How to Use LinkedIn Recruiting to Find Your Next Candidate
LinkedIn continues to be the weapon of choice for recruiters. And LinkedIn Recruiter especially gives sourcers and recruiters an advantage in the hunt for top talent.
Check out the following features and functionality to make sure that you are getting the most of your LinkedIn recruiting efforts.
5 LinkedIn Recruiting Tips to Find Your Next Candidate
1. New Advanced Search Filters
With hundreds of millions of professional profiles in LinkedIn, filtering is an absolute necessity.
In the Advanced Search panel, look for “Hide previously viewed,” “Spoken languages,” and “U.S. Military Veterans.” These new filters give you more control over your searches than ever, letting you see new profiles with your search parameters and not fill your list with profiles you’ve already seen, review candidates with the language capabilities you need, and add veterans to your short list for diversity and specialty hires.
2. Get Personal
Get next to target candidates faster with highly personalized InMails that are brief, have eye-catching headings, introduce you as an interested recruiter in need of the candidate’s time and attention, and show you understand the candidate’s unique qualities.
We recommend personalizing InMails by referring to key highlights in candidate’s profiles and relating them to your interest and your position. Additionally, using profile information in the subject heading shows your high interest level and that you’ve taken the time to get to know the candidate’s qualifications.
3. Automate with Recruiter
Use LinkedIn Recruiter’s automated tasks to save time and streamline your workflow. Saved searches help you hang onto Boolean strings and filters that you’ve researched and set up, sending you new candidates that match each day. Use Update Me on the top profiles you’ve found so LinkedIn notifies you when they have any changes in employment and career status such as a new position or job title or new skills.
4. Put Yourself Out There
You’re trying to get next to the candidates, so show them who you are with a great profile photo, awesome profile headline and summary, and the right keywords to be found quickly and easily.
Undercover Recruiter’s Jörgen Sundberg recommends creating an engaging profile photo and headline about what you do, and a highly descriptive summary/bio that includes current contact information and what you can do for the candidates reading it.
5. Get Hiring Managers Involved First
Recruiting veteran Lou Adler knows that hiring qualified passive candidates today requires fully engaged hiring managers. He says the hiring manager needs to be involved from the very beginning with an accurate requisition all the way to the job offer that won’t be declined. The hiring manager has to understand and explain the job and candidate requirements, has to be onboard with offering a career gap that makes the position and company attractive to top candidates, know how to use performance-based interviews, and demonstrate strong management and leadership skills.
LinkedIn recruiting is part art, part science, but using some key tips makes it a more effective part of your recruiting strategy.
Andrew Greenberg’s roots in recruiting date back to 1996. He has experience both on the agency-side and corporate-side of the staffing business, with a focus in the financial services space at companies like Bloomberg and UBS. He also has core experience with information technology staffing, and has worked for major software companies such as SAP Business Objects and IBM/Informix Software. To get in touch with Andrew, you can reach him by email or by phone at (800) 797-6160.
