Despite the extremely new, high-tech tools emerging in the HR marketplace for finding the best talent for your company, there’s still an older, trustworthy option you shouldn’t overlook: LinkedIn. Statistics from the beginning of 2018 indicate there are 500 million total users, and 250 million individuals active on the site.
Several suggestions could improve your chances of finding the best people to fill open positions at your company on LinkedIn and potentially progress to the interview stage.
Use LinkedIn’s Resources to Find People Others May Miss
LinkedIn recently launched more resources for employers and HR professionals that aid in finding users that have particular characteristics. The first is Open Candidates. It allows looking for LinkedIn members who have indicated they’re open to making career moves but kept that fact from their bosses.
Alternatively, there’s Apply Starters. It locates users who have started filling out applications on LinkedIn but haven’t finished. Then, it’s possible to see the full profiles of those individuals before they send through their submissions.
If you’re willing to hire someone for a short-term role, make use of LinkedIn’s Contractor Targeting feature, too. As the name indicates, it highlights people who are self-identified contractors and interested in potential contract-based work.
Let Keywords Motivate Your Processes
When depending on LinkedIn to find employees, it’s crucial to ensure your company’s profile is filled out and includes relevant keywords. People who use LinkedIn as job-seekers are strongly encouraged to use keywords on their profiles in similar ways, which could make it easier to connect with them.
For example, you can search for individuals that mention relevant keywords on their profiles. Taking that approach could narrow down the field by increasing the likelihood that the candidates have skills and employment histories suiting your company’s needs.
Look for Purposeful Mentions of Accomplishments
LinkedIn has a section where candidates can list notable achievements, such as high test scores or successes related to significant projects. When candidates stand out to you because they have several standout things listed, pay attention to the ones that mention what they’ve done in results-oriented ways.
If a person has an illustrious career, succinctly describing it is challenging but not impossible.
A bulleted list on their profile can efficiently encapsulate their achievements and expertise. When LinkedIn candidates spotlight important takeaways, it makes it easier to narrow down the field.
Use InMail Recruitment Templates
Assuming you or a person at your company has the Recruiter LinkedIn plan, that tier gives you the ability to create up to 500 InMail templates and share them with co-workers. If you’re not familiar with InMail, it’s the messaging method necessary when contacting someone who’s not a first-degree connection.
When writing a recruitment template that raises someone’s interest, aim for an enthusiastic tone. Use a soft close that assumes you’re communicating with a candidate who’s eager to move forward in the hiring process, too. It’s also a good idea to make your templates scalable and not too specific so you can use them on a long-term basis.
Search for Candidates by Employer
Perhaps you’re part of an industry that would enable you to tell just by looking at a person’s employment history if they’d be a good fit for your company. For example, if a candidate previously worked for Vanguard Records, then moved to Sony Music and currently works at Spotify, the employer names alone give you a good idea of that individual’s music business experience.
LinkedIn permits sorting through candidates by typing in the names of companies. You can determine whether a person looking for a job works for those places now or previously did. Then, you may uncover potential new hires that already have all or most of the skills and insights needed to thrive at your establishment.
Whether you’re new to recruiting with LinkedIn or are looking for improvements to your current methods, these tips should help you get results. They could also result in a shorter job search process for candidates, which benefits them, too.
Kayla Matthews – http://productivitytheory.com/ is a self-development & productivity writer.
