Explorer also highlights additional skills you may need for those opportunities, along with LinkedIn Learning courses to help you build them, and it connects you to LinkedIn members who already have these jobs for support. On LinkedIn, applicants are 4X more likely to get hired through their network.
2. Gain the required skills for the job you want
You can increase your chances of securing the job you want by making sure you have the skills needed for that role. Start by creating a list of open positions you’d like to apply for and taking note of the skills needed for those positions. That will help you identify any skill gaps you need to fill.
Our Jobs on the Rise report spotlights the fastest-growing job areas in fields like e-commerce, digital marketing and sales, along with LinkedIn Learning courses to land these jobs. And, if you’re a recent graduate or just entering the workforce, our LinkedIn Grad’s Guide to Getting Hired outlines the skills required for entry-level jobs and that employers look for the most.
3. Highlight your skills on your LinkedIn Profile
Half of recruiters use a skill search filter to find candidates with skills that match their criteria on LinkedIn, so it’s important to list them on your LinkedIn Profile. You can show proficiency for hard skills by taking Skill Assessments that add a badge to your Profile. There are now more than 100 Skill Assessments available covering hard skills in tech, design and business. To date, members have gained 10 million Skill Assessment badges; members with a badge are 20% more likely to get hired.
When it comes to soft skills, 75% of hiring managers in the U.S. believe a standard resume is insufficient in evaluating them. You can showcase them on your Profile by adding a video Cover Story to introduce yourself to hiring managers, share your career goals and demonstrate your communication skills. Almost 80% of hiring managers believe seeing a pre-recorded video of a job seeker would be useful. For inspiration on how to bring yours to life, check out the video below:
Here are some examples of how our members have successfully landed opportunities for their skills:
Jay Beech engaged and leveraged the LinkedIn community in his job search by highlighting his creative marketing skills through two videos (here and here), as well as a video Cover Story on his Profile, ultimately landing him a new job at CrowdFunder UK.
- Vichy Liyanage decided to pursue a freelance writing career while she was completing her PhD in Medical Genetics. She took LinkedIn Learning courses to build her skills and establish herself as a researcher and medical writer, which helped kick-start her career, including starting her own businesses leading to her current role as a Market Access Medical Writer. She told us: “What I like about LinkedIn Learning is that it’s quick, easy, accessible and practical. Plus, it’s easy to add credentials to my Profile to show the skills I have gained. I hope to empower others to be successful through writing, as LinkedIn Learning has empowered me”
- Andres Araya was working as an electrician before deciding to look for a new challenge and make a career pivot. After reflecting on his strengths and passions, and using LinkedIn to identify top industries hiring, he landed on computer science and took LinkedIn Learning courses to hone in on required skills to enter this new field. He told us: “I took LinkedIn Learning courses to understand the basics of computer skills and built on with more difficult courses as time went on. I completed my diploma in a year and found a job. The LinkedIn Learning instructors helped me when I felt lost and turned me in the right direction. I hope that my story inspires anyone that is looking to make a career change -- yes, it can be scary, but it is all worth it in the end.”
Nick Dolan was a college student when he started using LinkedIn Learning to supplement his education to build skills like negotiating, SEO and Google Analytics. He told us: “The instructors kept me coming back to LinkedIn Learning, since they are experts in their field. School is broad; LinkedIn Learning goes deeper into how to execute and apply what you learn in the real world. Through using LinkedIn Learning, my life has taken a turn: from when I was working in a factory hauling around groceries, to being an Academic Connecting Associate.”
For more career tips and free resources to help you build skills to land your next role, check out opportunity.linkedin.com.