Get Unstuck and Get Out in the Job Market

Clients often feel trapped in their current company because they have no idea where their skills are valuable or transferable. With a few quick tricks, it is possible to use LinkedIn to find out.

Let’s say you are a financial analyst who has experience using Hyperion, but you do not know which companies (or industries) in town would care about that. It is time for an advanced search of LinkedIn

ADVANCED SEARCH

• Go to the top search field and drop down the arrow on the left hand side.

• Then to the right of the search box, select the “advanced” link. This will bring you to an advanced search where you can get very specific with the search criteria.

• To figure out who hires financial analysts with Hyperion skills, you can fill out the key word field with Hyperion, the title field with Financial Analyst (drop the choices down to current so you get people with the current title of Financial Analyst), and the location field with your metropolitan area (in this case I used Charlotte, NC). There are 194 people who fit the criteria.

Here’s a screenshot:

Now look to the left hand side of the results and you will see some interesting things. We can tell that the top 5 companies in the Charlotte area who hire Financial Analysts with Hyperion skills are:

• Bank of America

• Duke Energy Corporation

• Time Warner Cable

• TIAA-CREF

• Ingersoll Rand

We can also tell that the top 5 industries in Charlotte to consider if you have this skill set are:

• Financial Services

• Accounting

• Banking

• Retail

• Food and Beverage

Here’s a screenshot:

Once you are armed with this information, you can start to see who in your network can introduce you to people in these companies or in these industries. Then you are being proactive and becoming known to potential employers who could benefit from your skills even before they advertise a position – the best possible place to be as a job seeker!

This technique will work for any profession or any skill set. Try it-you might be surprised to see just how marketable you are! Happy hunting!