LINKEDIN JOB SEARCH | Find Relevant Vacancies, Set Job Alerts, and Screen Opportunities More Carefully

Searching for work online can become a full-time job in itself.

You search for a position, scroll through dozens of listings, open several pages, and sometimes discover that the role is unsuitable, outdated, or suspicious.

A better approach is to build a repeatable job-search workflow.

LinkedIn can help you discover vacancies, narrow your search, save opportunities, receive alerts, research employers, and apply for suitable roles. Its newer AI-powered job search also lets you describe the kind of work you want in ordinary language instead of depending entirely on exact job-title keywords.

The goal is not to apply for every vacancy you find. It is to identify relevant opportunities, evaluate them carefully, and spend your time on applications that genuinely fit.

1. Prepare before searching

Before opening the Jobs section, define what you are looking for.

Write down five things:

• Role: The kind of work you want to do.
• Skills: The abilities you can demonstrate.
• Experience: Entry-level, internship, experienced, or senior.
• Location: Your preferred city, country, or remote arrangement.
• Employment type: Full-time, part-time, contract, internship, or another suitable arrangement.

For example, someone interested in digital marketing might be looking for entry-level marketing assistant roles, social media work, or content marketing internships.

Do not restrict yourself to a single job title if employers use different names for similar responsibilities. A person with spreadsheet skills, for example, might find relevant opportunities under operations assistant, reporting assistant, administrative assistant, or data-entry roles.

The important distinction is between a different job title and a genuinely different job. Read the responsibilities before deciding that a vacancy is suitable.

2. Open LinkedIn Jobs and describe the opportunity

1. Sign in to LinkedIn.
2. Open the Jobs section.
3. Use the job-search field to describe the role you want.
4. Include useful details such as your preferred location, experience level, industry, or specialist skills.
5. Review the results and refine your description if the matches are too broad or too narrow.

For example, you could try:

• “Entry-level digital marketing jobs in Lagos.”
• “Remote customer support roles for candidates with strong written communication.”
• “Junior data analyst jobs requiring Excel or Google Sheets.”
• “Part-time content writing opportunities for beginners.”

These are example searches, not guarantees that matching vacancies currently exist.

LinkedIn's newer AI-powered search is designed to interpret natural-language descriptions. You can therefore describe the work you want rather than relying only on a short phrase such as “marketing jobs.” The search experience and available filters may differ between accounts as LinkedIn updates the interface.

Official guide: Discover new opportunities with AI-powered job search.

3. Narrow the results

A large list of vacancies is not automatically useful. Refine it until the results become manageable.

Depending on the search interface available to you, useful filters may include:

• Location: Focus on a particular city or country.
• Remote: Find roles advertised as remote.
• Date posted: Prioritise newer listings when this filter is available.
• Experience level: Look for positions that fit your current experience.
• Employment type: Separate full-time work from internships, part-time roles, and contracts.
• Company: Focus on employers you want to investigate.
• Easy Apply: Find roles that support applications through LinkedIn, where available.

You can also include these requirements in your search description when the corresponding filter is unavailable.

Be careful with the word remote. A remote vacancy may still require the applicant to live in a particular country, have permission to work in a specific jurisdiction, or work within certain time zones. Read the full description before applying.

For details on available filters, see LinkedIn's job-search guidance.

4. Create job alerts so you do not have to start over every day

One of the most useful parts of a repeatable search is the ability to receive notifications when new opportunities match your criteria.

On a computer

1. Open LinkedIn Jobs.
2. Search for a role using your preferred keywords or a natural-language description.
3. Refine the results where appropriate.
4. Find the job alert control on the results page and switch it on.
5. If prompted, open Manage alerts to choose how often you receive notifications and whether they arrive by email, LinkedIn notifications, or both.
6. Save the settings.

On a phone

1. Open the LinkedIn app and tap Jobs.
2. Search for the role you want.
3. Review the results and refine the search.
4. Switch the job-alert control on.
5. Review the notification settings if the app offers them.

The exact placement of the alert control may vary as LinkedIn updates its interface. On mobile, the default alert may be daily, with both email and LinkedIn notifications enabled.

LinkedIn currently documents a maximum of 20 active job alerts per member. You do not need to use them all. Start with a small number of carefully defined searches.

Official guide: Job alerts on LinkedIn.

Build alerts around different opportunities

Instead of creating several alerts for almost identical searches, use a few that cover distinct possibilities.

For example:

• Your primary job title and preferred location.
• An alternative job title that uses similar skills.
• A suitable remote or contract role.

Review the results regularly. If an alert produces irrelevant vacancies, change its search criteria or turn it off.

An alert is a discovery tool, not a guarantee that every vacancy will match your qualifications.

5. Save interesting jobs and evaluate them before applying

When you find a potentially suitable vacancy, save it so you can review it later. LinkedIn's job-search interface provides a way to save job posts, although the exact label and placement can vary.

Before applying, answer these questions:

Does the role fit?

• Do I have the required skills or a credible way to develop them?
• Does the experience requirement match my background?
• Are the responsibilities clear?
• Is the location or remote arrangement workable for me?

Does the employer appear credible?

• Can I find the organisation's official website?
• Does the company have a consistent and credible online presence?
• Does the vacancy appear on the employer's official careers page?
• Can I identify a legitimate contact or recruitment process?

Are the terms clear?

• Is the compensation stated or reasonably explainable?
• Is the work arrangement described?
• Are the responsibilities consistent with the advertised position?
• Does the application process make sense for the employer and role?

A LinkedIn listing is not proof that a job offer is genuine. A convincing company logo, professional-looking profile, or large number of followers does not establish that a recruiter is authorised to hire on the company's behalf.

Where possible, verify the vacancy through the employer's independently located official website or careers page.

6. Recognise warning signs before sharing personal information

Job scams can exploit the urgency people feel when looking for work. Some advertisements promise unusually high earnings, offer jobs without a meaningful selection process, or ask applicants to pay money before they can begin.

Pause and investigate if a recruiter:

• Demands payment for a job, guaranteed placement, or compulsory recruitment processing.
• Requests money for equipment through an unusual payment arrangement.
• Asks for passwords, verification codes, or access to your account.
• Pressures you to provide sensitive identity or banking information before the employer and process have been verified.
• Sends suspicious links or insists that you move immediately to an unrelated messaging service.
• Offers extraordinary earnings for vague duties and little evidence of a genuine business.

Not every request for information is fraudulent, and legitimate employers may conduct background checks. The important questions are whether the request is appropriate for that stage of recruitment and whether you can verify the organisation making it.

Never pay a recruiter simply because a vacancy appears on LinkedIn. If you suspect fraud, preserve the messages and listing details, verify the employer independently, and report the suspicious content through the platform.

For more guidance, consult LinkedIn's job-search best practices.

7. Prepare your application for each role

Do not send the same application blindly to every employer.

For each promising vacancy:

1. Read the complete job description.
2. Identify the main responsibilities and required skills.
3. Compare them with your actual experience and abilities.
4. Update your CV to make relevant qualifications, projects, and achievements easy to find.
5. Prepare a short, specific cover letter or application message when appropriate.
6. Follow the employer's application instructions.
7. Keep a record of the date and method of application.

Use honest evidence. If you have completed a relevant project, describe what you built, what tools you used, and what the result was. Do not claim professional experience or certifications you do not possess.

LinkedIn's Easy Apply option can simplify some applications, but not every employer uses it. Other vacancies direct you to an external application page. Check the destination and make sure you are submitting your information to the intended organisation.

8. Keep a simple job-application tracker

Saved jobs and alerts help you discover vacancies, but they are not a complete record of your applications.

A basic spreadsheet can prevent missed deadlines, repeated applications, and forgotten follow-ups.

Create a table with these columns:

Field	What to record
Date found	When you discovered the vacancy
Company	Employer's name
Job title	Advertised position
Job link	Direct link to the listing
Deadline	Closing date, if stated
Application date	When you applied
Status	To review, preparing, applied, interview, rejected, or closed
Next action	Follow up, prepare for interview, or review another vacancy

You can build this tracker in Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, or another spreadsheet application.

Update it whenever you take an action. If a vacancy closes, mark it accordingly rather than leaving it in your active list.

Avoid storing unnecessary sensitive information in the tracker. You generally do not need identity-document numbers, bank details, passwords, or verification codes to manage a job search.

9. Establish a weekly routine

A job search becomes more manageable when you separate discovery, evaluation, and applications.

Try this routine:

When an alert arrives: Review the vacancy, verify the employer, and save it if it looks promising.

During your main job-search session: Compare saved vacancies, read their requirements carefully, and select the strongest matches.

When applying: Tailor your CV, follow the instructions, and record the submission.

At the end of the week: Review your tracker, prepare for any interviews, follow up where appropriate, and refine alerts that are producing poor results.

Measure progress by the quality of your applications and the follow-through you complete—not simply by the number of vacancies you open.

10. Practice: Build your first focused job search

Use the following checklist to put the workflow into action.

• [ ] Define one target role and one alternative.
• [ ] Write a search description that includes your skills and preferred location.
• [ ] Review the results and apply relevant filters.
• [ ] Create at least one useful job alert.
• [ ] Save three potentially suitable vacancies.
• [ ] Verify the employer and check the application requirements for each.
• [ ] Create a simple application tracker.
• [ ] Apply for one suitable vacancy if you meet its requirements.

At the end of the exercise, you should have a repeatable process for discovering, evaluating, and tracking opportunities rather than relying on random scrolling.

Final thoughts

LinkedIn is most useful when you treat it as a structured job-search tool instead of a stream of advertisements.

Define the work you want, search with purpose, refine the results, set alerts, verify employers, and keep track of your applications. These habits will not guarantee employment, but they can help you use your time more effectively and make better-informed decisions.

The objective is not to apply everywhere. It is to find the right opportunities and pursue them carefully.

Official resources

• LinkedIn: AI-powered job search
• LinkedIn: Job alerts
• LinkedIn: Filter and sort job-search results
• LinkedIn: Job-search best practices 

Image: Forbes