Having questions about how to land a job in a different country using LinkedIn?

LinkedIn can be a huge help in your quest to work internationally. 

If you are ready to get started on your path to employment in a land far, far away, the below 10 tips can help you.

1) Create a strong LinkedIn profile to show that you are a viable candidate.

• Make sure that your spelling and grammar are correct and that your profile is written in the language of your target country.
• Include a friendly-looking head shot photo of you dressed professionally. Indicate languages that you speak and write fluently.
• List your target country’s main language first.
• If your name may be difficult to pronounce in your target country, add an easy-to-say nickname. Example: Dahye (Debbie) Kim.
• This can give others confidence that they can pronounce your name correctly.

2) Have at least 100 LinkedIn connections. (Have many more than 100 if possible including connections in your target countries). This gives people in sought-after countries confidence that you are not a spammer.

3) Join up to 50 LinkedIn groups including job-related groups (one group has more than a million members!)

4) Participate in group discussions. Ask questions, share news stories and start your own discussions.

5) Customize your LinkedIn invitations to explain why you want to connect, but don’t include wanting to work in their country in the invitation.

6) Feel free to invite me to connect. I will accept and then you can ask me questions there. I am the Kathy Bernard in Greater St. Louis (USA).

7) List the types of industries in which you want to work in your LinkedIn Summary section, plus the kind of work that you can do (specific job titles).

8) State your employment status for being able to work in another country. Do you have the necessary visa to work elsewhere? If not, learn how to get it within your home country and take every step possible to acquire the proper paperwork. Most companies in another country will not hire you without them.

9) Mention on your profile if you have already worked internationally and where. This will help convince people that you have the necessary paperwork.

10) DON'T expect miracles. Most people will not be able to help you get a job in your target country because they don’t know how the work visa process works.

A few more details can be found in this article.