5 Ways To Find Your Dream Job Overseas On LinkedIn

The adage “It isn’t what you know but who you know” is true anywhere in the world and can certainly help you get that dream job overseas. Some expats are lucky enough to have an employer willing to relocated them, that way they are getting an overseas experience without having to find a new job. If it isn’t your case, then the following is for you.

If you have read my Ebook, you probably understand how important I consider building online relationships and networking. There are many ways to grow your network and meet new people online. But with already over 500 million users worldwide, LinkedIn is the web’s largest and most powerful network of professionals and there are many ways to take advantage of this platform to find a job overseas.

I am going to show you five ways you can use LinkedIn to your advantage to live and work anywhere in the world.

But first of all, you will need to set up your LinkedIn account (it’s free) in order to add your own details. Very much like a CV, your LinkedIn account will have a profile page detailing your professional experience, current and past positions, your education as well as other sections such as summary, skills, languages, recommendations, etc… Always remember to use relevant keywords throughout your profile on LinkedIn in order to optimize search results within the site and with external search engines. Make it easy for prospective employers and potential clients to find you!

Once you have added the main elements of your profile, I would recommend you to check the add a new profile section on the right and see what you need to add to your profile.

Now that this is done, we are ready to look at 5 ways you can use LinkedIn to find your dream job anywhere in the world:

1 – Choose your profile headline wisely

Your headline is probably one of the most overlooked featured on LinkedIn. Many people don’t bother much with it and just put ” Financial Advisor at XXX”, “VP Marketing @ XXXX” or just “Travel Blogger”. The headline is your chance to differentiate yourself on the platform. It should not be about you but about what you can do for others (either your clients or potential employers)

Here are some good example of headlines:

This is also what I am using on my profile.
The headline will make you stand out in search results and when you leave a message on an article.

2 – Make connections with as many people as possible either in the industry you are looking to move into or the city or country you wish to establish yourself.

It may sound obvious but if you are actively looking for a job, thinking of moving your business abroad or starting a new life overseas, the best way to achieve is to connect with hundreds of professionals in that industry or country.  The best way is to connect directly with them. I would advise you to do it directly from the person’s profile because if you do it from the “People you may know” page, and click “connect“, it will send the generic connection request. If you do it from the person’s profile, you’ll been able to read their profile and decide if they are a good fit. Only then, you can click on the “connect” button below their picture and always (always!) add a note.
In your personal message, never ask for anything except connection invitation. Your message could be “Hi Pete, I am connecting with like-minded professionals in the travel industry and saw that you worked in Valencia, Spain. So did I. Would love to connect.” or ” Hi Sarah, I see that you work in Singapore. I am also a marketer and planning to make the move to Singapore in July, I would love to connect”. Make sure to either find someone or something in common or anything they can relate to. It will make you more memorable to this person when you will engage again with them.

Once you have made your first connections, you will want to start building a network of like-minded people around the world. The best way to do it is by doing searches and joining groups on LinkedIn. Whether you want to connect with professional photographers in Chile, marketing consultants in Singapore, translators in Finland or other expats around the world, you will be able to found people all around the world.

3 – Find out about job openings anywhere in the world

The great thing about LinkedIn is that you will be able to find out about job openings in any country or cities around the world before moving to your future country of expatriation and even better, it lets you apply directly to job offers by clicking the Applybutton.

Before applying for any job, I would advise you to ask for recommendations from your current and past employers, colleagues, clients and suppliers; this way your profile will have more impact on prospective recruiters. Another tip is to check who you are already linked to within a company that is hiring so that you can maybe get referred to the job poster.

4 – Follow companies and contact directly their key decision makers

As well as making connections with individuals, you will be able to follow the news updates of thousands of companies around the world. When you check at a company profile, you will be able to find out if you have any first, 2nd or third degree connections with any of its staff members. If you haven’t got any, try to join some groups where you will be likely to find them, as it is easier to add a connection with someone who is in the same group as you. You will also want to click on Follow Company to receive their news updates straight onto your LinkedIn home page. In order to contact directly someone who is not yet a contact, you can either get introduced through a connection, become a connection by joining a group where you will find this person or finally use one of your InMails, if you have some. If you still can’t connect with someone, you can search on the Internet for their company email address.

5 – Promote your expertise, knowledge and passion

A great tip to promote your expertise on LinkedIn is to add them directly to your LinkedIn profile.  As well as adding links to your website or portfolio, you can also directly add pulse articles, your blog posts and even your tweets. You can display a creative portfolio or share your presentations (via SlideShare)  without even leaving your LinkedIn profile. This is your opportunity to shine so make sure this is relevant to your job search abroad.
Finally, the best way to get noticed on LinkedIn is to promote your expertise by helping and contributing to discussions with your connections or on one of the groups you joined.

These are only 5 of the many opportunities for you on LinkedIn and in future posts, I will share with you many other ways to make the most of this powerful platform. As I often say, it has never been easier to live and work anywhere in the world and LinkedIn can become a very useful instrument to your new life abroad. If you have any questions or comments about LinkedIn, do get in touch by leaving a comment below, by sending me a message on my contact page and it will be a pleasure to get back to you.

To your success abroad! 

Source - Κάνοντας Like ενημερώνεστε άμεσα για τα νέα άρθρα -->