How to See Someone's Industry on LinkedIn

Trying to figure out what industry a contact works in on LinkedIn is one of the quickest ways to sharpen your outreach. Whether you're a salesperson, a job seeker, or a marketer, this single piece of information provides immediate context for making your communication more relevant. This guide will show you exactly where to find a person's industry, how to search for people by industry, and what to do when that information isn't immediately obvious.

Why Does Knowing Someone's Industry on LinkedIn Matter?

Pinpointing someone's industry isn't just about collecting data, it's about understanding their world so you can engage more thoughtfully. Think of it as a cheat sheet for building genuine connections and getting better results, whether you're trying to sell a product, find a job, or build a professional network.

For Sales and Business Development Professionals

Cold outreach is an uphill battle, but understanding a prospect's industry turns a generic message into a targeted one. When you know you're speaking to someone in "Hospitality," you can frame your product's benefits around guest experiences or operational efficiency. If they're in "Financial Services," you can highlight security, compliance, and ROI. Speaking their language shows you've done your homework and immediately differentiates you from the hundreds of other messages in their inbox.

• Tailor your pitch: Reference industry-specific pain points.
• Understand business context: Know the challenges and trends they're facing.
• Find better leads: Filter your search to focus on the sectors your product serves best.

For Networking and Job Seeking

Connecting with purpose is the name of the game. For job seekers, knowing the industry of a hiring manager or potential teammate helps you tailor your resume and cover letter. It allows you to ask more intelligent questions in an interview, demonstrating your genuine interest in their space. For general networking, it provides an instant icebreaker: "I noticed you're in the SaaS industry - I'm really interested in the latest trends around AI-powered sales tools. What are your thoughts?"

• Personalize your introduction: Show you understand their professional landscape.
• Identify relevant contacts: Focus on building relationships with people in fields you want to enter.
• Have smarter conversations: Move beyond generic chatter and into discussions about shared interests.

For Marketers and Content Creators

Great marketing comes from deeply understanding your audience. By analyzing the industries of your most engaged followers, you can uncover valuable insights about who is truly paying attention to your brand. Are a lot of your followers in "E-Learning"? Maybe your content should lean into topics like educational technology. Is the "Renewable Energy" sector overrepresented in your audience? Create content that speaks to sustainability challenges and innovations. This feedback loop is essential for building a community and creating content that resonates.

• Define audience segments: Understand the professional makeup of your followers.
• Create relevant content: Produce posts, articles, and videos that address their specific world.
• Identify influencers: Find powerful voices within niche industries to collaborate with.

Where to Find the Industry on a LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn puts this information front and center, but you have to know where to look. Here are a few common methods to quickly find it.

Method 1: The Profile "Intro" Card (The Fastest Way)

This is the most direct method and is usually all you'll need. The "intro card" is the top section of a person's profile that contains their picture, name, headline, and other key details.

1. Go to the person's LinkedIn profile. You can find this by searching their name or clicking on their profile from a post or comment.
2. Look just beneath their location. Right below their name, headline, and geographical information (like "San Francisco Bay Area"), you'll typically find their industry listed in bold. For example, it might say "Computer Software," "Marketing and Advertising," or "Higher Education."

This is the industry the user has self-selected for their profile. It's what they consider their primary field of work.

Method 2: Click Through to Their Company Page

Sometimes a user may not fill out their personal industry, or it might be too broad. A powerful workaround is to check the industry of the company they currently work for. You can think of this as gaining context by association.

1. On their profile, scroll down to the "Experience" section.
2. Find their current role. The company's name and logo should be clearly displayed.
3. Click on the company's name or logo. This will take you to the company's official LinkedIn Page.
4. On the company page, look right under the company's name and followers. You'll see their industry listed alongside information like the number of employees and their headquarters' location.

This tells you the primary industry of their employer, which is often more specific and informative than a personal industry setting.

Going Beyond One Profile: How to Search for People by Industry

Finding the industry for one person is useful, but the true power of LinkedIn's data lies in building targeted lists of potential leads. Here's how to create a list of people from a specific industry from scratch.

Step-by-Step Guide to Industry Filtering

1. Start a search. Click the search bar at the top of LinkedIn, type a keyword (like "Marketing Director" or "Account Manager"), hit Enter, and then click the "People" filter.
2. Access all available filters. On the search results page, click the "All Filters" button. This will open a detailed menu of options to refine your search.
3. Select the "Industry" filter. Scroll down the menu to find the "Industry" field. You can either type in the industries you want to target or select from the provided list.
4. Combine filters for a more precise search. To further refine your list, add other filters like "Location" or "Company." This is a powerful way to build a highly targeted audience for outreach.

Troubleshooting: What to Do When You Are Not Finding a Person's Industry

What if an industry isn't listed, or the information you find seems inaccurate? In that case, you may need to do a little more digging. Here are a few troubleshooting steps:

• Check the "About" section of their profile for additional information.
• Look at the content they post, which can give you an idea of their industry.
• Check LinkedIn groups they have joined, as these can indicate their professional interests.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to see and search by industry is a powerful skill on LinkedIn. Once you know how to find this information and use it to build targeted lists, your outreach and networking activities become far more effective. Whether you're sending focused messages or creating better content, understanding your audience is the key to building a community that converts into customers.

Keeping track of your content strategy, especially across multiple platforms, can be challenging. At Postbase, we built a solution for this. Our platform helps you coordinate your entire content plan - from LinkedIn articles to Instagram Reels - from a single, clean visual calendar. This unified approach eliminates confusion, saves time, and ensures your social media management is streamlined and effective.