Ask any recruiter if they’re searching for talent on LinkedIn and a resounding, “Well of course, aren’t you?” can be enough to excite any newbie talent acquisition pro on filling their open reqs.
For many sourcers and recruiters, LinkedIn may be the obvious choice for attracting and engaging talent, but it can also be a network overflowing with like-minded competitors eyeing out the same candidates as you.
No more Anonymous LinkedIn browsing!
Let candidates know you’re interested in them by leaving subtle footprints with powerful impressions – the LinkedIn profile view. “Be bold! It really matters if they know you’ve looked at their profile,” Collier said.
If your LinkedIn account is currently set to appear as ‘Anonymous’ when browsing through others’ accounts, consider allowing the network to share your public profile information. That way, candidates have somewhere to click back to to learn more about you as a recruiter and about the open opportunities at your company. To make these changes, go to Privacy & Settings in your LinkedIn account. Click ‘Select what others see when you’ve viewed their profile,” and choose "Your name and headline.”
Use Google search to boost your sourcing prowess.
Browsing through LinkedIn on a lower premium level account doesn’t have to be a fruitless hunt for talent. Before upgrading your account to view the full name of a candidate whose opted to only display their first name and last initial, try this trick: Copy and paste a user’s job title with quotations and their first name into Google search. (For example: “HR Director at Blue Jeans Network” Joy)
From the Google search results, you’ll be able to uncover their full name, click through to their profile, and send a request to Connect with candidates who’ve opted to hide that button from LinkedIn users landing on their profile directly through the network.
Get active in industry LinkedIn groups!
Part of LinkedIn’s bread and butter is their Groups, as it offers recruiters a place to not only hunt for candidates who are active online, but to learn from their peers about new ways to engage talent and upcoming hiring trends. Since you’re only limited to joining 50 Groups, be sure to browse through the group’s statistics, if possible, to get an overview of the audience membership. Will your message be targeted to your ideal candidate base? How many of them will be engaged with your updates? Are they located in your hiring location?
When you do find and join a group you’re interested in recruiting talent from, don’t forget to personalize your messages and time your posting to avoid getting marked as Spam by LinkedIn or the group moderator. Otherwise, your group participation may be frozen for up to two weeks until you’re able to start posting again. And LinkedIn Jail, as us Entelopes like to call it, is definitely not the happiest place on Earth.
Liked what you read and want to find out how you can get your hands on more? Watch the webinar in its entirety here, and don’t forget to check out the rest of Entelo’s social recruiting webinar series!
