How To Improve Chances of Landing Interviews Without an Active LinkedIn Profile?

How To Improve Chances of Landing Interviews Without an Active LinkedIn Profile? was originally published on Ivy Exec.

LinkedIn is the most popular platform for career networking.

After all, it boasts 830 million members with tens of millions of companies and tens of millions of job openings for those companies. That’s why many professionals use LinkedIn to hunt for jobs and apply for open positions.

But, of course, you don’t need a LinkedIn profile to score an interview.

If you don’t have an active LinkedIn profile, you can still improve your chances of landing job interviews. There are plenty of other steps you can take to ensure that your application gets noticed by recruiters and hiring managers alike. 

5 Ways to Improve Your Chances of Landing Interviews Without an Active LinkedIn Profile

If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile—or, at least, not an up-to-date and active LinkedIn profile—here are some other ways you can up your job-hunting game.

Leverage other social media platforms.

Just because you don’t have a LinkedIn profile doesn’t mean that you can’t still leverage social media platforms to land an interview. For example, you can look to industry groups on Facebook or Slack communities for job hunters to look for openings of interest.

On Facebook, your best bet is to use the search tool to look for groups in your specific industry. Slack, however, is a little more challenging. You may need to contact community leaders for invites into groups. But doing so is worth it, as you’ll find thousands of other professionals in communities like We Work Remotely or Remotely One, which both cater to location-independent workers seeking remote jobs.

Just make sure that your existing social media profiles, if any, look professional—especially if you’re using them as a tool to help you snag a job interview. 

Check out other career networking platforms.

There are tons of career-networking sites out there to help you connect with other like-minded professionals. Fairygodboss, for example, offers a forum for women in the workplace to share advice, swap stories, and help lift each other up.

At Ivy Exec, we’re also always here to bring you executive job openings, offer you career advice, and connect you with subject matter experts. You can tune into our webinars to learn from industry leaders or use our tool to find a mentor who can help you land an interview.

Create a portfolio website that showcases your work.

Having an online portfolio is important, especially if you don’t have a LinkedIn profile. An online presence that showcases your work allows potential employers to find you easier and make more informed assessments about your experiences and decisions about whether or not to hire you.

A portfolio can be a personal web page, for example. Or, you can upload your experiences on a job-hunting site like Upwork. Dribbble is a good platform for creatives, as well. 

Network through former colleagues, friends, and family.

Network, network, network. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to only network online. You can (and should) network offline, out in the real world, as well. Reaching out to former colleagues, friends, and family can go a long way. You never know who has ended up in a company for which you might want to work. 

Call like-minded professionals to catch up over coffee. Ask former colleagues to help you make connections for informational interviews. Or just let your loved ones know that you’re looking for a job and to keep you in mind if anything relevant pops up. Having a middle-person introduce you or make connections means that they can both ensure that you meet the right people and vouch for you, helping you land an interview. 

Visit a jobs fair.

Job fairs may seem old school, but they still exist for a reason. Recruiters and hiring managers alike attend job fairs to find potential candidates for openings that they have. Showing up shows initiative. Showing up with your resume on hand and prepared with questions for some of the companies of interest there is even better. 

You can find upcoming job fairs on sites like National Career Fairs and USA Jobs Events hosted by the Department of Defense Education Activity. You can also check out your local city site to see if there are any city-specific job fairs in your area.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need an active LinkedIn profile to snag a job these days.

There are tons of other online resources and communities that can help you. As always, you can count on Ivy Exec as your one-stop shop for all sorts of job-hunting advice—from why you need a job-search strategy to how to make your job-search strategy work for you.

By Ivy Exec
Ivy Exec is your dedicated career development resource.