LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 660 million members. As a career-oriented social media platform, LinkedIn allows users to create profiles representing their professional identities, connect with other professionals in their industries or careers of interest, and find jobs, people and information relevant to their professional goals.
With so many members and such a diversity of professional backgrounds represented on LinkedIn, filtering by industry is an important feature for helping users find the most relevant connections, jobs, content, and opportunities according to their particular field or area of work.
Some common questions around industry filtering options on LinkedIn include:
– Can you filter LinkedIn by industry when searching for people?
– Is there an industry filter for job searches on LinkedIn?
– Does LinkedIn offer industry filtering for company pages and groups?
– What parameters and filters can be used to view industry-specific content on LinkedIn?
This article will provide an in-depth look at the industry filtering and search options available on LinkedIn to help users optimize their experience.
Filtering Connections by Industry
Yes, LinkedIn does provide industry filtering when searching for people to connect with. On both desktop and mobile apps, users can enter any industry name or keyword into the search bar at the top of LinkedIn.
As you type, a drop down menu will appear showing suggested searches for people within that industry. For example, typing “marketing” will prompt searches like “marketing professionals”, “digital marketing experts”, “marketing managers” and more tailored to that field.
Selecting any of these suggestions or pressing enter after typing your industry term will run a people search filtered down to profiles that include that industry in their experience, interests, or description. This allows you to quickly find and connect with professionals in your desired line of work.
In addition to searching by keyword, you can click on the “People” tab from the LinkedIn homepage to open an advanced people search with more filters such as location, company, school, interest, etc. One of the main filters here is by industry.
From a drop down menu you can select your industry of choice to view LinkedIn profiles within that vertical. This allows you a broad look at individuals working in a certain industry vs searching by keyword which is better for targeting more specific roles or titles.
Narrowing Filters Further
To get even more targeted in your industry searches, you can layer additional filters on top of industry:
– Location – Search by industry within a certain city, region or country
– Company – Combine industry and company filters to find professionals from specific organizations
– Title – Search for industry plus titles like “Marketing Director” or “Sales Manager”
– Interests – Select both an industry and interest like “Healthcare + Digital Health”
Layering multiple filters together with industry allows drilling down to connect with highly targeted, relevant profiles and narrow your outreach.
Finding Jobs by Industry
LinkedIn not only allows you to search for people by industry, but also gives industry filtering options for job hunting. The platform has become one of the top online resources for finding and applying to jobs.
When viewing job postings, there are a couple ways to filter by industry:
Industry Filter on Jobs Page
The main LinkedIn Jobs homepage at linkedin.com/jobs provides filters in the sidebar to narrow results. Here you can select your location, date posted, job type, company and importantly, industry.
Choose your industry like Healthcare, Information Technology, Finance etc and results will be tailored to openings in that field. You can further refine with additional filters like company, title, job type or date posted.
Keyword Search
The job search bar at the top of LinkedIn allows searching by keyword just like the people search. Typing in your industry will prompt job-related keyword suggestions like:
– Finance jobs
– Education careers
– Architecture openings
Hitting enter will show job results filtered to that industry based on keywords in the job titles, descriptions and companies posting. This provides another simple way to get industry-specific job listings.
Following Companies
In addition to searching, you can get tailored industry job listings by following specific companies on LinkedIn. Their newly posted openings will appear on your homepage feed.
For example, following top companies in fields like Tech, Healthcare, Finance or Retail will showcase the latest relevant job postings from those organizations in your customized feed.
Industry View for Company Pages
Beyond individual profiles and job searches, LinkedIn offers industry filtering when it comes to viewing Company pages.
Nearly every company profile page on LinkedIn includes the industry that organization operates and competes within. Some examples are:
– Tesla – Automotive industry
– SpaceX – Aerospace & Defense
– Procter & Gamble – Consumer Goods industry
On both desktop and mobile, you can search for and filter Company results by their industry. For instance, searching “technology companies” will display results limited to firms in the tech field.
Similarly, going to the Companies tab and opening the Advanced Search provides an Industry search filter. Select an industry like Media or Healthcare and search to get company results specific to that vertical.
This is helpful for researching competitors, partners or potential employers within your industry of interest. Company search coupled with location and size filters allows narrowing results to specialized niches.
Find Industry-Specific Groups
With over 80 million LinkedIn Groups covering every professional topic imaginable, industry filtering again comes in handy to find the most relevant Groups to join.
A few ways to search for industry-related Groups include:
Group Search Bar
Simply typing an industry keyword like “finance” or “healthcare” into the top Groups search will prompt suggestions of Groups focused on those sectors. You can join relevant ones to find industry connections, content and discussions.
Browse by Category
On desktop, clicking ‘Discover’ and ‘Groups’ provides browsing by Category. Here industries are divided into main categories like Tech, Media, Business Services etc which you can click into to see related Groups.
Location + Industry
The Group search filters allow combining location and industry to find niche communities like “Vancouver Tech Professionals” or “Toronto Healthcare Innovators”. This lets you connect with professionals in the same region and sector.
Industry filtering makes it easy to find the specialized Groups most important for your line of work and networking goals. The content shared within industry Groups can provide targeted insider news, career advice and more.
Curating Your Feed by Industry
Beyond searching, LinkedIn provides options for curating your main feed by industry through:
Following Companies + Influencers
As mentioned for jobs, following relevant companies/organizations will populate your feed with their latest industry-specific updates and content. The same applies for following influencers, thought leaders and professionals sharing insights on your sector.
Liking/Commenting on Posts
Engaging with industry-related posts by liking and commenting will cause LinkedIn’s algorithm to show you more of that content over time, allowing you to tune your feed.
Joining Industry Groups
By becoming a member of key Groups for your field as outlined above, your homepage will automatically showcase the most popular discussions and posts from those communities.
Finding Industry Insights
In addition to Groups, LinkedIn offers tailored industry content through newsletters, blog posts, LinkedIn news and more:
LinkedIn News
The LinkedIn News feed available in the LinkedIn mobile app provides curated, aggregated news based on your industry interests and engagement. Tailor your news here:
https://www.linkedin.com/news/
LinkedIn Blog
The LinkedIn blog features regular industry spotlights like “The Financial Services Brief” and “The Tech Talk” highlighting key news and insights:
https://blog.linkedin.com/
Newsletters
Subscribe to industry newsletters like The Retail Brief and The Manufacturing Brief with weekly industry news and insights sent to your inbox:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/
LinkedIn is continuously enhancing industry search and targeting across the platform through features like Industries on profiles, improved relevance sorting and an Open for Business hashtag that allows showcasing industry recovery during COVID-19. Focusing your LinkedIn feed and engagement on your key industries will ensure you get the most value.
Conclusion
In summary, LinkedIn provides robust industry filtering and targeting capabilities across nearly every aspect of the platform:
– People search allows connecting with professionals in your desired industry
– Job search can be filtered by keyword or through dedicated industry options
– Company search and targeting is segmented by their line of work
– Groups offer communities focused on specialized sectors
– The LinkedIn feed can be tailored through industry content and influencers
Take advantage of these industry options to find the best opportunities, connections and insights for your goals. With LinkedIn’s powerful industry filtering tools, users can cut through the noise and shape their experience around their professional interests.