Getting Ready for a Post-Pandemic Job on LinkedIn

By thought-horizon | Jun 9, 2020

When the economy reopens and you’re among the millions seeking jobs, how are you going to stand out? As a social selling company, we often ignore one of the main reasons LinkedIn has become so big for professionals: its potential to steer us in the direction of a new job. Whether you’re currently out of work, or just seeking a new job, the online presence you establish now is essential in curating the way you will be seen down the road.

My old boss taught me that the best way to future-proof yourself is by making quota. But beyond that, there is an additional, less obvious way for sales professionals to “future proof” themselves.

The one thing you need to do?

CONNECT.

You must be fanatical about connecting with everyone you interact with– from personal colleagues to email contacts.

My anecdotal research tells me that we will never connect on LinkedIn with 25% of the people we interact with. Why? There are several major culprits:

1. The contact doesn’t have immediate business value
2. The contact is a partner or vendor and not as interesting to connect with
3. Time is short; we don’t think to connect with everyone we encounter

How does radical connecting help land a new job? Your value to a prospective employer is not just what you know, but who you know. Technology moves forward at dizzying speeds and there is no way to remain an expert for long. Meanwhile, having online connections is an arsenal of not only buyers but also ecosystem partners who ultimately will win you your next job. Thought Horizon will connect you with others who can help you solve business problems.

For example, imagine you are an employer looking for a new salesperson. You can either hire someone with an outstanding resume that may or may not include some bending of the truth, or someone who has thousands of contacts in the industry. Who do you choose? The choice is obvious– especially if many of those contacts are people in a target industry or job title whom the hiring manager does not know. And consider this: the hiring manager can assess and compare candidates based on LinkedIn connections with just a few taps on a phone.

Right now, many of us feel stuck. Stuck at home, stuck searching for a new job, stuck waiting until we can return to work. But one thing we can do is continue to connect, and increase the size of our social networks. The larger your network, the sooner you’ll find that new opportunity.