LinkedIn remains one of the most powerful networking tools for working professionals and businesses of all sizes. The platform also offers a variety of helpful resources and opportunities to recruit top talent for your organization. Here’s how to boost your recruitment strategy using LinkedIn.
Create job posts on LinkedIn
Paid posts on LinkedIn quickly connect your company with top quality candidates by boosting visibility and enabling direct notifications to the most qualified users. Here’s how to create a job post on LinkedIn:
- Create a new personal LinkedIn profile, or enhance your existing account with a recruitment mindset. As a note, you must have a personal profile to create a company page.
- Once your personal profile is complete, find the “Work” button in the toolbar at the top of the page. Click to reveal the prompt to create your company’s official LinkedIn page and input a specific URL. Make your company summary clear, insightful, and unique to your mission and culture.
- When you’re ready to post your job, click “Jobs” in the top toolbar, followed by “Post a Job.” After signing into LinkedIn Recruiter (using the same login credentials as your personal account login), fill in the digital forms with the basic details and job description.
- Select the top 10 skills you want LinkedIn to reference when matching candidates to your post. Then, choose your preferred application method; candidates can apply via their LinkedIn profiles, or visit an external site.
- Each month your post is active, billing is calculated in response to the quantity of clicks it receives.
[Read more: How to Build a Great LinkedIn Profile as an Entrepreneur]
Join LinkedIn groups
The next step in recruiting with LinkedIn is joining LinkedIn Groups. This feature connects you with established networks of professionals and other companies in your industry. You and members of your group can discuss trends, share knowledge, and build relationships within a more specialized network. Members can generate brand awareness, post job openings to a specific audience, and keep an eye on top talent and rising stars who are actively engaged. Groups can also help you find people who share your values and may be a strong fit for your team.
[Read more: 10 Thriving LinkedIn Groups for Entrepreneurs]
Current employees can be your strongest brand ambassadors.
Evaluate competitors
Public presence aside, every company has a recruitment strategy and implements a curated series of tactics to execute it. The open, accessible nature of LinkedIn allows you to gain valuable insight into the strategies of your competitors. Check out their company pages, employee activity, and job postings. Identify which posts have the strongest engagement and think about how you can create similar content for your company. Review the language used, salaries posted, and desired skills highlighted in job postings similar to yours. Compare their application instructions and information shared on the process to your approach to learn what language is clearest and most effective.
[Read more: How LinkedIn Services Marketplace Is Helping Small Businesses Grow]
Build your employer brand on LinkedIn
When creating your company's branding strategy, leverage LinkedIn’s tremendous capacity to connect companies to millions of members. The company page should communicate your values, company culture, and unique identity that sets you apart from your competitors. Job requirements can live in the job posting while the company page should focus on communicating your mission. Sharing an employer value proposition here will help you recruit candidates who believe in what you do and inspire them to get involved. Capture candidates’ interest through creative multimedia content that highlights voices from across the company and provides a snapshot of the employee experience.
Encourage current employees to promote your brand
Current employees can be your strongest brand ambassadors. Testimonials and company achievements are more meaningful coming from passionate employees, especially from connections in an applicant’s own network, than they are coming from the company itself. An employee post may be a candidate’s only encounter with the open position and your company. Digital Strategist Jenn Chen recommends creating digital media templates for your team to easily share updates and accomplishments. These posts encourage more open conversations and offer job seekers the chance to ask a current employee questions before applying for a position.
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