LinkedIn for Medical Sales Professionals

How to effectively use LinkedIn to drive your medical sales job search:

1)   Develop a powerful headline

• Be descriptive about what you do (or what you’re capable of doing)
• Lisa McCallister is a Recruiter with ConMed Corporation who has a great headline… “Transforming Careers by Connecting Great Sales Talent with Incredible Medical Device Sales Opportunities | Recruiter“
• Use your words!

 2)   Complete the Summary

• This is your best opportunity to tell your story, share your strengths and create a professional personal brand
• Think of this as your “60 second elevator pitch” on paper
• Use up to 2,000 characters and include keywords appropriately
• Be sure to focus on specific accomplishments (in sales your numbers tell the story)

 3)   Develop a complete profile that will entice people to read and customize the URL address

• Don’t include only job titles, employers and dates
• Describe your work experience and skills
• Be sure to focus on specific accomplishments (again and always)

4)   Include a professional photo

• Not having a photo is really not an option
• People want to know who they’re connecting with

5)   Participate in groups

• You can participate in up to 50 groups
• You can connect with industry professionals much easier by being in the same groups
• You can hide groups that are not relevant to your job search
• Include some groups that demonstrate your interests (i.e. organizations you volunteer for, fraternities or sororities you are associated with, associations, hobbies or interests, etc.)

6)   Add connections and send messages

• Build your network before you need it and be active on a regular basis
• Connect through groups and to people who attended the same college
• Import your contacts and pay attention to the “People You May Know” feature
• Make it part of your weekly routine to stay connected with your industry and your colleagues
• Establish goals or metrics for activity (i.e. add five connections each week)

7)   Personalize your invitation to connect

• Whenever possible don’t use the standard invitation of “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”
• It is especially important to do this when connecting with recruiters, hiring managers and talent acquisition specialists
• Take the time to make your connections more meaningful and you will stand out as a result

8)   Be active in groups and discussions

• Make intelligent, substantive contributions
• Remember that your comments are public, so don’t make strategic errors (i.e. “I’ve been looking for a job for nine months…”)

9)   Follow companies in your industry

• Check the company profiles for jobs (found on the “Careers” tab)
  

10) Give and receive recommendations and endorsements

• Try to have at least 3-5 strong recommendations from supervisors, colleagues or friends that can deliver a powerful message
• Be selective about your recommendations
• List your top 10 skills and request at least 12 endorsements for each skill
• You are more likely to receive if you give recommendations and endorsements

11) Become familiar with visibility settings and privacy settings

• You can turn off your activity broadcasts if you want to limit what your connections (i.e. current employer) can see

12) Understand how to apply for positions and how to conduct a confidential job search on LinkedIn

13) Link to a personal website that showcases your work

14) Show some humanity and personality

• Include some information about volunteer work, associations, interests and hobbies
• Most professionals would agree that your LinkedIn profile should not be as formal as your resume

15) Use the LinkedIn Help Center and watch LinkedIn Learning Webinars

• The Help Center is a great reference if you’re getting familiar with LinkedIn

16) Upgrade to a Premium paid account to take full advantage of all LinkedIn features