Looking for a job overseas? Websites designed to help people find work abroad can be confusing. Many employers and recruiters now hunt for new talent on LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network. This means it’s important to be visible. Medibroker finds international health insurance plans for people moving abroad, and knows LinkedIn is an important tool in every international jobseeker’s toolkit. Let them help you find your ideal job overseas.

Your Profile

Here’s how to optimise your LinkedIn profile to help you find a job overseas in a high earning country like Dubai, Singapore or South Africa.

A Professional Photo

Use a well-lit, corporate image of yourself. If you’re looking for a job in the UAE, immaculate personal presentation is vital so it’s important you appear tidy and formal in your online presence. In your LinkedIn profile photo, you should be dressed in business wear, and only your head and shoulders should be in the shot.

Keep It Up-to-date

Does your LinkedIn profile fully list the skills you have acquired in your current or latest role? Now is the time to update your experience and state your career intentions.

Keywords

Listing your key skills will make it easier for HR people and recruiters to find you. Your ‘summary’ line should recap your experience and future goals. Similarly, consider adding that you have an international outlook or are willing to relocate to your personal profile. If you have language skills, make sure they’re mentioned towards the start of your personal description – recruiters may only scan your profile, so show them quickly why you are the person they’re looking for.

Network

Join expat groups and LinkedIn groups that share details of job openings in your chosen expat country. The other people in these groups can be valuable contacts because LinkedIn allows you to message them directly. LinkedIn limits the amount of groups you can be a member of, so choose wisely.

It’s also good to work out which country you are interested in moving to, because this makes targeting your search much easier. If you find a group that serves your chosen industry and country, this will be a huge help.

Your social presence

Building professional relationships is an important element of your international job search, particularly if you want to work in the UAE, where business revolves around who you know.

Get Recommended

Reach out to people you have worked with in a professional capacity previously and ask them to write you a recommendation on LinkedIn. Most people are happy to do this because it highlights them as a trustworthy voice. If someone writes a review that you aren’t quite happy with, you can always elect not to publish it on your profile.

The best way to get recommended is to recommend other people!

Get Endorsed

Like LinkedIn recommendations, getting endorsed for the skills integral to your job will help your job applications. A good tip is to reorder your endorsed skills so that the most important ones are shown first. Similarly, move skills you want to get endorsed for to the top of your feed.

Get Active

Establish yourself as a thought leader by sharing articles that will be of interest to people in your field, and comment on other people’s links. You can also use LinkedIn’s own publishing feature to share your own work – and the more views it attracts, the more potential connections you gain.

Follow Companies

Make a list of international companies you would like to work for, then follow their updates on LinkedIn – a lot of companies now post new positions or have a separate LinkedIn account specifically for recruitment.

Follow Medibroker on LinkedIn for updates about IPMI for international assignees and people working overseas.