What Is LinkedIn Recruiting?

LinkedIn Recruiting is an online platform designed to connect you and your open roles with candidates who may (or may not be) actively looking for a new role.  LinkedIn Recruiting can be used for a wide variety of roles—but most often, higher-level professional positions.

56% of job seekers look for jobs on social professional networks

Hiring Statistics

Why You Should Recruit on LinkedIn

  • Referrals abound. Even if the people you connect with aren’t a great fit for the role you are looking to fill right now, they may know someone who is, or may be a great fit for a future role.
  • Find specific types of candidates. You can target specific skills, degrees, or experience.
  • Wide reach. LinkedIn provides  access to millions of professionals around the world, and they all have a different network of contacts. Because LinkedIn has such a wide reach, your chances of finding the right person more quickly increases tremendously.
  •  It’s proactive. While traditional job boards rely on waiting for people to apply, with LinkedIn Recruiting you get to take the job search to them.

Top LinkedIn Recruitment Methods

Here are some methods to make your LinkedIn candidate search most effective.

Search for Specific Candidates

Learn how to use the search functionality.  This can take some trial and error, but if you can learn to use it properly, you will be able to target extremely specific types of people and experience as you search for candidates.

Sponsor Your Jobs

Start with a free posting and see what type of traction and applicant flow you get.  From there, you can sponsor your job and have it featured on the LinkedIn Jobs page.

Share for a Wider Reach

Once you have posted your job, share it and tag leaders in your company who will be involved in the hiring process.  This will prompt the hiring managers to share the job with their network; just tagging them will make the job posting visible to all their connections.

Connect With Potential Candidates

Build a diverse network.  When using LinkedIn Recruiting, it’s important to build a diverse network of people with different experience across multiple industries and disciplines.  For example, if you are only connected with a whole bunch of marketing people and you are looking to fill an IT role, you won’t have the desired reach needed to fill your role.

How to Create a LinkedIn Recruiting Strategy

By building a formal LinkedIn Recruiting strategy, you will set yourself and your company up for recruiting success in the long term.

Step 1: Remember That Recruiting on LinkedIn Is a Long-Term Game

When you first begin, it’s normal not to see immediate results.  You have to learn how to play with the algorithm of LinkedIn.  This starts by posting engaging content daily.  By posting daily on LinkedIn, you essentially teach the algorithm to post your content more frequently.  Creating engaging content draws potential job seekers to your posts.  Polls are a great way to do this.  They will generate immediate interest.  Other examples of creating daily content would be to show what makes your company different and exciting.

Step 2:  Learn the Basics of the Search Function

The search function of LinkedIn Recruiting is an incredibly powerful tool that takes time to master.   There are multiple different outlets that offer training in this regard.  Search YouTube or take a class, and plan on tweaking your abilities through trial and error.

Step 3:  Develop Your Recruiting Message

This may be the most important step.  You want your recruiting to have the same feel and message no matter what role you’re looking for.  The employee experience starts in recruiting, so making sure that you get your messaging correct and consistent from the beginning sets the stage for successful employment.

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