Five Quick Steps for Using Linkedln for Recruitment

IF YOU’RE USING Linkedln only as a glorified business- card collector, an email re­placement, or a kind of Facebook counterpart for business contacts, you’re missing out on its recruitment potential.
With 200 million users,
DOUG DRINKWATER Linkedln has been making great strides to offer better tools for searching and posting jobs. Here are five ways your business can use Linkedln for recruitment.

1. Approach anyone via Talent Finder

The free version of Linkedln may not cut it for finding suit­able employees, but that should not be the case for the premium Linkedln Talent Finder.
Businesses can use Talent Finder to con­tact all Linkedln members with the InMail feature, see expanded profiles, get more search fil­ters, and even discov­er candidates who are not actively seek­ing a job.
Linkedln Talent Finder costs about $75 per month, but this is a good value considering that
most businesses spend around $3000 per hire.

2. Get a professional look with company and career pages

 If you haven't done so already, one of your first tasks as a Linkedln power user should be to set up a free company page. Just click Companies at the top of the homepage, and choose Adda Company. Having a company page enables businesses to provide details on your company and prod­ucts, and to list jobs with an add-on Careers Page.
You will have to pay to set this up, but upon doing so, you’ll be able to provide insights about what it’s like to work at the company, as well as post videos, blogs, and even testimonials from current employees. Plus, any post­ed jobs will automatically link to your company page.
Find your company’s next great candidate using Linkedln's recruitment tools.

3. Measure the effectiveness of your recruiting

Of course, you’ll want to measure the effectiveness of your Linkedln recruitment, and that’s where the new Talent Brand Index comes into play.
The Talent Brand Index measures the reach of your brand and the number of people engaging with it (such as the Linkedln members viewing your jobs or profile pages). It also gives you a Tablet Brand Index score. You can drill down into how effective you are when judged by geogra­phy or against your peers, or even over a period of time.

4. Jump ahead with Sponsored Jobs

Perhaps the most obvious way of attracting employees is
by using Sponsored Jobs. Linkedln says members are three times more likely to apply for a Sponsored Job than to find a job any other way.
How does Sponsored Jobs work? You bid for the top placement in its “Jobs You May Be Interested In” space. It’s then left to Linked­ln to make sure your job catches the atten­tion of the best candi­dates. It does this in two ways: first by giv­ing your ad top billing on the Linkedln homepage, and then by showing the ad in the potential candidate’s email inbox. Employers can set how often ads appear in the top placement; they can even confirm a cost-per click, and limit how much they want to spend.

5. Mingle with Linkedln Groups

The simplest way of building interest in your company and your current vacancies is by joining relevant Linkedln groups. By interacting with like-minded folks in group dis­cussions and Q&As on a regular basis, you can establish a Linkedln presence for yourself and your company. That may be enough for inquisitive recruits to check out your company page. •