LinkedIn has become an invaluable tool for conducting professional research. With over 810 million users worldwide, LinkedIn offers access to a massive network of professionals across all industries and career levels. Whether you’re looking to research a company, industry, or individual professional, LinkedIn can provide a wealth of information. However, effectively using LinkedIn for research requires certain skills.
Understanding Advanced Search Functions
LinkedIn’s advanced search functions allow you to craft specialized searches to find very specific information. You need to understand how to use Boolean operators, quotes, and parentheses to create targeted searches. For example, you can use Boolean terms like “AND” and “OR” to combine keywords and specify whether all or just one of the keywords must be present in the search results. Using quotes around keywords will search for exact phrases. Parentheses allow you to group keywords to control the logic. Mastering these advanced search functions is key for pinpointing the information you need.
Filtering and Sorting Search Results
When you run a search on LinkedIn, you’ll get a list of results. But these results need to be carefully filtered and sorted to extract the most relevant information. Skills like filtering by keywords, job titles, companies, locations, school attended, and other criteria are important. You also need to know how to sort results by recency and relevance. The ability to methodically filter and sort results enables you to zoom in on pertinent information for your research needs.
Evaluating Source Credibility
As with any research, evaluating the credibility of your sources is crucial when using LinkedIn. Some key things to look for are:
- Does the profile have a photo, detailed work history, and complete sections?
- How many connections does the profile have?
- Does the profile have any recommendations?
- Are they affiliated with well-known companies and organizations?
- Do they have any certifications, licenses, or accolades listed?
Profiles with full information, lots of connections, recommendations, and demonstrated expertise tend to be more credible sources of information.
Verifying Facts Against Other Sources
It’s important not to rely solely on LinkedIn for facts. Part of strong research skills is verifying information against other authoritative sources. You want to cross-check key facts like employment dates, educational credentials, company details, etc. Having the diligence to validate important details from independent sources ensures accuracy.
Analyzing Profiles for Useful Insights
The most skilled LinkedIn researchers don’t just find profiles – they analyze profiles for useful insights. Key skills include:
- Looking for career progression patterns
- Identifying skills and expertise areas
- Assessing someone’s professional network
- Comparing career paths of different professionals
You want to look beyond surface details to deduce meaningful information that aids your research purposes.
Connecting the Dots Between Disparate Data
Research is often about synthesizing pieces of information to see the bigger picture. Skilled LinkedIn researchers can sift through data on various companies, professionals, career paths, etc., and connect the dots. Recognizing macro trends, common themes, cause-and-effect relationships, and other key patterns is crucial. Strong analytical ability and critical thinking skills allow you to derive important insights from the data.
Asking For Introductions and Referrals
One of LinkedIn’s powers is the ability it offers to connect directly with other professionals. Savvy researchers leverage their own networks to reach out and ask for introductions or referrals to sources that can aid their research. The ability to politely and professionally leverage human connections can provide you access to people you couldn’t reach otherwise. This takes tact and finesse, but expands your research capabilities.
Finding Contacts at Target Companies
When researching a company, identifying and connecting with current employees is an extremely useful tactic. Skilled researchers use advanced searches to identify profiles of employees who work at target companies. They look for staff across different levels and departments to get a well-rounded perspective. Then they can reach out to request informational interviews and learn insider knowledge.
Scanning News Feeds and Company Pages
LinkedIn offers news feeds and Company Pages packed with valuable information. Researchers should have the discipline to methodically scan these feeds to uncover useful nuggets like new projects, partnerships, products, hires, awards, research reports, and more. Staying on top of emerging developments is crucial when researching companies and industries.
Mining Job Listings for Competitive Intelligence
The job listings on LinkedIn provide a treasure trove of competitive intelligence if you know how to mine them. Savvy researchers analyze job listings to identify in-demand skills, technology stacks, project details, growth areas, and more about specific companies and industries. Aggregating these insights can inform salary negotiations, hiring plans, partnership opportunities, and other key moves.
Developing a Methodical Process
The most capable LinkedIn researchers have a systematic methodology they apply to each research project. This involves steps like:
- Defining clear research objectives and key questions.
- Listing out the types of data needed.
- Developing effective search strings.
- Organizing and analyzing results in a spreadsheet.
- Determining additional search approaches based on initial findings.
- Synthesizing conclusions and recommendations.
- Creating a report summarizing methodology and critical findings.
Having a deliberate, comprehensive process yields the best results rather than a haphazard approach.
Combining LinkedIn with Other Resources
As powerful as LinkedIn is, skilled researchers know it shouldn’t be used in isolation. They combine insights from LinkedIn with other resources like company websites, press releases, news sites, industry research reports, government databases, and more. Bringing all pertinent information together is the best practice for comprehensive research.
Following Strict Ethics
When leveraging LinkedIn for research, it’s imperative to act ethically. Some key ethical guidelines include:
- Respecting privacy settings on profiles.
- Using public information only in aggregate, not quoting users without permission.
- Providing transparency by identifying yourself professionally in outreach.
- Avoiding scraping tools that violate LinkedIn’s terms of service.
- Securing informed consent before conducting interviews.
- Honoring requests to stop contacting someone.
- Ensuring attribution for any cited research or quotes.
Upholding strong ethics is essential for building trust and maintaining your professional reputation.
Continuous Learning
LinkedIn’s platform and features are continuously evolving. Ongoing learning is key to keep your research skills sharp. Take advantage of LinkedIn’s training resources, follow official accounts like @LinkedInTips, and stay on top of product changes through blog posts and help center articles.
Conclusion
Conducting comprehensive, insightful LinkedIn research requires specialized expertise. Mastering advanced search techniques, critical thinking, and analysis is crucial. Following a systematic methodology while combining LinkedIn with other resources yields the best results. With the right blend of skills and diligent effort, any professional can maximize LinkedIn for impactful research.