When you’re in search of a job, following firms on LinkedIn might help you appeal to their recruiters. In case your search is beneath the radar, there are slight dangers—which I focus on under–however don’t let that cease you from contemplating this very helpful function.
Why must you comply with firms on LinkedIn?
Usually, the quickest job search technique is to resolve what firms you’re all for, then proactively go after them, trying to find data, creating a “grapevine” of contacts, and thus making your self each well-informed and more and more seen to folks related to these firms. One small however worthwhile step on this course of is to comply with your goal firms on LinkedIn. It’s fast, it’s simple, and it’ll assist you in varied methods.
Entice recruiters: As recruiters use LinkedIn to seek for candidates, they’re particularly drawn to potential candidates who’ve demonstrated an curiosity of their firm, they usually can filter their search outcomes to prioritize these. Utilizing LinkedIn Recruiter, they will flag candidates in line with standards reminiscent of:
- “Extra prone to reply.” Recruiters don’t need to waste their time. Following the corporate is among the components that tells them you meet this criterion.
- “Serious about your organization.” These are candidates who’ve interacted with the corporate’s content material. Following the corporate web page is considered one of these interactions, together with liking, sharing and commenting on the corporate’s posts.
- “Have (first-degree) firm connections.” Following an organization doesn’t make you a first-degree connection, but it surely’s a superb first step, since you’ll get posts associated to the corporate in your information feed. Use these posts to nurture connections: “Like” and touch upon the posts. Then ship a connection request with a be aware like this: “Your put up about X was very (insightful/useful/attention-grabbing). I’d be honored when you would be a part of my LinkedIn community.” In the event that they settle for, voila, you’re now a first-degree connection.
All the above, along with having a well-optimized LinkedIn profile, will improve your probabilities of being contacted by recruiters in search of somebody such as you.
Moreover, if you search out and apply to open positions, you’ll be a extra spectacular candidate when you’ve been following the corporate, turning into well-informed in regards to the firm, and making related connections. You possibly can write a way more persuasive cowl letter, for instance: “I’ve been following your organization for a while, and right here’s why I believe it’s an awesome match…”
And naturally, following firms can result in networking alternatives. Construct relationships and search out profession analysis conversations, a.okay.a. informational interviews. It has been estimated that one in 12 informational interviews results in a job.
Is is dangerous for an worker to comply with different firms on LinkedIn?
There’s a slight threat that following an organization may trigger your present employer to suspect you’re seeking to go away. It’s because different LinkedIn members can see the businesses that you just comply with. For instance:
- Guests to an organization web page can see a listing of people that comply with that web page.
- Guests to your profile can scroll all the way down to “Pursuits” on the backside of your profile and click on on “Corporations” in that part.
Will your boss, or an influential or nosy colleague, discover you adopted one other firm? Even when they did see it, would they essentially assume you had been job-hunting? In all probability not. It’s regular {and professional} to comply with firms in your trade. Folks do that to take a look at rivals, for instance, or to remain present on developments.
Moreover, when somebody sees you’re following an organization, they will’t inform when you probably did so. For all they know, you might have clicked “Comply with” years in the past, earlier than you began your present job.
When you’re nonetheless involved, it might assist to comply with plenty of organizations—together with skilled associations, your alma mater, and so forth. This may make particular person firms much less conspicuous within the record.
The upshot:
For many job seekers, the reply to “Must you comply with firms on LinkedIn” is a particular “sure.” It’s simple. You simply log in, sort a company’s title into the Search discipline and click on Comply with beneath the corporate’s title. It’s a good suggestion to go to the web page as effectively and search for helpful data and potential contacts. And when you haven’t but determined what firms you need to goal in your job search, my put up “Easy methods to Construct Your Goal Corporations Listing Utilizing LinkedIn” will assist. (This put up was revealed in 2023 and up to date in 2025.)
