How to easily find active candidates and recruiters on LinkedIn
The trick to using LinkedIn well is to put yourself in the mindset of the 'other side'. So if you are a candidate think like a recruiter, and if you are a recruiter, think like a candidate. As I have said many times, LinkedIn (as is all social media) is governed by the law of UGC - User Generated Content (which is actually everything on LinkedIn!)
So let's look at LinkedIn it from a candidate perspective first.
How do you find recruiters that are posting jobs that may well be of interest to you?
- Don't use the main search bar at the top of the LinkedIn page, click on the advanced search to the side. Now you can use the extra field you are presented with.
In the Title box enter the the job title you are looking for, in this case something like:
"recruitment consultant" OR Recruiter OR "Recruitment manager" OR "recruitment director"**Warning** Just because they are recruiters don't assume they know how to use LinkedIn properly, many still have beginners armbands on!! They are also part of the UGC conundrum - they don't always call themselves recruiters!!
Now in the Keywords box add the industry words you are looking for remembering to add the words AND after each word (with a space of course), if you have more than one.
This will give you recruiters that recruit for your particular industry. Click on their profile and reach out to them as normal. - What about searching for the jobs that recruiters are actually posting. Well first click on the jobs tab right at the top of the toolbar and search there - these will be the jobs that some recruiters pay to place.
But most recruiters post their jobs through their status updates. For this you need to jump across to Linkedin.com/Signal as it is the feed of all the status updates on LinkedIn - and of course you can search them!
Try a different approach this time - use a search that uses some of the terms that recruiters use when posting jobs, like this adding in your keywords for your sector/industry at the end:('recruiting for' OR hiring OR 'looking for' OR 'new role for' OR 'is seeking' OR 'looking to recruit' OR 'currently recruiting for' OR 'fantastic opportunity for') AND Keyword1 AND keyword2
You can add in a Location filter and specific companies if you want down the left hand side. Also if you are looking for a contract role then add in words like:
contract' OR contractor OR interim OR temporary
This will give you any jobs that recruiters have posted in their status updates. Then SAVE THE SEARCH (at the top of the screen hit the word Save, and then name your search. Every time you click the saved search it will update in real time.)
So let's look at LinkedIn it from a recruiter perspective first.
How do you find candidates that are looking for a new role on LinkedIn NOW.
- As in 1 above, go to the advanced search on LinkedIn. Many candidates make it easy by actually putting relevant keywords and phrases in the Linkedin profiles telling you they are available. It is just a question of finding them.
So try a search like the in the Keywords box of the advanced search:("available for new role" OR "looking for a new role" OR "looking for a new contract" OR "looking for a new assignment" OR "looking for a new job" OR "available for hire" OR "seeking a new opportunity" OR "looking for a new opportunity") AND keyword1 AND keyword2
This will bring you results for candidates that are publicly indicating they are available for work. There are of course other indicative phrases that can be used, and as you see them on LinkedIn add them to the string above. And as above SAVE THE SEARCH.
- Now again as above you can do the same search in LinkedIn/signal, BUT YOU HAVE TO CHANGE the search a little due to the nuances of LinkedIn! Simply replace the double speech marks with singles:
('available for new role' OR 'looking for a new role' OR 'looking for a new contract' OR 'looking for a new assignment' OR 'looking for a new job' OR 'available for hire' OR 'seeking a new opportunity' OR 'looking for a new opportunity') AND keyword1 AND keyword2
These are not complex boolean strings by any stretch, but LinkedIn is a funny old database, and it works best in my opinion if you keep things simple in the searches.
This will hopefully show you that with a little thinking, you will be able to find more people on LinkedIn more easily than you may have thought.
Have you connected with me on LinkedIn yet? Why not?
We work with recruitment agencies and corporates to help them integrate social media into their existing recruitment strategy and recruitment processes. If you require guidance, advice or social recruiting training, get in touch today.
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Comments 1
Louise Cornelius
Really useful article! Thanks for sharing Andy.