In today’s competitive market which is candidate-driven, the key to be effective recruiter is to optimize Linkedin profiles which are a very relevant and essential solution to discover active and passive job hunters. Linkedin profile can become your path to generate personal recruiter brand identity. It is a way to be found by job seekers before meeting you or talking over phone. In the same manner, you can look for a candidate’s Linkedin profile to locate a relevant job seeker to fill in a vacancy at your company. Dedicating time to build your personal brand will boost response and referral ratios and will help you recruit even better talent. Below are tips to optimize your Linkedin profile to advance your search for talents.
LinkedIn for Recruiters and HR Tips:
1. Significance of your recruiter brand:
As a professional in getting hold of talent, an excellent personal brand will have an effect on attracting top talent. It is important to actively communicate your values, accomplishments with personality that will matter to the prospects. Before a candidate picks up the phone to call you up or plans on meeting you, they will look you up, most likely on LinkedIn. You must therefore stand out from other recruiters.
2. Professional headshot:
Choose a profile picture with high quality and which stands out. Just having a good picture can make a difference to be viewed more often by others. Have a professional headshot which looks approachable and friendly. Getting a professional photographer to take the headshot will be ideal.
3. When professional headshot is not possible:
In this case, choose a picture in which your face takes up more than 60% of the frame. You can crop a picture from the top of your shoulder so that your face is adjusted to fill in the frame. As a recruiter, you must appear warm and friendly, so do not forget to smile. Wear the clothes that you wear to work. Avoid being over or under dressed and choose solid colors. Choose a background which is not distracting and you remain the focus of the picture.
4. Customized header image:
Header image is placed behind your LinkedIn profile picture. It should be enticing and eye catching which actually summarizes your business. It is another first impression along with your profile picture. The image should speak of you and should position you as a best in class recruiter in front of the candidates. You can even place your company logo here.
5. Descriptive headline:
The headline is the text right below your name. It should be your mission statement. This space is usually utilized to mention the job title. But the job title doesn’t actually summarize the value you bring to the company. After profile picture, headline becomes the first impression you can make on people who view your profile. Consider your headline as an opportunity to impart the influence and difference you wish to make as a professional. Keep it short but compelling.
6. Display sincere passion:
You need to make it about you. Most of the recruiters will rant about the company. However you must use this space to build your own recruiter brand. In a story pattern let the potential candidates know your goals and share what you wish to do and why you are passionate about your profession.
7. Ideal summary:
Use first person singular to make it sound more personal. It is not necessary to be excessively formal. Use the summary to list your goals, accomplishments and your mission as a recruiter. It should impart people why they should connect with you and why you stand out. An ideal summary will be genuine and cliché free which will attract attention and make them to connect to you to know more.
8. Incorporate a video in the summary:
The summary is a perfect place to demonstrate how your company stands out, so add in a brief video on your company’s culture. You can even incorporate a video about a position with higher demands of new talents. This will help in attracting a prospects attention. Videos are easy to be viewed on mobile phones too. With appropriate video partner, you can even keep a tab on where and when the prospects are viewing and sharing the video.
9. Use apt keywords:
The way you use keywords to search talent on LinkedIn, is the same way for a prospect to find you. Ensure your summary content has adequate and relevant keywords that one may utilize to search and locate you. These words can be linked on your videos as well. The keywords must relate to the talent you are trying to discover and attract and to fill in the openings. Industry specific keywords are extremely helpful, so be vigilant to use them.
10. Generate and share content:
You must absorb your viewers with useful content. Share content that you have created or those you find intriguing and relevant. When you share beneficial information frequently, your prospects and fellow recruiters will soon perceive you as an expert in your field.
11. Convenience of sharing content:
It is not at all time consuming to share content as compared to creating one, which implies that you can share often. Send articles that are relevant to candidates via InMail or email to carry on with conversations. You could use status updates to share fascinating news, stories of inspiration. Updates that comprise of links or images have higher engagement rates.
12. Illustrate your success:
Make your candidates know that you are a Star. Illustrate your success in what you do and that they will be in excellent hands working with you. By showcasing the positive feedback that you have received from former hires and fellow recruiters on your profile, you establish credibility.
13. Getting LinkedIn recommendations:
You will get the best recommendations from the candidates who have worked with you and have had constructive experience with you, who can write a genuine review. Connect with some of them. If it has been a long time, try to jog their memory by incorporating your comments on their recruitment process.
14. Get authorized on LinkedIn:
After you have filled up the skills section, your connections have the chance to endorse you for those skills. This endorsement acts like a confirmation for your specific skills and can help in building your personal brand.
15. Personalize your messages:
Respond quickly to messages and make sure you personalize them. Personalized InMails get 37% more response rates and there is a higher probability of a hire. To be perceived as a thoughtful recruiter, you must invest time in writing a personal message. Consider your desired person to function with. They are the people who most likely reply to you regularly and make you feel valued. You need to make your prospects feel in the same manner to build a good recruiter brand for yourself.
16. Accentuate mutual connections in it:
Prior to contacting the prospect, take advantage of “Connection Path” attribute in LinkedIn Recruiter. You can even look for “See How You’re Connected” feature. You can request a mutual connection to introduce you or talk about them in the message.
17. Shape the conversation:
Spend some time in reviewing the content that a prospect has shared, commented or liked on LinkedIn before connecting to them. Check out the Groups that they are a part of and even the Influencers whom they follow. Then employ these elements to personalize your message.
18. Searching like a pro:
With “advanced search” you get the option to narrow down your results to focus on relevant profiles. You can filter location, industry, school and work history. More filters will be available to you, if you plan to take it up a notch by upgrading to a paid LinkedIn account.
19. Tag your connections:
People miss out using this feature, however on the Connections page; right below each of your connections is a small link which appears when you drag your mouse over it, to tag them. It will allow you to categorize your connections as you desire by just clicking on them.
20. Join LinkedIn groups:
Join the groups that contain people from your industry and even the prospects. It is a very constructive way to search for candidates with its features. One such feature is that when you are member of a single one, you can message other members even when you are not connected to them otherwise. This will help you to reach out to passive prospects too. Go to the “Members” page of the group you are part of, and look through all in that group. With the help of keywords on the candidate’s profile, you can receive more refined results.
These are tips that will help the recruiters to attract their prospective candidates and to look for the top talents efficiently. Utilizing these tips will furnish your recruiting process and encompass both active as well as passive candidates in the highly competitive market of recruiting, to fill in job openings at your company with the best talent through LinkedIn profiles.
