Without a doubt, LinkedIn has become an essential part of any recruiter’s toolkit. But, there are a few LinkedIn haters who cry about what LinkedIn is doing to recruiting. Some of those haters are the ones renting space with their pretty LinkedIn Instagram pic to promote their recruiting business. No matter what camp you fall in, LinkedIn is a force to be reckoned with if you want to play the game, even if you have a famous blogger badge.
As the site continues to offer new functionalities and capabilities like the Miami Heat adds top talent to their team, sourcers must be able to develop new strategies in order to better connect with the individuals who can bring their organization to the next level. That’s why you need to stay on top of LinkedIn.
If you’re beginning to find that your ability to identify talent on LinkedIn has become a bit lackluster, it’s high time to rethink how you use the network. The following are five tips to reinvigorate your LinkedIn strategy to connect with the best talent available.
1. What happens on LinkedIn doesn’t have to stay on LinkedIn. When looking at your connections, see who has a Twitter handle and follow them there. This way, you can get to know candidates beyond their LinkedIn profile and get a better idea of who they are. By gaining a different point of view, seeing how they interact on the social channel and what interests them, you can better identify the individuals who will be a good fit for your organization.
2. Don’t be afraid to go mobile. Mobile is everywhere these days, and LinkedIn is no exception. If you have a LinkedIn Recruiter account, be sure to download and use the new mobile app to build connections with talent whenever and wherever you want.
3. Experiment with Boolean search. This may be a no-brainer, but using Boolean search techniques can help you find talent that might otherwise remain hidden. With practice, you can learn how to use this search method to greatest effect. Moreover, by saving your search and getting LinkedIn search alerts, you can know immediately when new talent is available. LinkedIn makes Boolean easier.
4. Get feedback from a Hiring Manager via LinkedIn Recruiter. Sourcing is most successful when it is a collaborative process, and LinkedIn’s new Hiring Manager feature makes it easier than ever to get feedback on selected candidates. By sharing profiles with Hiring Managers inside of the LinkedIn Recruiter platform, and saving their feedback into a project, sourcers can draw on their expert opinions on the candidates who should be considered.
5. Supplement candidate profiles with additional information. If using a LinkedIn Recruiter account, you can add additional information, such as references or video interviews, to candidate profiles. Doing so enables you to centralize key candidate information and resources in a single place, creating greater efficiency in the sourcing process and, most importantly, giving you a higher definition view of your candidate.
As LinkedIn continues to expand its capabilities, sourcers must be able to adapt these new strategies into their recruiting activities. And while the site is highly effective in facilitating connections with talent, it is up to sourcers themselves to build and court those connections to supply their organizations with the right people.
