This post may contain affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure here.

This LaziMILLENNIAL Lounge post was written by Natalie Gullatt. Natalie is an Atlanta-born millennial and marketing professional. She’s also extremely passionate about helping out fellow millennials and providing mentorship and advice whenever possible. So it was no suprise when she jumped at the opportunity to share her LinkedIn success stories.

That’s right – stories.

Natalie shares two instances in which her presence and activity on LinkedIn led to a new job and a salary bump. (Between me and you, #2 is Natalie’s – and my – fave!) Read on to learn how she did it and how you can too!

Read all the way to the bottom for a FREE giveaway to help YOU become a LinkedIn success story, too!

LinkedIn Success Story #1

In November 2015, I received my first full-time marketing job with a software as a service (SaaS) company called LivePerson by applying through LinkedIn.

Since I had moved back to Atlanta after graduate school, I had been searching the job section on LinkedIn for marketing jobs in the city.

I saw the LivePerson job posting and reviewed the company. I made sure my LinkedIn profile and resume were sufficient and applied.

A week or two after applying, I received an invitation for a phone interview.

The recruiter not only liked my resume but also my LinkedIn profile. At the time, it was full of endorsements and activity related to marketing.

I eventually got the job – not only because I applied through LinkedIn, but also because I used LinkedIn appropriately.

LinkedIn Success Story #2

The story of how I got my current job is one I love even more.

After working for LivePerson for about a year, I beefed up my LinkedIn profile. I added content that I created, blogs I wrote, and skills I gained. I used the STAR method (Situation Task Action and Results) throughout my LinkedIn profile.

I was pretty active on LinkedIn and recruiters began to reach out to me pretty regularly, about once per month.

A recruiter at my current company Oldcastle reached out to me for a networking meeting. I took the advice someone once gave me, which was, “Always say yes to these meetings, even if you’re not looking for a job.”

I spoke with the recruiter and he expressed a need he had for a position to be filled at Oldcastle.

At the end of the conversation he mentioned two roles he thought I would be a good fit for and decided to send me the job descriptions. The company had a greater and more urgent need in Atlanta, and the other opportunity would require me to relocate to Colorado.

He then set up a meeting between the Director of Corporate Communications in North America and me.

The conversation went well. About two months later I received an offer which included the salary I requested and a significant pay raise from my previous position!

LinkedIn is helpful if your profile is complete, has industry keywords, a profile picture, content you authored, endorsements and success stories from previous jobs.

It is also important to engage frequently by commenting on others’ achievements or industry related content. LinkedIn is a powerful tool if used correctly.

Hopefully Natalie’s LinkedIn success stories have inspired you to step up your LinkedIn game! To make sure you’re optimizing your profile for maximum success, I’ve created a free 13-step guide to help you get your account set up and ready for job leads to start rolling in!

Download below!