Recruitment on social and professional networks has become a recurring practice for most of companies. According to a 2016 APEC (French job board specialized for managers) study, 91% of recruiters are active on these networks. They have become a veritable sourcing tools as they represent a very important source of profiles from all sectors and competencies. Moreover, they allow employers to promote their brand. Indeed, being present on these networks is an excellent way to develop the company’s attractiveness.
How to use social networks to wisely recruit in 2018? What are the specificities of the different social networks? What are the best practices to adopt? Today, we will focus on the social network Linkedin and give you some ideas.
Kioskemploi’s advice to recruit on Linkedin
Linkedin has become the number 1 professional network at the international level. The growth of sign-ups in the last few years bears witness to this: it went from 50 million to more than 450 million users between 2009 and 2016! Therefore, being present and recruiting on Linkedin has become essential for human resources managers.
What are the steps to recruit effectively?
1. Take care of your employer brand
Spreading your employer brand begins with the creation or the regular updating of your personal profile (free). As a recruiter, it is essential to be present on Linkedin in order to build and develop your network. Feel free to introduce yourself in a personalized way, choose a picture in accordance with your target and be reactive to contact requests and inbound emails.
Then, it is essential to create a business page on Linkedin in order to be visible to candidates. It will be the “showcase” of your company. It is up to you to feed it on a daily basis to raise the interest and the curiosity of potential candidates. You can use it to present your team, the activity of the company, the different professions, and your values but also to broadcast vacant positions.
Use Linkedin to make your company seen by creating relevant content, share articles and testimonials from your collaborators, videos related to your sector… You can also join groups related to your activity. Do not hesitate to comment on the publications of your contacts etc. The goal is to develop your network and make your company known to the widest audience.
2. Post sponsored ads
The tool “ads broadcasting” is available only if you have a paid account on Linkedin. Accessible from the « career » tab, it allows you to broadcast your ad to your target and to profiles corresponding to your offer. According to a study done by LinkedIn, a sponsored ad is viewed more than 500 times on average and receives more than 50 applications.
Once your ad is published, do not hesitate to multiply the distribution channels by sharing it on your personal page, on your corporate page, on the different groups to which you are registered, and on other social networks.
When writing your ad, be sure to choose the most relevant keywords based on your search.
3. Use Linkedin as a « sourcing » tool
With 106 million users worldwide, Linkedin remains a huge reservoir of potential talent that must be used wisely.
Indeed, it would be a shame to just publish ads and wait for candidates to come to you, especially if you are looking for specific skills.
To begin, choose the right keywords to make your research relevant. Be careful to take into account the synonyms, the English translations, even the abbreviations. Also think about the different titles of the job. For example support manager / customer service manager/ technical support manager …
In order to include ALL keywords / job titles in your search, you must use Boolean operators. These are terms or signs that allow you to detail a search. The 4 main ones are:
- The quotation marks « »: they allow to use an exact expression.
- NOT: used before a word, it excludes it from the search.
- OR: it broadens the search. Example: « Customer service manager » OR « Support Manager ».
- AND or space: it allows to refine the search by associating two elements of research. Example: To search for a sales manager in Paris -> « Sales Manager » AND « Paris ».
On Linkedin, paid accounts allow you to search more precisely and access more results than if you have a basic account. Therefore, we strongly recommend a specialized account for recruiters like « Recruiter Lite » to get the most interesting results. You will be able to access 1000 profiles according to your research and benefit from the InMail functionality.
4. Reach potential candidates
Once you have found the desired profile for your vacant position, reach out to them! The easiest way is the InMail function if you have a paid account.
Take care to personalize your message and specify what interests you in their profile. You can also add the person to your network or contact them directly if they have left their details on their profile or on their CV.
In any case, do not hesitate to nurture your network daily in order to be in touch with a maximum of profiles which could correspond to a future need or to put you in contact with potential candidates.
In short…
Linkedin has become the international professional network on which recruiters must be present in order to highlight their employer brand. It is a large pool of potential talents with its millions of users with diverse profiles and skills. Recruiters must use it as a sourcing tool to identify profiles that fit their needs. Having become a network of exchange and sharing in recent years, you can also use Linkedin to broadcast content (articles, testimonials, e-books …). Therefore, recruiters can rely on Linkedin for their Inbound Recruiting strategy.