7 ways we can optimise LinkedIn for recruiting – free!

LinkedIn is the modus operandi for seeking Talent for many Talent Acquisition professionals and this is hardly surprising, given more than nine million Australians are currently on this platform.

However, finding the right Talent on LinkedIn represents a different challenge. How can we make full use of the LinkedIn without putting money into advertising? In this article, I will share some of the effective strategies that I have been using.

1. Target passive candidates

Instead of spraying and praying, look for candidates who have marked themselves as open to new roles or actively looking for jobs. These are “warm leads” who are keen to explore opportunities and they will be much easier to reach.

2. Improve your LinkedIn SEO

Candidates search for jobs all the time, so why not make it easy for them to find ours. Use relevant industry keywords in your headline, job title and summary to boost your LinkedIn SEO. Doing this diligently can allow you to influence your own search rankings.

3. Proactive search

Purposefully target experienced individuals and ask them for a recommendation or referral. Whilst they may not be looking, they may know someone who is, or they might end up interested themselves – which could end up the ideal outcome. 😉

4. Create video content

We have successfully done this for many roles where we have key stakeholders or the current team talk about the role, our purpose and why they love working in our business.

They are usually 1 – 2 mins long and reflect our culture (purpose-driven, agile, brave, and fun), and they have resulted in several people reaching out for a conversation who were not actively looking. 

We create our videos in-house, filmed on a smartphone and edited in iMovie, VideoMyJob or if we are lucky, by our in-house creative team. We post these on LinkedIn as well as use them on our SEEK advertisements.

Bonus: You will get some ripper blooper reels to share internally for a good giggle. 

5. Work your network

Ask your network for a referral and reward them for it (lunch on you, hand-delivered cupcakes, gold class tickets).

Post publicly or reach out privately, most people you know will have someone in mind who they would recommend.

6. Employee advocacy

Bring your employees on the journey. Ask teams to get together for a group photo, ask them to share the post with their personal views about the role and their experience working with the business.

It is a great way for potential hires to get insight into a company via its people and it helps reach a wider audience. 

7. Be active and respond

I have found that when I respond in a positive and timely manner to comments and messages, candidates were more likely to remember me and be willing to give me more of their time.

This allows me to create a stronger feeling of loyalty and build my personal brand, which in turn gives me greater credibility when I reach out to people on LinkedIn.

Do you have any other strategies that work for you? I would love to hear more about them. Leave a comment below or drop me a message on LinkedIn!

Cover image: Shutterstock