Social media is not only for cute cat videos and catchy TikTok dances. LinkedIn for job search has proven to be very successful for food and beverage manufacturing candidates on their career planning journey. 

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As the top professional networking platform with more than 875 million users worldwide, some LinkedIn job-hunting techniques can support your job search strategy and help you land your dream career. We explore how to use LinkedIn as a support tool in your career planning. 

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Why You Should Use LinkedIn in Your Job Search

LinkedIn is the one place recruiters from all industries, including the food and beverage manufacturing industry, will come to scout for suitable candidates for open positions, making LinkedIn for job search a key part of your career planning journey. 

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By building an online LinkedIn profile in conjunction with a QTalent profile, you can showcase your skills and experience to potential hiring managers. But like QTalent, LinkedIn is more than an online resume; it allows you to build connections and networks. This is the true beauty of LinkedIn; you can follow anyone! 

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Unlike in real life, where it takes a lot more time and effort to connect to new people in the industry, with LinkedIn, a connection is just a click away. This means you can find out more about the hiring manager before you apply for a company.

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It’s also an open gate to insider information you previously had no access to. As a job seeker, you can check out food and beverage manufacturing companies’ profiles,  find out more about their culture and benefits, and even go as far as to connect to exiting employees to ask questions or get advice. 

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Here are the top tips to effectively use LinkedIn to bolster for your job search.  

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How to Use LinkedIn to Speed Up Your Job Search With 7 Tips

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1. Build an online profile.

Start with an eye-catching headline. Be descriptive about what you do rather than just including a job title. So, for example, instead of saying “Food technologist”, you could say “Food technologist specialising in preservation, quality assurance, and inspection”. 

Highlight your strengths and how this makes you an expert at your job. List all your skills, certifications, and examples of your experience in the “Skills” section. For the food and beverage manufacturing industry, this would include standard certifications like HACCP and ISO. 

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2. Upload a professional photograph. 

Your photograph can make or break your LinkedIn job-hunting journey. Your photograph is key when using LinkedIn for job searching. LinkedIn members with a profile picture are 14 times more likely to receive page views. Your LinkedIn photograph creates a first impression of you. 

Use a recent head and shoulder photograph that showcases you in a professional setting or a plain background. A smiling shot shows you are friendly and approachable. This isn’t the place for selfies or group shots. Leave those pictures for Facebook. 

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3. Make sure you are visible. 

You could have a mind-blowing resume and the credentials to boot, but if no one can find you, it won’t help your job search. To get it spot on, you need to use keywords correctly. Add industry keywords to your headline and summary section on your LinkedIn profile. 

This will help you appear in hiring managers' searches. To select the right keywords, have a look at similar jobs you are interested in on job boards and see what keywords they use. Then naturally incorporate a few of these (without sounding like a bot). Find out how to use keywords correctly in our previous blog. 

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Match your resume to the job description

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3. Build your network

It’s helpful to start building your network. You can follow anyone for insights and trends or send a connection request to connect to hiring managers at food and beverage manufacturing companies you would like to apply to. 

Groups are also a great way to make connections. Have a look at industry-related groups you could join. 

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5. Get endorsements. 

The recommendations feature is a powerful tool. You can request endorsement from previous managers and colleges to showcase your experience in the food and beverage industry. 

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6. Turn on the “open to opportunities” feature.

Candidates looking for jobs can say so by using LinkedIn's nifty “open to opportunities” tool. Hiring managers will be able to see you are seeking employment without alerting your current employer. 

You can select “just recruiters” to control who can see you are openly applying for jobs in the “Me” tab on your profile. Under the ‘Intro’ tab, click on ‘Looking for a new job’ and then fill in the title you are seeking. 

Then, you can select “just recruiters” or “All LinkedIn members” to decide who you want to share your job hunt with. 

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7. Use LinkedIn to research potential companies.

LinkedIn for job search is more than an online resume. You can have a look at potential companies you are applying for and see what current vacancies they have, explore connections that work there and could endorse you, and get a good sense of the company culture, values, and benefits that will help you find the right job to suit your requirements. 

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Apply To The Company, Not The Job - Here's Why!

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QTalent Can Help You With Your Job Search

LinkedIn is a great starting place for your job search and, if leveraged correctly, can help you stand out from the crowd. But it’s vital to not “put all your eggs in one basket”, as they say, and to diversify your job search by working with recruiters and job board platforms. 

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And that’s where QTalent comes in. 

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QTalent is Canada’s top talent acquisition platform for food and beverage manufacturing professionals. Its simple-to-use application helps you find your dream job in food and beverage processing based on location, compensation, company culture, and benefits.

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With one single sign-on, you can create your profile and watch the email notifications with quality jobs stream in. 

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If you are a highly-skilled food & beverage processing professional, let us help you take your career planning to the next level!