It goes without saying that LinkedIn remains the first choice for most recruiters. With 830 million members in over 200 countries, today, LinkedIn is the world's largest professional networking platform. That being said, there are a number of hurdles recruiters face when they use LinkedIn as their primary means of recruitment.
Firstly, recruiters have a lot of options. And that by itself seems to be their biggest challenge. Choosing the right prospect from a wide range of job search platforms is not easy.
- 60% of recruiters state that it takes longer to fill open positions than it did a year ago.
- 40% report difficulty in identifying qualified candidates for their vacancies.
- Between 25% and 30% find it challenging to locate candidates who are a cultural fit for the organisation, and it's even more arduous to find those willing to relocate.
It’s also a challenge to secure candidates who are amenable to the proposed salary range, and within the organisation’s hiring budgets for the year.
The 5 cons of hiring via LinkedIn
1. Overcrowding
As there are over 830 million active users on LinkedIn, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd and get noticed by potential candidates.
2. Inaccurate or incomplete profiles
Not all LinkedIn profiles are up-to-date or accurate, so it can be difficult to get a clear picture of a candidate's skills and experience.
3. Candidates who are not actively looking for a job
Many people use LinkedIn to connect with their professional network, but they are not necessarily looking for a new job. This can make it difficult to reach out to candidates who are actually a good fit for your open positions.
4. LinkedIn spam
There is a lot of spam on LinkedIn, which can make it difficult to find legitimate job opportunities.
5. Candidates who are not responsive
Even if you do manage to reach out to a candidate who is a good fit for your open position, they may not be responsive to your messages. This can be frustrating and time-consuming.
So here, we’re giving you an easy way out, with our extensive guide to efficient candidate sourcing on LinkedIn.
How to source candidates on LinkedIn?
7 key strategies to follow
Let's delve deep into the key strategies of LinkedIn sourcing, equipping you with the tools and insights to navigate the platform confidently, build meaningful relationships, and identify candidates who align perfectly with your hiring needs.
- Define your ideal candidate
- Use LinkedIn's search features
- Look for candidates who are actively looking for a new job
- Connect with potential candidates with personalised message sequences
- Use LinkedIn's InMail feature to send direct messages to candidates
- Use LinkedIn's Recruiter platform
- Use LinkedIn's sponsored jobs feature
1. Define your ideal candidate
You should have a clear understanding of your hiring needs. What are the specific skills and prior experience that you are looking for in a candidate? What are the must- haves and nice-to-haves? Once you have a clear understanding of your hiring needs, you can start to target your candidates.
2. Use LinkedIn's search features
You can search for candidates by keyword, location, industry and other strong keywords. You can also use LinkedIn's advanced search features to filter your results further.
3. Look for candidates who are actively looking for a new job
One way to find the best candidates is to look for people who are actively looking for a new job. You can do this by organically searching for candidates who have the "Open to Work" badge on their profile.
You can also take a look at their network and see if there are any mutual connections who have the badge.
4. Connect with potential candidates with personalised message sequences
The details matter. When you reach out to a candidate, be sure to personalise your message and elaborate to them why you are interested in them and why you think they would be a good fit for the role.
You can add details about their recent activity on LinkedIn, or something from their profile that stood out to you.
Try to hit them across different channels like Gmail, as well, for a better chance at getting a response from them.
5. Use LinkedIn's InMail feature to send direct messages to candidates
InMail messages are a great way to reach out to candidates who are not yet on your network.
6. Use LinkedIn's Recruiter platform
The LinkedIn Recruiter platform gives recruiters access to additional features such as the ability to search for candidates by job title, company, and other criteria.
7. Use LinkedIn's sponsored jobs feature
Sponsored jobs allow recruiters to promote their job openings to a wider audience.
These thumb rules can assist recruiters navigate LinkedIn to pinpoint suitable candidates.
Use the right tools to source from LinkedIn
Introducing the Kula Everywhere Chrome Extension
Kula Everywhere is a Chrome extension that allows you to add candidates from LinkedIn to Kula with just a few clicks. How does this happen?
- Instantly fetching data
Kula Everywhere uses the LinkedIn and GitHub APIs to fetch the latest profile data for the candidates you add. This data includes the candidate's name, email address, location, skills, and experience.
- Eliminating the need for PDF downloads and uploads
Kula Everywhere eliminates the need to download PDFs of candidate profiles and upload them to your ATS or CRM. This saves you a lot of time and hassle.
3 outcomes of using Kula Everywhere
Speed
We said it before and we’ll say it again. You can save hours of time. Adding candidates to Kula is much faster than manually downloading PDFs and uploading them to your ATS or CRM.
Accuracy
Kula uses the latest data from LinkedIn, so you can be sure that the data you are adding to your Kula account is accurate.
Efficiency
You can spend more time on other meaningful tasks like nurturing candidates, as Kula Everywhere automates the process of adding candidates from LinkedIn.
A bonus
You can even use the Kula Everywhere Chrome extension to add candidates from GitHub. You’re welcome!
It’s not just about sourcing candidates from LinkedIn, recruiters must also think about grabbing eyeballs once they’ve been added to the pipeline. And that’s where Kula Flows comes in.
Set up automated messaging with Kula Flows
Kula Flow can automate the process of sending messages to candidates across platforms. Think sending a message with a connection request, and two days later, sending an email to their inbox, and then, another message sent from a hiring manager from the org, and more.
The LinkedIn prospect will be more inclined to respond.
Here is an example of how recruiters can use Kula to make the most of LinkedIn
* The recruiter uses Kula Everywhere to source the best candidates from LinkedIn
* Once the recruiter adds their desired candidates to a Flow, Kula sends personalised messages to the candidates, across channels and even from different senders
* The candidates responds to the LinkedIn connection request, or LI message, or email
* The recruiter sets up interviews and next steps
