Want To Work For CIA? NSA? DIA? Don't Use USAJobs! (+ What To Do Instead!)

(My undergrad research assistant, McKenzie Rowland, and I are in the process of updating a series of posts I did back in 2009 called "How To Get A Job In Intelligence".  As part of her research, she took a detailed look at the career websites of all of the US national security intelligence organizations.  Her very useful analysis and comments are below.)

By:
McKenzie Rowland

When searching for a job in intelligence, one of the first places many people look is USAJobs.gov.  This site lists many postings for a number of agencies and features an advanced job search tool that allows you to filter and refine results.

While USAJobs makes the search process much more straightforward, it should not be the be-all and end-all for job hunting within intelligence agencies.  There are plenty of other alternative search engines and sites to consider, such as agency websites, when searching for intelligence-related careers, many of which yield more favorable results.

The matrix below displays yesterday's search results for the word “analyst” on both the websites of members of the Intelligence Community and the USAJobs section for that intelligence organization (Note: These search results are not indicative of the complete availability of jobs for either the organizations listed or for USAJobs. Furthermore, results may change over time.).

Category 1 Sites

For the following intelligence organizations, it is most beneficial to visit their respective website as opposed to USAJobs.  Note: some positions on these sites may overlap with ones already listed on USAJobs.

Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA): While the DIA’s general job postings do overlap to an extent with USAJobs, the DIA Jobs site lists several positions that USAJobs does not.  DIA’s job site also gives very detailed information for each individual posting, such as the “job family,” which allows you to quickly sort through positions relevant to you.

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA): For the NGA, it is more advantageous to search for open positions on their website.  Similar to the DIA, many of the jobs listed here are not available on USAJobs, so it is important to visit NGA’s career page to avoid missing out on potentially relevant job postings.

National Security Agency (NSA): For the NSA, you are almost certainly better off searching for jobs through this agency’s job site, as USAJobs does not list any positions for this agency.

Category 2 Sites

For the following agencies and departments, there is some benefit to visiting their respective websites for career information, but USAJobs provides the most in terms of actual search results.  For some of these, searches can only be conducted through USAJobs, or the websites will include that organization’s section within USAJobs.

Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI): The ODNI lists job vacancies directly on their page, but applicants are redirected to USAJobs for the majority of available positions.  (Investigative Analysis is an exception here, as you can only apply for this job through ODNI’s recruitment office.)  USAJobs does, however, list a couple of analyst positions that the ODNI’s job site does not.

Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence: When you search and apply for a job on DOE’s site, you’re almost immediately redirected to USAJobs.  While the DOE has a job searching page with detailed descriptions of each position, I’ve found that you are actually better off searching USAJobs for open positions.  Upon searching for “analyst” on DOE’s site, I discovered that many of the analyst jobs were already filled, and that USAJobs seems to filter these available positions better than DOE. For more information on the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, you can visit their website here.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Intelligence and Analysis: When searching within the DHS main site for jobs, it redirects you to their section on the USAJobs site, dhs.usajobs.gov. You do, however, have the ability to narrow down your search by skill, component, or location on DHS’ site before you are redirected to USAJobs.  For more information on the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, you can visit their website here.

Department of State (DOS), Intelligence and Research: While the DOS career page offers information about positions such as foreign and civil service officers, all actual job searches must be conducted through USAJobs.  For more information on the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, you can visit their website here.

Department of Treasury (DOT), Office of Intelligence and Analysis: For the DOT, all job searches are redirected to the USAJobs section for DOT, treasury.usajobs.gov. The site does, however, give links to the career pages of the 10 bureaus and services under the DOT.  For more information on the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, you can visit their website here.

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA): For the DEA, all job searches and applications must be conducted through USAJobs at dea.usajobs.gov. If you’re having any trouble setting up your USAJobs account or have questions regarding careers with the DEA, this career page includes ample support and information on the application process.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI):  The FBI website is useful if you’d like to learn more about careers within the FBI before you apply, and also contains a link to a page specifically for interns and college students. When applying for a job on their page, however, FBI Jobs redirects you the Bureau’s USAJobs section, fbi.usajobs.gov, which solely displays results for postings from the FBI. This is particularly convenient for when you actually want to search for a specific position within the FBI instead of just finding information about it, as FBI.gov does not have a search engine tool of its own.

U.S. Air Force (USAF), Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance: Currently, there are no actual applications available on the Air Force’s site, but their career page does provide useful information on different jobs and duties within the Air Force. In this case, it is most beneficial to search USAJobs for openings. For more information on Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance, you can visit their website here.

U.S. Army, Army Military Intelligence: The Army’s Career Management page is designed for both enlisted and civilian individuals searching for a job in the Army. Civilian career opportunities are posted on USAJobs, which you can search for using armycivilianservice.usajobs.gov. For more information on Army Military Intelligence, you can visit their website here.

U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Coast Guard Intelligence: For reserve and enlisted careers within the Coast Guard, you can search within the site for recruiters and available positions near you.  When applying for civilian careers, however, the site redirects you to a page on USAJobs of results for the Coast Guard. But before applying for actual positions, you may want to take a look at the Coast Guard’s career page that gives descriptions of all job types. For more information on Coast Guard Intelligence, you can visit their website here.

U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), Marine Corps Intelligence Activity: Similar to the Army’s career page, civilian positions are not listed directly on the Marine Corps’ site, and USAJobs provides the most filtered search results for specific openings. For more information on the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity, you can visit their website here.

U.S. Navy, Naval Intelligence: While no job searching tool exists on the Navy’s career page and searches are conducted solely through USAJobs, the Navy’s career page provides very detailed information on the many different disciplines and career paths you can choose.  For information on the Office of Naval Intelligence, you can visit their website here.

Category 3 Sites

These intelligence organizations are neither listed on USAJobs, nor do they return actual job search results.  The only way one can apply to these agencies is through their agency website or through another agency.

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA): The CIA’s career site doesn’t list specific job postings and does not have any positions posted on USAJobs.  To apply for a job, you must fill out an online application through their site once you’ve found the type of job you’re interested in. You then create an account, add that job to your “job cart” (limit 4 jobs, and your account terminates within 3 days, so act fast!) and begin the application process. If you don’t really know what you’re looking for, though, the  Job Fit Tool matches you with potential career paths based on a series of questions and can provide a good starting point for searching.

National Reconnaissance Office (NRO): The NRO is an exception to the other job search tools within agency sites.  Due to the nature of this organization, the careers page only contains links to the career pages of the agencies that collectively make up the NRO; their website suggests that you take a look at those websites instead.

Last Bit Of Advice...

When first looking for a career in intelligence, it is best to begin your search on the websites of members of the Intelligence Community. These websites oftentimes provide valuable career information and allow you to broaden your search within a specific search term. However, if you’re searching for a specific discipline not within one particular agency or department, such as "domestic counterterrorism", USAJobs will retrieve such positions.

All in all, USAJobs can be highly useful for many intelligence job searches, but it shouldn’t always be used as the primary job search engine--explore your other options!  

The Best Job In Intelligence (That You’ve Probably Never Heard Of)

“Here’s the deal…”

“I’m all ears.”

“On any given day you are as likely to be working on a terrorism case as you are on a drug smuggling ring.  Everything from chop shops in major cities to gangs that traffic prostitutes across the border are all going to come across your desk.”

“Really?”

“Really.  The work is fast and furious, though, and the emphasis is on bottom line up front, clarity and concision.”

“All the things they taught us...’

“Exactly.  That’s why we are so good at this job.  The specialty stuff you need to know you can learn on the job – it’s the basic skill set that they need.”

“What about the pay?”

“Good to great.  The lowest number I heard was in the 40’s and that doesn’t include health benefits and 401K stuff.  The highest number I heard…well, let’s just say, it’s real good.  I even heard from one guy who gets all Federal holidays and four weeks of paid vacay a year…”

“Holy…”

“Yeah.  Best part is you can work in any major city.  You don’t have to be stuck in DC.”

“You’re kidding!”

“Nope.  One more thing…”

“What?”

“You don’t need a clearance.”

“Damn.  What’s this job called again?”

“Well, every organization seems to have their own name for it but most places I have seen call it a ‘Compliance analyst’.”

*************

https://flic.kr/p/9VDebQ

Compliance Analyst, Know your Customer (KYC) Analyst, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) analyst – all of these are titles that banks give to analysts they hire to stay in compliance with US federal laws such as the Banking Secrecy Act and the US PATRIOT Act.

Banks have a responsibility under these laws to take a hard look at any transactions that are “suspicious” and all transactions over $10,000 or pay hefty fines.  This means that every bank has to have at least some of these positions on its payroll and that these positions can be found wherever the banks are.

After the transaction is analyzed, if it appears to be illegal, it and all of the evidence supporting the assessment has to be reported to the appropriate local, state or federal agencies.  Oftentimes these are law enforcement agencies but occasionally, as in the case of terrorist financing activities, intelligence agencies (US and international) get involved.

The job is, according to the working compliance analysts I spoke with to compile this post, less about the numbers and more about “whether applicants can think in an independent / logical / creative way” and about “pattern recognition skills, bottom-line-up-front writing, and the ability to gauge the reliability and value of various sources.”  The estimates these analysts make on a day to day basis can help law enforcement, intelligence agencies and the military stop crime, break up gangs and counter terrorism.

A quick look on Glassdoor.com under "compliance analyst" and it becomes obvious that starting salaries are quite good with regional banks averaging in the 40’s and multinational banks averaging in the 60’s for qualified entry-level analysts.

To get a better handle on the job and what it entailed, I reached out to a number of Mercyhurst alums working in the compliance arena to get some answers to my questions.  Here, in a lightly edited format is what they said:

Note:  Mercyhurst’s applied focus on intelligence studies coupled with its emphasis on not only national security but also law enforcement intelligence and intelligence in business seems to create a near perfect candidate for these kinds of jobs.  Certainly, many of our alumni have gravitated to these positions over the years and have typically done very well in them (I have heard from several “Vice-presidents for Anti-money Laundering” from various regional and multinational banks in the course of putting this post together…).   

Readers coming from academic programs that focus only on national security or analysts transitioning from the government to the private sector will likely find the answers below to be relevant but you might also find that these answers highlight gaps you might need to fill in order to compete successfully for these jobs.

Q:  Why do Mercyhurst intel studies grads make such good AML analysts? 

From a Vice President-AML Compliance at a large multinational bank:  Good entry level AML Analysts need to have three skills: critical thinking, writing, and data analysis. The Mercyhurst grads we hire walk in the door with very well developed critical thinking and writing skills. Data crunching/analysis (at least how it relates to AML) is the easiest of those three skills to develop on the job. 

The type of analytic product AML analysts usually produce is called a Suspicious Activity Report. It’s a short summary of suspicious transactional activity - usually 1 -2 pages in length. Being able to identify suspicious patterns and clearly write about them in concise manner is not easy. Mercyhurst grads are primed to produce that type of product and they do it extremely well. 

From a KYC Analyst at a large multinational bank:  In my position as a KYC Analyst, I'm constantly synthesizing information from a variety of sources (including our internal databases, transactional analysis done by another analyst, client responses from a questionnaire, previous reviews of the clients, and external research online). I think that Mercyhurst's program produces effective KYC/AML analysts because it arms its students with pattern recognition skills, bottom-line-up-front writing skills, and the ability to gauge the reliability and value of various sources. Instead of accepting everything we find at face value, we dig deeper to find the underlying trends in play. We've learned how to write without bells and whistles to distract from the topic at hand. While some folks might be content with a single source, we seek out corroborating information. The goal of my job is to perform due diligence in order to establish a money laundering risk level for the clients. This involves a risk-based approach that in my opinion plays well into Mercyhurst's emphasis on Words of Estimative Probability and confidence levels.

From a Senior Associate in AML/Due Diligence at a large commercial bank:  From my experience, most AML jobs typically involve the core basic skills currently being taught at the Intelligence Studies program, research, analysis and dissemination…I have been working in customer due diligence/KYC for close to eight years. Resourcefulness is key for these types of jobs. Those that are successful know how to quickly obtain customer information via open-sources or subscription databases. I say "quickly" because the workload is typically fast-paced and high-volume. 

From an AML Compliance Officer/Analyst with a large multinational bank:   As I was told upon hiring, "We can always teach you the banking terms, procedures, typologies, and show you the programs, but we can't teach you to think, understand, and analyze the data you see." …Being able to "see" trends and patterns through analysis is crucial for my role. 

To expand upon that, our operational knowledge of Microsoft Excel (and mine with Access and other database design programs) was an extreme advantage. Open source analysis is also fundamental. Optimizing Google searches to identify entities or using Lexis Nexis is crucial for transactional understanding. Furthermore, we are able to evaluate reputable sites from those that are not. Our teachings in understanding risks around the globe and generally keeping up with the news and events of today are useful… (as is being able to) follow the money or the "story" and verifying it makes business sense…A notable advantage is I2 Analyst’s Notebook, which helps to portray the relationships of entities. In a way, when I investigate transactions, I too am looking for the linkage between the parties. Lastly, being able to see (and understand) suspicious or unusual patterns. 

From an AML investigator with a large multinational bank:  It is my feeling that Mercyhurst intel grads make good AML analysts because we have been taught to identify the gaps during an investigation… In addition to being able to successfully identify the blind spots in an investigation, I feel that a strong organizational background and concision helps Intel grads be so successful. 

From a Compliance Analyst at a regional bank:  In a nutshell, Mercyhurst students make excellent AML analysts because we have been taught how to conduct our investigations in an orderly manner. We have been taught how to properly and thoroughly collect information, what information matters, and how to put the puzzle together. We have been taught how to prioritize items. We have been taught how to work under intense pressure and get the mission done. But most importantly, we have been taught how to work as a team…

Q:  What advice would you give a student interested in a career in AML?

From a KYC Analyst at a large multinational bank:  This will probably sound obvious, but it will behoove you to learn about how financial institutions operate and, if you go into business banking like I did, to learn about various business models. This knowledge isn't necessary right off the bat, but having background knowledge in the nuts and bolts of it all can only be a boon…At an interview, a Mercyhurst student might consider speaking highly of the program's ability to turn out strong analytic writers with solid research skills.

From a Compliance Analyst at a regional bank:  I would say to pay attention in the writing class and strategic, because of all the classes those two have helped me deal with the pressure and prioritizing of items. In terms of looking for jobs, AML is a growing field, and all our students will have to do is go into an interview knowing a little bit about AML and the BSA. Our program will speak for itself during the interview process. 

From an AML Compliance officer/Analyst with a large multinational bank:  For recent grads, if they are interested in this field, my best advice is to send as many resumes to as many different banks as possible…A lot of times, if you apply to a position and the person reviewing doesn't think you will fit there, they can refer you to a more appropriate job vacancy. So apply to everything! It is unlikely a hiring manager that knows what they are doing will dismiss your education. Focus on the worldly projects and internships analyzing large data-sets. 

Also, use your social networking to reach out to established grads. I had a couple different people reach out to me in the past and I'm pretty sure they are working (as AML analysts) now.  I can't say them reaching out to me directly helped, but perhaps them mentioning me helped to validate their education or helped them use the right vocabulary. 

From a Senior Associate in AML/Due Diligence at a large commercial bank:  Not all AML jobs are created equally. There are different positions for monitoring transactions and reporting suspicious activity, conducting due diligence on customers before account opening and positions for writing AML/KYC policy. 

I would recommend getting extremely familiar with Excel and manipulating databases. AML/KYC is completely metric driven. Senior management and the regulators don't want novels on the status of AML/KYC efforts. They are looking for a quick report with Key Risk Indicators based on data extrapolated from whatever database/case management system is being utilized. Employees that get promoted faster than others were assigned to special reporting projects because they know how to gather that data, analyze it and package it in a clean, easy to use format. 

Lastly, I would recommend that students serious about entering into the field pursue the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) certification. It's an industry standard and is often a prerequisite for employment. It's somewhat expensive, but students do get a discount. 

From a Vice President-AML Compliance at a large multinational bank:  Not all AML jobs are the same. There are very different levels of focus / responsibility / and potential career growth between different organizations and within different departments. Know what you’re getting into in terms of the work and apply to a position that aligns with your interests. 

Interviewers are very interested in whether applicants can think in an independent / logical / creative way. When I was interviewed, the last question I was asked was “how many toasters are there in Phoenix?” (Ed. Note:  See Fermi Questions) I ask similar questions when I interview people (although they’re directly related to the job and not household appliances). When you get these types of questions – do not answer them immediately, ask your interviewer questions or tell them about what you're assuming about the question before you answer it. It buys you time and you will give a better overall answer. In every answer that you give stress critical thinking and walk people through your thought process. Develop financial analysis skills in school. Even if you’re not interested in AML work – financial analysis skills are HIGHLY marketable and will help you land a job. 

From an AML investigator with a large multinational bank:   I feel that a class that provides a good comparison to how investigations are approached by successful AML investigators would be Professor Grabelski’s Into to Law Enforcement Intelligence. I’m sure I am not alone in remembering him drive this investigative notion home: “Tell a story!”

Q:  There seem to be many different names for this job (depending on the institution).  What are some of the search terms people should use to find these jobs?

• AML Investigator/Analyst, Compliance Officer, BSA/KYC Analyst, Global Financial Crimes Analyst/Investigator, Financial Investigative Unit (FIU) Analyst/Investigator 
• Look for jobs that include alphabet soup acronyms such as KYC, AML, BSA, OFAC, USA PATRIOT Act, and other topics such as fraud and compliance.
• The search terms I would utilize the most (it can change between banks) would be "Compliance Officer", "AML/BSA Officer", and "Analyst". Trying different combinations of those terms should help, but naturally read the job descriptions to make sure your credentials apply. 
• Students should use the following search terms when trying to find these types of jobs: AML, KYC, due diligence, OFAC, SAR (a lot of job descriptions involve suspicious activity reporting), BSA and PATRIOT Act. Some AML investigator positions are also called "Compliance Analysts.”
• Search terms for AML jobs:  ‘money laundering’, ‘AML’, ‘BSA’, ‘compliance’, ‘investigations’, ‘suspicious activity report’, ‘SAR’, ‘bank secrecy’, ‘OFAC’, ‘fraud’, ‘typology’ 

Q:  What are the opportunities for hiring right now?  What about for promotion and for movement within and between institutions in the future?  Is there anything else we should know?

From a Vice President-AML Compliance at a large multinational bank:  I think there are a couple reasons people have gravitated toward AML: 1) The market is very hot right now. There are more AML jobs out there than there have been at any point in the past. 2). Because there are more open vacancies it’s becoming tougher for organizations to find qualified people and that’s led to a significant increase in overall salaries in the past couple years. 3) You can get an AML job in virtually any city in America. That’s an attractive option for people who don’t want to live in DC or other areas where intel jobs are traditionally clustered. 

From an AML Compliance officer/Analyst with a large multinational bank:  As the demand for these positions increases, banks and related financial institutions will give away some of the negotiating power to the candidates, which is good for recent grads. I'd advise NOT to low-ball your worth. Many of the open positions will list a salary range. 

There is A LOT of poaching that takes place. Many people from our team have left to go to X, where they are getting paid more than what they would have gotten if they stayed here (from what I was told). And it seems we hire from X, probably offering more then what they would have got if they stayed! Location does matter, so evaluate the cost of living too. It is a bit odd to me, but it seems to be the status quo. People usually stay in a position for 2-3 years and move internally or externally. So, job mobility is definitely a plus, but it may be required (or encouraged). Once you have been at a bank for a bit your marketability increases as well if you want to go to a different bank, which is good job security. 

I created an entry-level Intel focused group here on LinkedIn back when I started out. With minimal effort on my part, there are now 1,216 members, many asking the right questions and even job postings from myself or others. It is called "Entry Level Intelligence Analysts".

From an AML investigator with a large multinational bank:  I feel that Mercyhurst’s reputation is growing in the private analysis/investigative sector at a fast rate. A lot of investigators and management come from public sector jobs in DC, where I feel that our reputation was already strongly solidified. Now that reputation is transferring over to the private sector…I know that within my organization Mercyhurst’s reputation for producing good analysts was already established when I got here…recent Intel grads have been so successful within the past year and a half many of us have been selected for managerial roles overseeing investigation teams. 

From a KYC Analyst at a large multinational bank:  There is, in my opinion, a significant opportunity for mobility within the organization, including internal hires from and to other departments. 

From a Compliance Analyst at a regional bank:  Even if there are no upward promotions available right now (as teams and supervisors are set for the time being), there is the opportunity to do other roles, and thus gain more experience to be more competitive for promotions.

That's it!  Lots of good advice and insights into what could be an interesting (and well-paid) career in intelligence in business.  I am certain there are many more readers who have their own tips or ideas concerning such a career choice.  Please do not hesitate to leave a comment!

How To Get An Intel Job Using LinkedIn

Most job seekers are very familiar with job related search engines such as Monster or Indeed or, among intel professionals, sites such as USAJobs.  One of the most effective and efficient websites for finding a job, however, is LinkedIn, and it is surprising how many job hunters fail to take advantage of its powerful tools for searching and applying for intel related jobs.

There are, of course, some legitimate security concerns among some sectors of the intelligence profession regarding social media sites like LinkedIn.  However, for the vast majority of job seekers - particularly entry-level job seekers and particularly for those interested in intelligence in business positions - LinkedIn is a must-use site.

Much of the power of LinkedIn comes from the size of an individual's network.  The larger and more diverse the network, the better the results.  Thus, the first step for individuals trying to break into intelligence is to build a network.  The time to do this is not three months before graduation, however.  

Intelligence professionals are a cautious bunch and are highly unlikely to take kindly to spam-y requests to connect from unknown or unverified contacts.  A far better avenue is to start early in your academic career and to build contacts slowly.  Start with professors, alumni or others you know who are already in the business or already have contacts with intelligence professionals.  Join organizations such as the SCIP and IACA.  But don't just join them - become as active in your local chapter as you can.

Within LinkedIn, try to identify some specialty groups where active discussions take place in an area of the intelligence field in which you are interested.  There are a number of these groups and joining them, listening to others discuss the issues of the day and, eventually, contributing to them with cogent, well-thought out observations of your own is a good way to steadily build a reputation within the community.

All this is the undercard, however, to the main event:  The LinkedIn job search feature.

At the top of every LinkedIn page is a Jobs Link.  Clicking on that link takes you to a jobs page with a number of interesting sections.  First is the Jobs You May be Interested In section.  Here, based on your profile, LinkedIn tries to guess which jobs might be right for you.  

LinkedIn also looks for commonalities among employers within your network (under the premise, perhaps, that if all your professional contacts work for Company X, you might be interested in a job there as well) and offers job recommendations along those lines in its Discover Jobs in Your Network section.  If your network is still small (and it may well be if you are looking for an entry level job), this latter section may not be much help.

You can also search for jobs in the search box near the top of the page but this search box defaults to a local search.  If you live in a small town, such a narrow area search is unlikely to reveal many intelligence related jobs.

However, the search bar that always sits at the very top of the page allows you to easily conduct national level searches for jobs.  Getting good results typically depends on which search terms you use (a more difficult question in the world of intelligence in business...) but a good starting place is simply "intelligence analyst".

LinkedIn will typically generate a number of jobs from this kind of search.  If it generates too many or the search needs to be otherwise focused, you can use the filters found on the left hand side of the page.  Two of the most useful are Experience and Relationships.  Experience is easy to understand and LinkedIn helpfully tells you how many jobs there are currently within each experience level.  For example, in the screenshot on the left (taken from my profile), you can see LinkedIn found 127 entry-level jobs.  

The Relationships filter helps you understand who you know that works at the same company or organization as the job advertised.  For example, I have a first level connection to 351 individuals at companies or organizations who are currently offering intelligence analyst jobs.  Knowing that someone in your network works at a company you are considering is very helpful.  You can ping them for insights about what it is like to work at that company or, if they know you well (not always true on social networks like LinkedIn), they might be able to refer you within their own system, giving you somewhat of an edge in the hiring process.

The Job Profile itself offers similar information.  First, a simple click on the People In Your Network link (if any) will let you know who you know who works at a given company or organization.  It will also give you insight into the second level contacts to which you might be able to be introduced. More importantly, perhaps, for entry-level job seekers with smaller networks is the link to Similar Jobs.

Finally, once you have selected a job of interest, be sure to look for the Apply Now button.  This allows you to apply for the job directly through LinkedIn.  Otherwise, you typically have to apply on the company's website.  A final hint is to check LinkedIn jobs often.  In the two days it has taken me to write this post, I have seen a number of jobs pop up and disappear.

This is just a start, however.  There are any number of other tips and tricks to using LinkedIn to get a job.  If you know any, please leave a comment!