How to land your dream job

by Taryn Davies | 11 June 2012

Work your way to the top with these handy hints

It seems that the UK workforce are confused about how to get ahead in a weak economy and land a dream job, according to research.

LinkedIn has created a 9 Minute Tips that you can use to get that dream job or show your boss you are the perfect person for that promotion.

9 minutes a day gives you complete focus – a time away to focus on you – to reflect on your current career status and more importantly, your career aspirations.

World leading personal branding expert William Arruda instead presents a far more appealing and realistic time commitment– he advocates that by spending just 9 minutes a day you’ll be able to maintain a healthy and successful career. The public perception of 3.5+hrs per week is a stark contrast to Arruda’s recommendation of 45 minutes per week.

Arruda, who partnered with LinkedIn to identify the optimum amount of time to spend daily on what he has termed ‘continuous career management’, said, “fitting 9 minutes of career management into your daily schedule is all it takes without adding stress or pressure. 9 minutes is the optimum amount of time recommended, because it also gives you complete focus, and educators to psychologists agree that the ability to focus one's attention on a task is crucial for the achievement of one's goals.

“Relationships require care and so building and maintaining them is a major component of successful career management. These days, we live in a highly connected and technology driven world, so building your online network on LinkedIn, is a critical career management skill,” says Arruda.

Tasks you can do in 9 Minutes

Here are some suggested activities you can easily slot into your 9 minute window and LinkedIn clearly provides a perfect platform to facilitate a wide number of these:

Build your network: building and maintaining relationships is a major component of a successful career.
Maintain relationships by recommending and congratulating others in their careers – everyone enjoys being recognized
Request recommendations from your networks as credibility is critical
Document achievements and wins on LinkedIn to stay current and relevant
Update your status every day and make sure your profile and photo s are current
Expand on your thought leadership; lead a forum or LinkedIn group; publish an article; start a blog or speak publicly
Use the power of video and create a video bio of yourself for your Linkedin profile.
Source staff – one of a manager’s hardest jobs. If you build your brand community, you’ll create fans who want to work for you.
Research. Make an effort to get to know more about your clients or partners and competitors – LinkedIn is a great place to start