Skip to main content
_FB_2018-Icons-finalized-cleaned-up_new_FB_2018-Icons-finalized-cleaned-up_newGroup 9
Back
Scroll to top

How LinkedIn is Changing the Way You Recruit

Running A Business 4 min read
Yellow we are hiring sign on blue background

Ready to talk to an expert?

Imagine you’re a recruiter looking for a talented candidate to fill a role at your company.

Unfortunately, your inbox is filled with resumes from people who seem neither “talented” nor experienced in any aspect of the role you’re looking to fill.

What’s a hiring manager to do? Disappointed with the applicant pool, you turn to LinkedIn to identify the best possible candidates, even if there’s no indication that those people are actively looking for a new job.

And it works! Not only do you find professionals with the skill set you need, but several of them are willing to discuss the position with you.

Ben Wiant, Business Development Manager at Kelaca, a Raleigh professional recruiting firm, recently saw this exact scenario unfold when his company was contracted to locate an engineer with a unique professional background.

“We found a field service tech who was working 60 hours a week,” Wiant said. “He wasn’t actively searching for a job, but he was willing to talk to our client. Ultimately, we placed him in a position with much better work/life balance. He was delighted.”

Passive job seekers, massive opportunities

According to LinkedIn, 20% of its users are looking for a job. Another 20% are completely happy with their jobs and have no desire to leave.

It’s the remaining 60%, a hefty majority, that fall into the “passive job seeker” category: people who aren’t looking for new opportunities but would be willing to entertain a compelling offer.

Whether you buy LinkedIn’s 60% figure or not, there’s no denying that passive job seekers offer a much larger hiring pool than traditional job boards and classified ads.

Using LinkedIn, recruiters can search for keywords related to the role they want to fill and refine results based on location, industry, and other factors. When they’ve identified a person they want to contact, LinkedIn lets them send that person a message. All in all, the process is very simple.

“The ‘post and pray’ hiring model isn’t effective anymore,” Wiant said. “The best candidates almost always have jobs, so it’s up to recruiters to reach out to them. Social networks like LinkedIn are treasure troves of information that recruiters can draw on to find the best people.”

In Wiant’s experience, passive job seekers are often willing to talk to you about an opportunity, even if they weren’t expecting you to contact them. And while the “poaching” aspect of the practice may sound a bit sly, it’s quickly becoming the norm in the unrelenting quest for talent.

LinkedIn’s Talent Solutions tool

Adding to the treasure chest of benefits LinkedIn has provided businesses, the social media company’s “Talent Solutions” tools let recruiters perform very specific searches across the LinkedIn network, contact anybody they like, and visualize their talent-seeking progress with reporting features. The Talent Solutions suite is now one of LinkedIn’s biggest revenue sources.

LinkedIn also directs paying customers to promising candidates by returning results based on trends its data mining technology has identified.

Consider a sporting goods company in Asheville that’s looking for a qualified product manager. Profiles at the top of the search results might not just include potential hires located nearby – they might also include product managers LinkedIn has identified as likely to move to Western North Carolina.

Not only can recruiters identify the most qualified hires on the market, but they can fill positions more quickly, too.

Like online shopping, but for recruiters

Just as airlines now display their fares online through sites like Expedia and Travelocity for deal-hunting consumers, so too can recruiters “shop around” on LinkedIn for talent.

“Businesses trying to fill any kind of position should be looking for candidates on LinkedIn,” Wiant said. “Together with other social networks and Google, it’s one of the most useful items in your recruiting toolkit. Matching potential hires with our clients is our job, and we’re using these platforms all day, every day.”

It’s hard to ignore an endorsement like that one – unless you want the other guys to make off with all the talent.

Ready to talk to an expert?

Share:
First Bank’s Good To Know Logo
Sign up for our newsletter and be the first to know about new tips, insights, and products from First Bank.
First Bank may use this email address to contact you about products, services, and promotions.

You may be interested in...

Image for tile. 4 Questions to Ask Yourself as a Business Owner As a business owner, there are an endless number of questions you could be asking yourself to keep your business on the right path. Here are four questions that successful business owners consider when planning for the future: Am I setting SMART business goals? How can I invest in my staff? What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of my business? What does growth look like for my business? Download our printable questionnaire to help you brainstorm ideas for your business as you read this article. 1. Am I setting SMART business goals? Every entrepreneur has aspirations for their business. That’s the easy part. Achieving those goals is where it gets tricky. Have you heard of the SMART acronym? Goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely ensure that you will be more successful in accomplishing them. Think of your SMART goals as the road map to your success. Giving yourself a specific and measurable direction will help to hold yourself accountable. Outlining achievable goals that are relevant to your business will ensure you are moving your business in the right direction, and having a set timeline will encourage you to stop dragging your feet and get moving! Set your own SMART goals Here is an example to get you started: Increase our total number of Instagram followers 15% by the end of the second quarter Social media is a powerful tool for your business. A growing social media community can correlate to a growing bottom line for your business. More followers could mean more potential customers and deepening relationships with current customers. Additionally, your business gains credibility and a competitive edge against other businesses in your industry. Specific Increase how many followers you have on Instagram by 15%. Clearly define the goal and what needs to be achieved clearly and concisely. Avoid broad statements. Measurable Increase in followers from 5,000 in the first quarter to 5,750 in the second quarter. Determine how the goal will be measured so you can track the progress. Establish specific metrics, either something quantitative, a numeric value that can be assigned; or qualitative, based on its overall quality. Achievable You already have someone on staff managing your social media and keeping up 8 min read
First Bank logo
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognizing you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website are the most popular and useful.