LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network and a powerful platform that most people don't take advantage of for hiring top talent. With a little effort, you can post jobs or use LinkedIn to recruit passive candidates and get them interested in your company. This article outlines some recruitment tips for hiring on LinkedIn which includes how to build an employer brand, how to post jobs and how to hire qualified candidates. For each of these steps, the article will share proven methods for hiring quality candidates on LinkedIn.
Maintain your LinkedIn company page
Your company profile on LinkedIn allows potential candidates and customers to learn about your business, employer brand and engage with your content. There is an art to maintaining your company's LinkedIn page. The page can look professional, yet personal and engaging. It can promote your career opportunities, yet not seem like a living, breathing job board. Candidates will be able to see who else works at your company and how long they've stayed which will give them an indication of your company's culture. Regularly post company content and updates as an active company page will attract the right candidates and become one of your most effect recruitment tools.
Maintain your personal LinkedIn Profile
Candidates will probably visit your Linkedin profile so it is important you have a profile picture and maintain your page. Make your profile approachable so that candidates feel comfortable enough connecting with you. LinkedIn will give you an indication of your profile strength based on how complete it is. Try to reach an "all star" rating whilst keeping the contents of the profile clear and succinct so that candidates can skim through the profile quickly. The more groups or affiliations you can list, the more likely a candidate will have something in common with you and give them a reason to connect with you.
Optimise your Job ads for LinkedIn
Posting job postingsh on LinkedIn should be part of your recruiting strategy as it indicates to job seekers that you are hiring and growing. Whilst job ads can help build a pipeline of candidates for your company, you should complement it with an outbound search. This means that the job description in a job ad should cater both to candidates who are applying or candidates you are reaching out to. The template job description should be simple and include the job title, duties and responsibilities. Job descriptions should be clear and concise and give a brief overview of what it means to work at your company. You can state what the ideal candidate looks like but avoid describing a candidate which would prevent less ideal candidates from applying.
Leverage LinkedIn search to find top talent
Whilst you can search for talent using premium linkedIn subscriptions like Linkedin recruiter, the search filters included in free or personal premium versions are powerful enough for identifying great passive candidates. Whilst you can search by job title, it can be more efficient to search by skill because job titles can vary for the same role. For example, if you are looking for a full-stack developer, searching for "React" and/or "Java" should lead to more qualified results than searching for "Full-stack" developer. If you are hiring in a city, add nearby locations to the search filter to identify candidates who could commute to your office in order to reach a wider talent pool. You can also search profiles in LinkedIn groups if the role you are looking for is quite niche. It is important to bear in mind that not all the candidates in your search results will be open to new opportunities especially if they have just started a new job.
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Connect with passive candidates
Once you have a well maintained company page and profile page, you can connect with LinkedIn users who meet your search criteria, even if they're not stating on their profile that they are looking for a new job. You can use inmail messages to send a direct message to candidate profiles or you can connect and add a note. In your message or note you should explain why their profile stood out and why you believe they'll be a great candidate for your job opening. If they accept your LinkedIn inmail message or connection request, follow up with another Linkedin message offering to answer any questions via message or a call. You can point the candidates to your job ad for additional information. The call with the candidate is an opportunity to provide some more background about the role and your company and to determine if they're likely to be a good fit based on their goals and skills. You can also use the call as an opportunity to explain the recruitment process.
Hire candidates on Linkedin
As you search and rank candidates, you should have an applicant tracking system to ensure that you know where each job candidate is in the funnel and what the next steps are especially if you are hiring for multiple new roles. Once you or your hiring manager have made a decision about a candidate, you should formalise an offer and employment contract as quickly as possible. This will give a good impression to candidates and allow them to end their job search as soon as they sign the contract. An employment contract needs to be tailored to a candidate's role and the nature and have the right provisions to protect your company. Contract management platforms like Legislate allow you to tailor lawyer-approved contracts which meet your requirements whilst offering a professional experience to your candidates. To get started, create an account and watch a tutorial.
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The opinions on this page are for general information purposes only and do not constitute legal advice on which you should rely.