How do I search LinkedIn by geographic region?

Of all the different social media networks, LinkedIn has one of the most powerful and sophisticated search systems available. Makes sense if you think about it because everyone who signs up on LinkedIn then immediately fills in tons of personal information, including title and geographic location. Better, as people endorse you, they add a rich world of keywords around your profile too, allowing even more powerful search matches so that if your title is “Sales” but your expertise is automotive or boating or similar, both can be matched.

And that’s something to think about because LinkedIn really is a search engine unto itself, one without huge smarts, so if your company is called Joe’s Garage and your title is Floor Supervisor, it’s not going to match a search for “cars”, “automobile” or “mechanic”. So your profile definitely needs to be keyword rich, whether it’s in your title or narrative description of a specific job or position you’ve had. That’s just smart.

But back to your query. Before you jump on the plane for Miami, go onto your LinkedIn page and look at the top bar:

As I’ve circled, you want to find and click on the “Advanced” link just to the right of the search box.

It pops up a big, complicated and detailed search window:

I suggest that you liberally use the “Keywords” box on the top left, adding a few synonyms that are commonly used in your industry to describe jobs, companies and products.

Then for location, it’s a bit tricky because as you make selections, the window expands. Start by clicking on “Anywhere” on the lower left and choosing “Located in or near” instead of “Anywhere”. New fields then pop up:

Need to find a postal code for a city? Just ask Google!

For my search, I’m going to enter the zipcode for the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, California (xxxx):

Notice that once I entered a postal code / zip code, the new field “Within” showed up.

So my search is looking for keyword “actor” within 50mi of the Hollywood Hills. A click on “Search” and…

There are lots more than just Terry and Josh. In fact, notice on the top: 26,662 results for “actor” within 50 miles of H’wood.

Makes sense, right? That 50-mile radius encompasses a huge population.

You can use exactly this same strategy for your search of colleagues in Miami!