You don't have to be a whiz to hire great people or find a great job. This site is about recruiting made simple. Find who you are looking for with tips from a whiz!
People tell me that they have a LinkedIn profile, but it doesn’t really do anything for them, or they don’t really “get it,” or it’s just too overwhelming to complete and they’re not really sure where to start. Other people say that they don’t have a LinkedIn profile because they’re not looking for a job.
I can tell you LinkedIn is for much more than jobseekers! Salespeople actively review their contacts and extended connections via LinkedIn for potential sales leads. It’s much easier to make a warm sales call based on a mutual connection! LinkedIn is also a fantastic resource for connecting and conversing with people in your industry. For many recruiters, LinkedIn is one of their top resources for learning about hiring trends, connecting with new client companies AND identifying new talent. Tech-savvy hiring managers often use their profiles to advertise the open positions and/or network with potential future employees.
In order to maximize the benefit you get from LinkedIn, you need to have a complete and informative LinkedIn profile. It explains who you are, what you know, what you have to offer and why you’d be interested in connecting. After your profile is complete, you need to CONNECT. Connect to friends, family, co-workers (both current and former), people you meet at tradeshows – almost anyone! More connections means more conversations. The next step is to look at LinkedIn Groups. There are groups for almost everything on LinkedIn; professional associations, alumni chapters, personal interests, sports fans, news channels, etc. Find a few that work for you and join the conversation or simply read about what’s happening in your areas of interest. If you don’t have a lot of connections, groups are a great way to build your network.
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For me, LinkedIn is the ultimate source for finding new connections and new people. I also use it as a standard method for keeping track of the people I’ve connected with as they move around throughout their career.
There are a few things that I’m looking for when I’m searching LinkedIn to find candidates for great jobs with our clients. Hopefully, this will help you do a simple audit of your own profile to find ways to make it work more effectively for you!
1. Work History – Fill in your dates of employment and employers. I use this to see the progression of your work experience. It can also show some obvious trends in your tenure with each employer. If you have several jobs of short tenure due to situations out of your control, like downsizing, note that in the description!
2. Experience: Add details! – You don’t need to rewrite your job description, just tell me in your own words what you do. Note info about the types of customers you work with and/or your favorite projects. If there were any unique particulars about the job like working from a home office or doing a significant amount of travel, you should note that as well. These details give me a good idea of whether you’re likely to be successful (and happy!) with our client.
3. Websites - Include links to related websites about you or your work. If you have a blog or Twitter profile, include them. (But make sure these places are “safe for work” and represent you as a professional, yet unique individual!) I rarely look at “My Company” links unless I don’t understand the explanation of the product.
4. BE OPEN TO MESSAGES, CONNECTIONS AND/OR INMAIL. - Otherwise, delete your LinkedIn profile because you’re missing its purpose for connecting and communicating. If you’re concerned about receiving job opportunity emails to a work account, use a personal email account to receive messages and/or set-up a new email account specifically for LinkedIn.
Things that I think are unnecessary? Marital status and/or birthday. Be cautious with the information you’re making publicly available online. This info is not necessary for professional connections. People who know you well will already be aware of those details. Also, the interests section should also be limited to professional interests or simply left blank. You want to maximize your chances of someone reaching out to you.
If fully utilized, LinkedIn is a great tool that will work as a partner for you in your job search, even when you are sleeping at night! Keep it up-to-date and informative, then be open to conversations and connections. Good luck!
According to a recent study by SHRM and the Wall Street Journal, employers “might need to brace themselves for an upcoming surge in voluntary turnover.” Unfortunately, the previous options of offering high performers additional perks or bonuses in order to retain them may not always be available given today’s market. Instead of focusing only on how to avoid losing your top performers, perhaps it’s a good idea to identify super-stars in the market right now that you could bring into your organization later, if needed.
Before the problem of turnover strikes, there will be a LOT of people who are just waiting for their phone to ring to talk to a recruiter or HR about a company where they might like to work. Now is the perfect time to start connecting with these people! Obviously, a recruiter can easily help you build and manage your candidate network, but this can also be done by internal HR departments. If a top performer applies to a job or comes to you through a referral, take the time to have a real phone interview with them – even if they’re not a good match for any open positions! Get to know them and invite them to learn more about your company, possibly through additional conversations or an on-site visit. Keep in touch with them regularly and establish a professional relationship that keeps dialogue open to discuss new roles as soon as they become available – better yet, be able to call them BEFORE you’ve even posted the job!
This is especially effective with sales teams. Most salespeople are willing to talk/interview, even if they’re not looking for something new immediately, and welcome the opportunity to broaden their network of potential employers. Additionally, these bench candidates may help you fill jobs that are currently open by offering referrals and directing other top performers to your organization.
In time, you’ll have a short list of top performers you could call at any time to discuss great, new opportunities available with your company. The investment is small, but the returns are fantastic! I think it’s safe to say that if you’ve built a place where top candidates want to come to work, it’s likely your own top performers will want to stay.
Hi! I'm Jessica. I believe that recruiting (when done correctly) is about creativity, minimizing limitations and applying new methods to make the whole hiring & job search process a little more efficient for everyone. In this blog, I will focus on recruiting and how HR, jobseekers and recruiters can make the hiring process a little smoother – and maybe a little more fun!
