This document provides tips for veterans using LinkedIn to find jobs. It recommends establishing an online professional identity by optimizing your profile, getting recommendations, and joining relevant groups. It also suggests developing your professional network by growing your connections, sharing insights, and following companies. Finally, it discusses finding job opportunities by searching for open roles, checking company career pages, and subscribing to LinkedIn Job Search.

1. ©2013 LinkedIn Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 1
Top 3 Tips
For Veterans

2. LinkedIn For Veteran Job Seekers
Develop your
professional network
Find Job
Opportunities
01
Establish your
online professional
identity
 Optimize Your Profile
 Get Recommended
 Grow Your Network
 Share Insights
 Join Groups
 Follow Companies
 Jobs Page
 Company Career Pages
 Job Seeker Subscription
02 03

3. STEP #1
Establishing your online
professional identity

4. Optimize Your Profile
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01
Customize your URL
1. Job & career highlights
2. Company & industry notes
3. Personal Notes
1. Short term experience
2. Ongoing involvement
3. Strategic level advising

5. Customize Your URL
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01
Alan Cordero
Innovative Sales Management Professional
and People Developer
San Francisco Bay Area l Internet
www.linkedin.com/in/acordero
Easily direct people to your LinkedIn profile

6. Write a Summary
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01
Job and Career Highlights
I have practiced corporate law in New York for 10 years. During this time, I represented Fortune
500 companies as well as smaller nonprofits through our pro bono practice. This great variety of
clients taught me the legal needs organizations hold in common as well as the variety of
perspectives in the legal professional. A personal highlight was being named pro bono attorney
of the year in 2010.
Company and Industry Notes
I served in the United States Army as a paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat
Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. I deployed to the Afghani-Pakistani border, participated in
numerous combat missions, and coordinated a number of local reconstruction projects over the
next year. I was honorably discharged in 2008.
Personal Notes
In the army, I learned resilience and perseverance and I dearly miss the adaptive persistence of
my fellow soldiers and ability to find positivity and humor in difficult times. I attended undergrad
at the University of Virginia and I hold a JD from Yale Law School.
Your elevator pitch describing your skills, passion, and goals

7. Volunteer & Causes Experiences
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01
Short Term
Experience
Ongoing
Involvement
Strategic Level
Advising
Volunteer
San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center
August 2009 – June 2010 (11 months) l Health
• Assisted in a study on mannequin doctor training
• Observed over 20 surgical procedures such as open hip and brain operations
• Escorted patients in wheelchairs and gurneys through the hospital to either
clinics or rooms
Member, Advisory Board
Venture For America
2012 – Present (1 year) l Greater New York City Area
Innovative fellowship program that places top college graduates in start-ups for two
years in low-cost U.S. cities to generate job growth and train the next generation of
entrepreneurs.
Spay/Neuter Clinic Volunteer
San Francisco SPCA
Animal Welfare
I spend a couple Saturdays throughout year working at the East Bay, Oakland
chapter of the SPCA volunteering at the Spay/Neuter Clinic. Volunteer duties
include: prep of surgical instruments, cleaning, monitoring and caring for animals
after surgery and whatever else is needed with direction from the full-time staff.

8. Military Skills Translator
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Need help? This site will translate your military skills, experience and training,
and you can then add to your LinkedIn page.
https://mst.vaforvets.va.gov/mst/va/mos-translator

9. Get Endorsed
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01
Adding skills and expertise makes it easy for your connections to
endorse you for your knowledge and strengths, and helps you show
up in relevant searches.
Intelligence Analysis99+
National Security57
Leadership47
Government35
Most Endorsed For…

10. Get Recommended by Former Colleagues and Clients
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Annabelle Larsen
Executive Officer at USAF Reserves
Darrell was an outstanding manager. We worked together during a time of
transition on the Air Staff at the Pentagon and throughout the process Darrell
kept a level head and a big-picture perspective, ensuring everyone focused on
the tasks central to success. He maintained a sense of calm in an otherwise tense
environment.
March 7, 2011, Lisa worked indirectly for Darrell at United States Air Force
“
Tips on getting good recommendations
Request with a
soft approach3 3 3Remind them of your
past projects and
accomplishments
Request from a
variety of different
position levels
Ask some of your connections – like other service members and former
colleagues – to write recommendations of your work.

11. STEP #2
Developing your
professional network

12. Grow Your Network01
Reach out to contacts you’ve made and cement those relationships
“One of the best pieces of advice I
received about 2 years before I retired
was to expand my network. That doesn’t
mean collecting and distributing
business cards. Building your network
entails making yourself known to an
expanding audience. Specifically, you
want to demonstrate your value to your
circle of friends, coworkers, classmates
and acquaintances, and then expand
that circle. The easiest way to do this is
to do good work.”
-Darrell Brown
Manager, NGA
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3rd Degree
Connections
Companies
Connections
Your
Connections

13. Sharing Insights
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1
02
Like (12) • Comment (8) • Send a message • Share • 2hr ago
Brendan Smith
LinkedIn Identifies Your Contacts in “Fortune’s Best Companies to work for… cool!
LinkedIn Identifies Your Contacts in “Fortune’s Best Companies to…
mashable.com • LinkedIn works with Time Inc’s Fortune to introduce
widget letting users see who they know in Fortune’s “Best Companies
to Work For.”
Like (1) • Comment(1) • Send a message • Share • 1hr ago
Brendan Smith
Inspiring discussions w/ Deepak Chopra @ LinkedIn…leadership, spirituality,
metaphysics with a dash of quantum mechanics in the context of technology…wow!
Update your status with interesting articles, announcements, thoughts,
and questions about topics in-line with your professional goals.

14. Demonstrate your industry interests and professional affiliations, meet
like-minded people, and have conversations about topics that matter to you.
Join Groups
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15. Veteran Mentor Network (Group)
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Join a community of veterans, employers, service members, and leaders. The
group helps professionals connect with Veterans and provides advice as you
look for jobs after your service.

16. Follow Companies
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Stay up-to-date with company operations, current news, products and
services, employees, job opportunities and more, while also showing your
interest in specific companies.

17. STEP #3
Finding Job Opportunities

18. Find Open Opportunities
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Find jobs by keyword, title, company, postal code, function, industry, years of
experience and date posted using advanced search.

19. Take Advantage of Company’s Career Pages
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Follow companies to signal your interest in working for them.

20. Job Seeker Subscription (Search)
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LinkedIn provides a free Job Seeker Subscription ($1000 value) to every
US Veteran. Join the LI Job Seeker Subscription subgroup of the Veteran Mentor
Network for access to the subscription.
• Find and InMail Recruiters/Hiring Managers outside of your network
• Signal your active pursuit of a new opportunity with a Job Seeker badge
• See the full list of who’s viewed your profile, plus details on how they found you
• Appear higher and more often in search results for candidates
• Join the Open Link network to let anyone on LinkedIn contact you about job
opportunities for free

21. ©2013 LinkedIn Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 21
Best Advice
“I relied heavily on my professional
network during my transition from the
military to a civilian career. Through
LinkedIn I was able to expand my
network and interact with
professionals in the trade space I was
interested in entering. I received two
job interviews as a direct result of my
LinkedIn connections. Additionally, I
used my LinkedIn network to evaluate
potential employees and to get a sense
of different company cultures.”
Manager l Deputy NST Chief l Mentor
Springfield, Virginia l Defense & Space
Meet Darrell Brown

22. ©2013 LinkedIn Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 22
More Resources
Transition Assistance Program (TAP)
TAP is offered on most military installations. It is usually 2-3 days
of seminars and briefings on how to transition into the civilian world.
They cover everything from writing resumes, interviewing, and how
to dress in the civilian world.
USAJOBS.com For Service members interested in government
positions I would recommend building a profile on USAJOBS.com. The
site provides job seekers with email alerts for job openings that meet
the users preselected criteria.
Others
There are also websites geared towards personnel with security
clearances (ClearanceJobs.com and Intelligencecareers.com).
Darrell Brown posted his resume on these sites and received
regular solicitation from recruiters who saw his resume on the sites.