How to use LinkedIn for Recruitment
LinkedIn can prove to be highly advantageous for employers who are interested in recruiting the latest talent for their organisations.
In fact, the potential offered by LinkedIn to boost your recruiting strategy continues to increase as literally millions of prospective employees list their profiles on the site annually.
No longer is it simply enough to advertise for vacant positions in the local newspaper or even list job postings on sites such as Seek.com.au or CareerOne.com.au. The world of recruiting, as we know it rapidly evolving.
How to get started:
One of the first and most important steps you can take to leverage the power of LinkedIn for recruiting is to cultivate and then carefully expand your personal network of professionals using LinkedIn. Members of the site now comprise more than 130 different industries. It is also important to stay in touch with former colleagues through the site. If you have worked successfully with individuals in the past, they could turn out to be your best potential candidates for the future.
LinkedIn also gives you the ability to actively search for potential candidates simply by searching for keywords. For instance, you can search for candidates who possess required qualifications as listed in their profiles.
Develop your LinkedIn Profile:
Developing a keyword-rich, complete profile of your own on LinkedIn can prove to be helpful for recruiting purposes as well. Even though you may be searching online for the right candidates, what you may not realize is that they are searching for you also. Many candidates may view company profiles in order to comprise lists of companies where they would like to work. When you have a comprehensive profile on LinkedIn, you may even find that prospective employees will contact you through the mailing system on the site. If you are looking for a media savvy candidate, this can be a good way to find one.
Finding and contacting people:
LinkedIn also gives you the ability to search for prospective employees by current or past employers who may have employed individuals with the same experience and skills you are seeking for your own organisation. Another option would be to search for employees based on references received from individuals that you trust. LinkedIn gives members within your network the opportunity to write notes of recommendation.
If you prefer to go the more direct route, you could also use Inmail, the internal inbox at LinkedIn, to request help from members of your network or to ask selected professionals to assist you in finding a qualified candidate.
There are also less direct methods that can be used on LinkedIn for recruiting purposes. One of those options is to respond to questions posted in the Answers section on the site. Doing so can help you to raise your profile within the community and thus make you more visible and approachable to quality candidates.
You can also take advantage of the opportunity to join the many groups available on LinkedIn. You may well find that participants in such groups will share the backgrounds, experience, and skills you are seeking for vacant positions in your company.
