The social part of being on a social media platform is interacting with others. Since LinkedIn is geared toward business, it is an excellent place to find people who can help with your job search or work in companies where you would like to find a position. Building a robust network can allow you to find job opportunities and build relationships with decision-makers.

The first thing you should do on LinkedIn is to fill out your profile information. You want to maximize the opportunity within the profile to tell your story. You want the information you provide to emphasize your experience, skills, and accomplishments.

If you do not have accomplishments listed on your resume, go back and add those relevant to a particular position you aspire to do. This will differentiate you from most of the applicants.

What value do you bring to an employer is a crucial question to ask yourself. When you do this (and you need to do this for each employer since your value may be different), you will write a targeted resume that addresses that employers' needs. If you have not been getting interviews, it may be because your resume is not reflective of the value you bring to this employer.

Part of building a relationship is to take an interest in the other person. Making the effort to learn about your interviewer(s) can pay dividends in helping the interviewer have positive feelings about you, address any objections, and ask questions that the interviewer will find interesting.

There are two readers for your resume. The software that reads your information, stores it, and matches it to the job opening, and the human reader - either in HR or the hiring manager. Your resume does have to appeal to both. What is optimal for one does not necessarily work the same for the other. Therefore, you do need to focus your attention on how your resume information is extracted. If crucial data cannot be read, then undoubtedly, your match to the job opening requirements will suffer.

I have been out of work since March due to the pandemic. It is now several months later, and I am no closer to getting a job. I seem to be unfocused with my job search. At first, I was gung-ho to find work, but I am now finding myself spending less and less time on my job search. Do you have any suggestions?

You have been thinking about leaving your job for a while. It no longer seems like a good fit. You are not happy and have been dreaming of something else. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. You see so many people out of work and really struggling. Yet, you remain unhappy with your work. What should you do?

Are you embarrassed because you have not kept up with your network? Life got in the way. Now, you hear networking is the key to finding a new job, and you do not know how to get started. How do you avoid the awkwardness of reaching out to people and asking for help when you have not kept up with the relationship?