5 Ways to Use LinkedIn to Recruit Good Candidates, Or Be Recruited * Incedo Group

5 Ways to Use LinkedIn to Recruit Good Candidates, Or Be Recruited

The advent of social networking sites has revolutionized the way managers and company owners approach hiring and retention. Facebook and Twitter has now become a reliable way to do background checks. And with the entry of social media platform LinkedIn, which is basically an online professional network, new hiring solutions that have not been possible before are now at your fingertips.

Launched in May 5, 2003 with only 4,500 initial members, LinkedIn has now grown into the world’s largest online professional network with over 175 million users in over 200 countries around the globe. With those figures alone, LinkedIn is a potential source to recruit top talents for your company.

Here’s how:

1. Make a compelling professional profile. First off, you need to make sure that your LinkedIn profile is complete and compelling enough for others to see how serious you are with your work and your profession. List past projects, positions, and all other relevant information that can attract potential recruits.

2. Maximize the networks that you already possess. Now that you have a compelling profile, the next logical thing you need to do is maximize existing connections. Add your current employees and supervisors to your network and explore their web of connections. If you’re looking for a software developer, for example, you can explore the networks of your current software developers. You can also do background research on a person by just looking at their existing connections. If they are connected with known experts in a particular field, then it may be an indication they are Class A recruit.

3. Join LinkedIn groups. Another way to expand your network of potential recruits is to join groups in LinkedIn, which are essentially online gatherings of people with similar interests. Do not be a passive user. Post conversation topics, ask questions, and constantly join conversations. By doing this, you can establish your presence in the LinkedIn universe and potential recruits can get to know you a lot better. It also works the other way around – the more you share thoughts with people that can be potential employees, the more you get to know about their views and capabilities.

4. Use the “Company Follow” and “Advanced People Search” features. Hiring and retention techniques have never been easy. However with the Company Follow and Advanced People Search options, you can search for the right people to hire with just a click of the mouse. You can also narrow down the results by entering specific details in the search parameters provided by LinkedIn.

5. Get More with LinkedIn’s Paid Services. While most of LinkedIn’s features are free, you can expand your online recruitment by using LinkedIn Premium, which costs around $20 to $80 a month. This paid service can help give you and your company a visibility boost in the network, and enables you to view full profiles for up to third-degree connections (the friend of a friend of a friend).

There are many ingenious ways, in which you can take advantage of LinkedIn’s large professional network. It has all the features a modern day recruiter needs to improve their hiring and retention techniques. Open an account now and start expanding your connections!