Need more reasons to use LinkedIn? It's the largest "business-focused" social networking site, with over 130 million users, and more than 80 percent of them are decision makers. The people you want to hire are surely there.
The search function on LinkedIn is particularly helpful, Ryan says, and it's how most employers will use LinkedIn for recruiting. This tool allows employers to search on keywords (for example, a programming language), or by name, organization, industry, school, and seniority level (manager, owner, VP, director, entry, students, etc.). In addition, you may search by LinkedIn terms for 1st connections, 2nd connections, or all users.
You can also check by ZIP code or area, indicating how many mile radius you want to include, Ryan notes. In addition, you can use Boolean search terms if you are familiar with that system.
Although this searching is available free, Ryan recommends that employers buy at least the lowest level of paid service because that allows you to save searches, and gives notification weekly of new additions that meet your search criteria.
BLR's SmartPolicies gives you 350 HR policies, prewritten for you, ready to customize or use as is. Plus, for a limited time receive the complimentary special report 5 Tips For Creating HR Policies That Hold Up In Court . Click Here
Another great feature of LinkedIn is groups, Ryan says. There are groups for most any imaginable type of job, he notes, and they are a good way to reach specific types of people. They often allow you to reach people who are not actively looking for new jobs.
Ryan is a member of 50 groups, he says, because that's the LinkedIn limit. However, you can get around the limit, because most groups allow you to move in and out, so if you need more than 50 groups, you can just swap them in and out.
If there's no group for your specialized needs, create a group, Ryan says. He had one specialty that he was recruiting for that didn't have a group, so he started a group. It now has 1500 members. (Groups of less than 1000 are usually not too helpful for recruiting, Ryan advises.)
Visiting company pages often allow you to drill down to make a connection, Ryan says.
Don't struggle with creating compliant HR policies! We've already written them for you, and at less than $1 each. Plus, for a limited time receive a bonus special report. Click Here.
Another feature of LinkedIn is the ability to post jobs. There is a modest fee, he adds, but if you post through a group there's no fee.
You just do a status update "I'm looking for X," and it goes out to all 1st order connections, he says.
In tomorrow's Advisor, recruiting on Facebook, Twitter, and Skype, plus an introduction to a unique collection of pre-written policies.
If you have comments about this tip and want to post them on this page to share your thoughts with other HR Daily Advisor readers, simply enter your comments below. NOTE: Your name will appear on any comments posted.