You're Using About 20% of LinkedIn
Most people use LinkedIn in the most basic way possible: scroll the feed, search for jobs, click Apply. That's fine, but it's like buying a Swiss Army knife and only using the bottle opener.
LinkedIn has quietly built a suite of job search tools that go far beyond the jobs tab. Some are buried in submenus. Some require specific settings to activate. A few are hidden in plain sight but never explained. Here are the features worth knowing about.
1. Salary Insights on Job Postings
When you view a job posting on LinkedIn, look for the salary range displayed at the top of the listing. LinkedIn now shows estimated salary ranges for many postings, even when the employer hasn't disclosed pay.
These estimates are built from LinkedIn's salary data, which aggregates self-reported compensation from members in similar roles, locations, and industries. They're not perfect, but they give you a ballpark before you invest time applying.
How to use it strategically:
- Filter out jobs that are clearly below your range before applying
- Use the salary data as a baseline for negotiation research
- Compare ranges across similar postings to understand market rates for your target role
If you don't see salary data on a posting, check LinkedIn's standalone Salary tool (linkedin.com/salary). You can search by title and location to get median pay, bonus structures, and how compensation varies by experience level.
2. The Alumni Tool
This is one of LinkedIn's most powerful and least-used features. Go to any university's LinkedIn page and click the "Alumni" tab. You'll see a breakdown of where graduates work, what they do, where they live, and what they studied.
Why this matters for job seekers:
- Find warm connections at target companies. Search your university's alumni at a company you want to work for. A message starting with "I noticed we both went to [School]" has a dramatically higher response rate than a cold outreach.
- Discover career paths. Filter by "What they studied" and "What they do" to see how people with your background ended up in roles you're targeting. This is especially useful for career changers.
- Identify networking targets. Alumni are statistically more likely to respond to connection requests and informational interview requests from fellow graduates.
How to access it: Go to your school's LinkedIn page > click "Alumni" in the top navigation. Filter by company, location, industry, or field of study.
3. Advanced Job Alerts (Beyond the Basics)
Most people set up a job alert by searching for a title and clicking the bell icon. That works, but LinkedIn's alert system is much more configurable:
Pro alert setup:
1. Run a job search with specific filters:
- Title (use exact phrases in quotes: "Product Manager")
- Location (set radius: 25mi, 50mi, etc.)
- Experience level (Entry, Associate, Mid-Senior, etc.)
- Date posted (Past 24 hours for fresh listings)
- Company (target specific employers)
- Remote/On-site/Hybrid
2. THEN create the alert from the filtered search.
The alert will match your exact filter criteria, not
just the keyword.
3. Set frequency to Daily for active searches.
Weekly alerts mean you're seeing 7-day-old postings
that already have hundreds of applicants.
Advanced tip: Create multiple alerts with slight variations. One for "Product Manager," another for "Product Lead," another for "PM" at your target companies. Job titles aren't standardized, and a single alert won't catch every variation.
4. "Open to Work" Privacy Controls
The "Open to Work" feature has settings most people don't realize exist. When you toggle it on, you choose who sees it:
| Setting | Who Sees It | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| All LinkedIn members | Everyone (green banner on photo) | Openly job searching, not currently employed |
| Recruiters only | Only users with LinkedIn Recruiter licenses | Employed but privately exploring |
The important detail: When set to "Recruiters only," your current employer's recruiters are excluded by default. LinkedIn's algorithm filters out recruiters from your company. It's not foolproof (small companies, staffing agencies that share accounts, etc.), but it adds a meaningful layer of privacy.
You can also specify the job titles, locations, and work types (remote, on-site, hybrid) you're open to. This feeds directly into recruiter search results, so be specific. A recruiter searching for "Senior Data Engineer, Remote" will find you if those are your settings.
5. Company Follow Alerts
Following a company on LinkedIn does more than add their posts to your feed. When you follow a company:
- You get notified about new job postings from that company
- You see updates about leadership changes, funding rounds, and product launches -- information you can reference in cover letters and interviews
- Your profile appears in the company's followers list, which some recruiters scan
Strategic approach: Follow your top 15-20 target companies. When a new role is posted, you'll see it within hours rather than days, letting you apply before the posting accumulates hundreds of applicants.
6. The "Who's Viewed Your Profile" Data
Free LinkedIn accounts show limited "Who's viewed your profile" data. But even the free version tells you useful things:
- Industry and job function of viewers (even when anonymized)
- Trends over time -- are views increasing after you updated your profile?
- Whether recruiters are viewing you (job titles often visible)
If you notice a recruiter from a target company viewed your profile, that's a signal. They're interested. This is the perfect time to apply to their open roles or send a connection request with a brief note.
Premium users get the full list of viewers for the past 90 days. If you're actively job searching, the Premium subscription can be worth it for this feature alone during the critical months of your search.
7. Easy Apply Settings and Tracking
LinkedIn's Easy Apply button lets you apply to jobs with a few clicks using your LinkedIn profile data. But most people don't realize you can:
- Customize your Easy Apply defaults. Go to Settings > Job Application Settings to pre-fill your phone number, most recent resume, and demographic information.
- Track all your applications. Go to Jobs > My Jobs > Applied to see every Easy Apply submission with dates and statuses.
- Upload different resumes for different applications. Easy Apply doesn't lock you into one resume. For each application, you can upload a tailored version.
A word of caution: Easy Apply makes applying so frictionless that it's tempting to spam applications. Don't. Apply to roles you're genuinely qualified for and interested in. Quality over quantity always wins.
8. Skill Assessments and Badges
LinkedIn offers skill assessments -- short tests in topics like Excel, Python, project management, and more. If you score in the top 30%, you get a badge on your profile.
This matters because:
- Profiles with skill badges are 20% more likely to get hired for roles requiring that skill, according to LinkedIn
- Badges appear in recruiter search results, giving you a visibility boost
- They demonstrate competency without needing a certification or degree
The assessments are free, untimed (you can Google during them), and you can retake them if you don't pass. There's no downside to trying.
9. Job Description Keyword Matching
When you view a job posting through LinkedIn, scroll down to the "How You Match" section. LinkedIn compares your profile to the job requirements and shows you:
- Skills you have that match the posting
- Skills the job requires that are missing from your profile
- How your experience level compares to what's requested
Use this as a checklist. If the job requires "Salesforce" and it's not on your profile but it's in your experience, add it to your Skills section. This improves both your match score for that posting and your visibility in future recruiter searches.
Putting It All Together
The job seekers who get the most out of LinkedIn aren't the ones who spend the most time on the platform. They're the ones who set up the right systems -- targeted alerts, strategic company follows, optimized privacy settings -- and let LinkedIn work in the background while they focus on tailoring applications and preparing for interviews.
Spend an hour configuring these features, and you'll have a job search infrastructure that surfaces the right opportunities faster than manually scrolling ever could.
Sources
- LinkedIn Official Blog: New Features for Job Seekers -- LinkedIn's own announcements and guides on job search features, including updates to Open to Work, salary insights, and skills assessments
- LinkedIn Economic Graph: Labor Market Insights -- Data and research from LinkedIn's Economic Graph team on hiring trends, skill demand, and how job seekers interact with the platform's tools
- Jobscan: How to Use LinkedIn for Job Search -- Detailed walkthroughs of LinkedIn's job search features with screenshots and tactical advice on optimizing alerts and profile settings
A strong LinkedIn profile gets you found, but a tailored resume gets you hired. Superpower Resume helps you build resumes that match the specific keywords and requirements from LinkedIn job postings -- so when you apply, your resume speaks the same language as the job description.
