How LinkedIn Groups Can Help You Get a Job
This career coach says the Groups tool is valuable, but often overlooked
One of the most valuable, but often overlooked, tools on LinkedIn is LinkedIn Groups — online forums where like-minded professionals share ideas around a specific field, company or other topic of interest. If you’re looking for a job or want to start a side gig, LinkedIn Groups can be extremely useful. LinkedIn has more than three million groups.
Fortunately, thanks to a few upgrades LinkedIn recently began implementing and that will be rolling out over coming months, its Groups feature has now become easier to use.
How LinkedIn Groups Can Be Helpful to You
Let me explain why LinkedIn Groups can be helpful and how to get the most from this feature.
When you’re job hunting, LinkedIn Groups can help you expand your network of professional contacts, attract the notice of recruiters and alert you to hidden job opportunities. Each Group also has a Jobs tab, which can help you learn about possible openings.
If you’re eager to launch a side gig, especially in something different from your current job, LinkedIn Groups offer a convenient way to ask connections about their fields and business endeavors.
How to Find LinkedIn Groups to Join
Before I get to the latest improvements, here’s how to find LinkedIn Groups you might want to join:
- Go to your LinkedIn home page
- Click on the dialpad icon in the top right corner of the navigation bar labeled “Work”
- Click the Groups icon in the dropdown menu and you’ll see suggested Groups under the “Discover” tab (if you’re already in some LinkedIn Groups, you’ll see them listed and their latest highlights)
What’s New in LinkedIn Groups
The redesigned LinkedIn Groups home page now lets you quickly review discussions in your Groups, manage your Group settings and find new Groups to join. Here’s a bit more about each of these features, along with tips on how best to use them:
Review Activity in Your LinkedIn Groups
Once you’re on the Groups homepage, you’ll see “Today’s Highlights” — a personalized snapshot of the important conversations taking place in your Groups. Now, you can quickly scan through your group discussions without having to click through lots of pages.
My tip: Participating in LinkedIn Group discussions, by sharing a helpful article, insightful tip or thoughtful response to a member’s question, is an excellent way to establish your thought leadership and expand your network. When responding to a comment or giving a complimentary shout-out, include the “@” symbol to ensure that person will receive a notification and an email letting him or her know about the mention. That lets your fellow Group member know to join in on the conversation and it’s a nice way to build goodwill among your connections.
You can even use this feature with people who aren’t part of your LinkedIn network. I’ve started conversations with several people I didn’t know before this way. And in one case, the initial conversation led to a speaking opportunity I wouldn’t have landed otherwise.
Manage Your LinkedIn Groups
To review and manage your group settings (e.g., the frequency of email notifications about group activity) click on “My Groups” in the top navigation bar. Once there, you’ll find a listing of all your LinkedIn Groups, along with the option to leave a group or adjust your group settings.
My tip: On the Group Settings page, take advantage of the “Visibility” feature to display the logos of a few key LinkedIn Groups in your LinkedIn Profile. That’s a subtle way to reinforce your interest in different fields or companies (there’s truth to that old saying, “You are judged by the company you keep”). And it’s an especially valuable tactic if you’re trying to shift careers, but don’t yet have much relevant experience to display on your LinkedIn Profile.
Discover New LinkedIn Groups to Join
When you click on “Discover” in the top navigation bar, you’ll be redirected to a page where you can review, and join, LinkedIn Groups of interest. LinkedIn prepopulates your page with suggestions of Groups it thinks might be a good fit based on your LinkedIn Profile. For example, because I have “Speaker” listed on my profile, LinkedIn suggest Motivational Speaker Academy as a group I might want to join.
To join a LinkedIn Group, just click on the “Ask to Join” button and you’ll either be automatically added or your membership will show as pending review (in cases where members must be approved by the LinkedIn Group administrator).
My tip: Since LinkedIn makes Group recommendations based on your profile, you might not always find what you’re looking for on the Discover page. To search for other Groups, type keywords or names of interest into the search bar at the top of your main LinkedIn homepage. Then, on the search results page, click the Groups tab to filter your results.
Another LinkedIn Groups Improvement
Finally, there is one other Groups-related improvement worth noting:
LinkedIn also now alerts you to social activities on your LinkedIn Group posts, including likes, comments and @mentions within the Notifications tab on the LinkedIn website and LinkedIn mobile apps. So even if you’re not in active job search mode and don’t want to waste time checking in with your Groups page, make it a habit to check your LinkedIn homepage at least once a week. It won’t take more than a few minutes, and it’s an efficient way to stay up-to-date with what’s happening in your network.
