LinkedIn data from 2020 conveys that out of the 700 million LinkedIn users, only around 0.2% are United States nurses. Compare that to sales representatives, who top the LinkedIn market at 17% of its users. LinkedIn is one of the few places where supply and demand flips on its head with remote nursing jobs— there are more recruiters than there are of you.
Demonstrate Your Marketable Qualities
LinkedIn has a unique power to showcase your strengths in a way that an application and a cover letter can’t. By showing up in a space that nurses don’t traditionally hang out in, you’re demonstrating that you have unique skills.
- You’re tech-savvy enough to create and maintain an account
- You are confident in your professionalism, as you aren’t afraid to show your face and voice on a public platform
- You have unique ideas and experience that is worth putting on display
What is something that all of the above have in common? These are all skills that remote nursing jobs want in their candidates. These show leadership and initiative, which are essential in a remote environment.
Cultivate Connections
With other nurses: Being able to make connections on LinkedIn can completely change your career trajectory. Not just “connections”, but real, genuine connections and conversations that you have with people can catapult you to your next remote nursing job. These conversations also will allow you to offer your expertise to someone else who may benefit, which is a great way to pay it forward.
The nursing community is generally very welcoming on LinkedIn, and it’s not a social faux pas to connect with and message someone that has a nursing position you’re interested in. Many nurses are happy to share their knowledge or connect you to people that are willing to help you.
With recruiters: LinkedIn allows you to put a profile banner that says “Open to Work” if you want to communicate that you’re looking for a new job and you’re loud and proud about it. If you’d like to alert recruiters more subtly, you can change your LinkedIn settings to say that you would only like recruiters to know that you are open to job opportunities. Recruiters will then find your profile and message you about potential applications and offers.
How To Get Started
Whether you’ve already started working on your LinkedIn profile, or you’ve never logged on, there are plenty of simple strategies to beef up your page for a remote nursing job:
- Get a professional headshot. If you don’t have recent professional portraits, have a friend or family member take a photo of you with a smartphone. It makes a big difference when you are in natural light, facing the camera, and smiling.
- Put keywords in your job title. Don’t waste precious space and leave your title blank. This is where you can insert a searchable term so recruiters can find you.
- Get a banner. Rather than leaving a blank banner on your profile, use a clean stock photo or a personal photo that demonstrates your personality.
- Update your work history. Add the skills you learned while working. This is a great chance to add “case management” “data abstraction”, or “supply utilization management” to squeeze in some keywords from common remote job titles (if they apply to your previous work)
- Show your face. By posting an occasional status, and commenting on others’ statuses, you can leave a positive impression.
- Make some connections. You don’t need to be in the 500+ club to make genuine connections. Look for people similar to you, from your hometown, from your college, from your local town, or that have your dream job. Try to send a message with each connection request to spark a conversation.
Try LinkedIn Light-Up
While all of the above are fantastic ways to get your LinkedIn profile dressed for success, those only address issues with the user interface. LinkedIn has ample back-end settings, and when these are fine-tuned, recruiters will know where to find you and what companies you’re interested in. The LinkedIn Light-Up course takes the mystery out of how to do this so your job search can also work passively in the background.
The Bottom Line
Because LinkedIn is not very saturated with nurses, it’s a great avenue to showcase your skills and connect with industry leaders, professionals, and peers. Finding a community through LinkedIn makes the remote nursing job search more bearable, and once you find your dream job, you’ll still maintain the relationships you’ve made and help others in their job search journeys.
Over 6 people get hired from LinkedIn every minute— you could be next. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to join the Nurse Fern LinkedIn Light-Up course to craft a polished, personalized LinkedIn profile optimized to land you a remote nursing job.