How to use LinkedIn to learn a ton about hiring companies

Use LinkedIn to research hiring companies.

When I put together a webinar called “How to Research and Impress Hiring Companies,” I learned LinkedIn provides a surprisingly amount of useful information about hiring companies … if you know where to look. The first step is to start following companies in which you are interested.

Note: If you are conducting a stealth job search while employed, turn off your activity broadcasts in your LinkedIn settings before following companies. Turn activity broadcasts back on when you are finished. Here's how.



To get started, type a company name, for example, Dell, into the Search Companies bar. Hit enter.

When you arrive at a company’s LinkedIn page, click the “Follow Company” button to receive notices of the company’s job postings.

Click the "Follow" button for all target companies.

Type in a different company, such as Microsoft. When you get to the company page, scroll down past the “Follow” box and all of the company updates to see a company overview, learn its web site address, find the company’s headquarters physical street address and basic information about the company.

Scroll past the Follow button and all of the company updates to learn basic information about the company.

Additionally on a company's page, you can see who you know in your LinkedIn network (your first, second and third degree connections) who either currently works there or who worked there in the past. Click the "See all" link to see even more people.

Click the "See all" button to learn about employees at a target company.

A fully-fleshed out company page like Microsoft also features an in-depth Products page, a Career page with job postings and an Insights page so you can learn more about the kinds of people the company hires.


Why research companies?
Learning more about hiring companies through LinkedIn can help you in many ways. It can tell you who you know at target companies who could potentially be influential in getting you hired. It can tell you whether it’s a place you even want to work. And most importantly, it can tell you information you can use to impress company recruiters and hiring managers. So the next time you are considering a job opening, check out the company on LinkedIn first!

If I can be of help to you, please let me know. Invite me to connect on LinkedIn. I will accept and then you can feel free to ask me questions there.  -- Kathy

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