Frustrated with your LinkedIn results?

Do any of these LinkedIn problems sound familiar?

• You send LinkedIn messages to others, but they don’t respond
• You’ve filled in your LinkedIn Profile, but you’re not sure it represents you or your brand
• You see a series of congratulatory messages for others (who’ve landed jobs that should go to you)

Take a look at these common LinkedIn problems and resolutions:

1 – You put in the minimum effort when writing your LinkedIn Profile.

And boy, does it show. If your Profile contains only job titles and a mere mention of your degree, you’re shortchanging yourself!

If you’re not sure where to start, give each of your jobs a description of duties, skills, and achievements. (This alone will bring more traffic to your Profile and resolve many of your LinkedIn problems, based on the keywords you’ve added).

Then, venture into the About section and write a short recap of your strengths and career trajectory. If you’re feeling particularly brave, add several sentences on what motivates you professionally and what others appreciate about your capabilities.

You’ll also want to use a LinkedIn photo that represents your professional persona, with the same smile (and attire) you’d wear to an interview.

Get even MORE serious and use rich media in your Profile by adding video, documents, or links to your Featured section (which you can find by clicking Add Profile Section) or individual jobs.

Voila! Your Profile will now draw more attention, fresh Connection requests, and perhaps even more inquiries from prospective employers.

2 – You applied a “set it and forget it” philosophy.

Just because you wrote it doesn’t mean others will come! After following the suggestions in point #1, you’ll still need to tweak your LinkedIn Profile for the occasional boost in readership and engagement.

For example, you can add more of your core skills (either in the Skills & Expertise section or the About section), changing up the list from time to time. You might try injecting a note on what engages you professionally the Interests section.

To top it off, switching up your LinkedIn Headline can garner some serious visibility – even if you don’t make the changes obvious. Try putting in a core skill (Manufacturing IT, Sales Training, Marketing Collateral, etc.) or a note on your education (MBA, INSEAD Training, Six Sigma, etc.) and see what happens.

3 – You’ve never proactively used LinkedIn while job searching.

A successful social media strategy requires you to ENGAGE on a regular basis with others, and doing so can resolve a great many LinkedIn problems related to your job search.

Hannah Morgan of Career Sherpa has spoken frequently on this topic (see Become More Active on LinkedIn to Attract Attention and Engagement). LinkedIn “rates” users based on activity and will show your Profile more often to others if you maintain a strong level of engagement.

Researching company contacts, job openings, or networking leads is one of the main benefits of LinkedIn. You can contact a hiring manager with a short message of interest, review the background of others in your field, or maintain connections with thought leaders in your industry – all steps you SHOULD be taking if you’re serious about finding a great opportunity.

Take a minute after applying to a hot job for hunting down the hiring manager or HR recruiter on LinkedIn, then shoot over a summary version of your qualifications and ask for their consideration.

Research the Profiles of other candidates in your field to see how your credentials stack up against the competition. Most importantly, aim to initiate real conversations by contacting former colleagues, industry leaders, and potential new connections on a regular basis.

To summarize, actively pursuing your dream job requires MORE than just sitting and waiting to be discovered! 

Take the time to adjust and refine your LinkedIn strategy, while reaching out to others – and you could be celebrating a new job offer in short order.