How to Search LinkedIn by Keyword

By Joel Elad from LinkedIn For Dummies, 2nd Edition

With LinkedIn’s search capabilities, search the network by keyword to find experts in a given field. When you search by keyword, LinkedIn analyzes everyone else’s profiles to find that matching word. You can put any sort of skill, buzzword, interest, or other keyword that would be present in someone’s profile to see who in your network is a match.

While logged in to LinkedIn, click the Advanced link at the top right of the page.

You’re taken to the Advanced People Search tab.

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Enter the keyword(s) in the Keywords text box.

If you enter multiple keywords, LinkedIn looks for members who have all the keywords in their profile.

Try tacking on additional search criteria, such as picking one or more industries, location information (country and ZIP/postal code), or perhaps a job title to get a more meaningful search result. Otherwise, your result list will be long and unhelpful.

If you’re searching for a specific keyword phrase, put those words in quotation marks so LinkedIn will search for the exact phrase: for example, “Six Sigma.” Otherwise, LinkedIn searches each individual word.

Click the blue Search button.

You see the people in your extended network with those keywords in their profile.

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(Optional) Fine-tune your results with the Filter By options.

You can expand the various filters along the left side of the Search Results screen and use them to refine your results by entering more information, such as keywords, job titles, user types, and location information by selecting the check boxes provided. As you select each filter, LinkedIn automatically updates the search results to give you a more precise search that narrows down the list.