Supercharge Your LinkedIn Profile!

Including search terms relevant to your field in your summary statement—that box near the top of your profile—makes it easier for recruiters to find your profile when searching for candidates. According to LinkedIn research, people who list specific skills on their profile get 13 times more views than do those who have broader and less specific statements. Adding a location—city and state, or a region (such as the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area)—leads to 23 times more views.

Consider Debbie Hart: The Ohio-based saleswoman for an information technology company received a message on her LinkedIn page from a recruiter asking if she was interested in a new position. She said she was, and after going through the usual interview process, she got the job, which she started late last year. Hart, who is in her late 50s, says the recruiter discovered her through the skills she'd listed on her LinkedIn profile.

3. Contribute to the conversation

LinkedIn makes it easy to share relevant articles, comment on other people's posts and notice when your connections change jobs. "Commit to reaching out to five people a day—not to get something from them but to look at their newsfeeds, comment and congratulate," advises Laura Labovich, CEO at the Career Strategy Group, an outplacement firm. LinkedIn groups also offer a way to connect with new people and discuss topics relevant to your field. Use the Search box at the top of your home page to look up groups, and explore suggestions from there.

It Worked For Me! When Kevin Gray's LinkedIn feed showed that a friend liked a white paper related to legal research posted by someone Gray didn't know, Gray, 55, left a comment. That led to a private message exchange between Gray, a law librarian in Valley Stream, New York, and the original poster. "I mentioned, 'Given your field, if you know anyone with an opening, keep me in mind,' " Gray recalls. It turned out the poster's company was hiring—and Gray was tapped for the job.

4. Ask friends for introductions.

Second-degree connections (friends of your friends) are often the best entrée to a company you're interested in. Once you spot a connection listed on LinkedIn or Facebook, ask your friend to introduce you, or reach out to the person yourself through InMail, LinkedIn's email tool, or Facebook's Messenger app. You can also go the old-fashioned route and ask a friend who works at a company you like to set up an introductory meeting for you. A recent online survey of over 3,000 people by the Adler Group, a hiring consultant, found that 85 percent of today's jobs are landed through connections.

5. Invest in a professional headshot

"Members who have a profile photo receive up to 21 times as many views as those who don't," says Blair Decembrele, a senior manager at LinkedIn. Keep children, grandchildren and pets out of the frame; the photo should project an image of professionalism, she adds. Plus, you can add a background image that reflects your professional identity: An architect could feature a building he designed, or an accountant could showcase her office.

6. Identify candidates for in-person meetings.

Face-to-face encounters often yield more meaningful, productive conversations than online-only exchanges. After identifying the people online who have the most potential to help you, ask to meet them for coffee or lunch to get their input about the job market. Be sure to pick a time and place that is super-convenient for whomever you approach, and make it clear that the tab is on you: "I'd love to buy you a coffee and pick your brain about the widget business."

It Worked for Me! When Kelly Hoey, 51, wanted to shift from being a lawyer to working in professional development at a law firm, she spent a year and a half talking with those who had made a similar switch before finding the opening she was looking for. "I purposefully started pulling these threads through connections. Then, based on those meetings, I'd get additional advice," says Hoey, author of Build Your Dream Network.