Still confused by LinkedIn and how it fits into your job search strategies? Last week I shared the typical LinkedIn concerns voiced by executive job seekers, as well as strategies and tools to help executives better leverage LinkedIn for their job search. LinkedIn: Confusion or Conquest?



Here are nine more strategies that are sure to elevate your LinkedIn profile to executive status and improve the chances of recruiters and hiring managers finding and connecting with you.



1. Focus some time on your home feed sharing your status update. Last week we talked about checking your feed to see what others are saying. Now it’s your turn. What do you have to share? Read a good article or journal findings that would be of interest to others? Share it in a post, make a few comments about it yourself, and invite others to share their opinions.



2. Do you know about Alumni tool? This tool helps you find classmates and connections from academic organizations, colleges and universities. You can also search by company, industry, job function and college major.



3. Don’t be shy. Reach out to people through InMail or a connection request. Set a realistic goal to reach out to someone (daily or weekly) to build relationships. You never know who might know of a company that is hiring or has the perfect job opportunity for you.



4. Be consistent. Think of the carpet cleaner who sends postcards about their weekly specials. That postcard keeps that company’s name on your mind. Then you don’t get the postcards anymore. And now you need your carpet cleaned. You wonder, what was the name of that carpet cleaner? The same applies with LinkedIn connections. Keep up your momentum.



5. Search Company Pages on LinkedIn to research employers. LinkedIn even suggests companies that might interest you. To expand your list of target options you can visit the company page’s Insights tab. That’s where you can see the “People Also Viewed” area and find companies that are similar, giving you more resources to investigate.



6. Want the inside scoop on a company? Visit the company’s LinkedIn page and look at the “Former Employees You May Know” list. Reach out to one or more of those contacts to find out about a job posting, other questions or concerns you may have about that company.



7. Endorse others in your connection circle. If you’ve had your LinkedIn profile up for a few months, I’m sure you have noticed the Skills & Expertise area and had people in your network endorse you. Quid pro quo here, and review your connections Skills & Expertise area so you can endorse them for those skills you have personal experience with and can attest to. Reach out to other connections who have not endorsed you, endorse them, and they will endorse you back in some cases.



8. Your personal brand extends to your endorsements. You have control over what skills and expertise you want to communicate to visitors to your profile. If someone endorses you for a skill you no longer want to use or develop, you can delete that skill from your list. If you are developing new skills, you also can add these to your profile.



9. Keep your profile up-to-date! Regularly add any new accomplishments, certifications or degrees, change in employers, media interview, PowerPoint, etc. Your profile acts like an ever-evolving resource. You want to make sure it is the most up-to-date version of who you are and what you can do for others.



It only takes a few minutes a day for the care and feeding of your LinkedIn profile. Set a timer for 15 minutes to see how many of these strategies you can incorporate into your job search plan. I guarantee you will benefit!