In my experience with Linkedin over the last several years I am seeing that recruiters have increased their use of the site to find candidates.

Rather than using job boards like Monster and CareerBuillder, recruiters are seeing the value of social networking sites like LinkedIn. Social media tools such as LinkedIn make the recruiter’s job more efficient and often allow them to find job seekers more efficiently

It is true that the online social networking world is expanding, and recruiters need all the help they can get – from you and your Linkedin account. Read on to see what you can do to get the attention of employers who use LinkedIn recruiting:

1. Update your LinkedIn “Status” regularly

• Link to articles you have written or in which you are quoted
• Update status with your latest blog posts
• Discuss business accomplishments
• If you are actively looking for a job, tell people what you are looking for!
• Update your status on Twitter.

2. Increase your number of trusted connections

• Use webmail importer to bring your real world professional relationships online and to find your contacts who are already on LinkedIn.
• Depending on whether you are using web mail or Outlook, check out the respective toolbars that will help organize your professional relationship.

3. Make your LinkedIn profile 100% complete

• Include all companies, education, and awards – all are key items that recruiters search for.
• References are very important. The more that is known about you the better.
• The more robust your profile, the higher you will be in the Google search rankings.
• The more information a recruiter has upfront, the more efficient the search process.

4. Include your web site and blog links

• Add suitable weblinks to the “Websites” section on your LinkedIn profile
• This could range from your career blog to your Twitter profile. Alternatively, you can also link to a guest blog post you wrote recently.

5. Do not block incoming emails

• The LinkedIn community is all about participation so accept incoming communication from fellow LinkedIn users.
• If a recruiter reaches out to you and you are not interested, let him or her know or better yet refer a friend
• Note that LinkedIn actually allows you to control how you receive emails and notifications.

6. Use the same profile picture that you use on other social media sites

• A picture helps to create and reinforce your online brand
• It will help a recruiter identify you on the interview day at “Peets”

7. Use the “Specialties” box to fill in keywords

• List as many keywords as possible that are relevant to your roles, capabilities, and interests that will help you turn up on LinkedIn Search
• Keyword rich, well-developed, complete profiles are recommended

8. Make changes to your profile after every job change or promotion

• The recruiters you are linked to will notice these changes
• It is harder to be found if people don’t know where you are
• Update your LinkedIn profile as you would your change-of-address at the post office

9. Join Linkedin Groups and post items of interest

• Share your interests, memberships, specializations, backgrounds, and experience
• Group members may also know of a potential opportunites that your are seaching for

10. Review company profiles and reach out to employees there for information interviews

• See who you may want to work for
• Research who is in the company for whom you have an interview with