Yes, You Can Do Your Recruiting on LinkedIn

Fifty percent of Fortune 100 companies use LinkedIn for hiring, says expert Dan Ryan of Ryan Search and Consulting in Nashville. And you should be using it, too, he told attendees at the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, recently held in Nashville, Tennessee.

Need more reasons to use LinkedIN? It has over 130 million users, and more than 80 percent of them are decision makers. The people you want to hire are surely there.

Search Function Most Effective

The search function on LinkedIn is particularly helpful, Ryan says, and it’s how most users will recruit. You can search on keywords (for example, a programming language), or by name, organization, industry, seniority level, or by LinkedIn terms for 1st connections, 2nd connections, or all users.

You can also check by ZIP code or area, Ryan notes. In addition, you can use Boolean search terms is 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.

Groups—Find One or Make Your Own

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 particular types of people. He’s a member of 50 groups, he says, because that’s the limit. But most groups allow you to move in and out, so if you need more than 50, you can just swap them in and out.

If there’s no group for your specialized needs, create a group, he says. He did one and it now has 1500 members.

Company Pages Worth a Visit

Visiting company pages often allow you to drill down to make a connection, Ryan says.

Job Posting Available

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.

Use Your Own Connections

You just do a status update “I’m looking for X,” and it goes out to all 1st order connections, he says.

What About Facebook?

Facebook is generally not a great place for recruiting, Ryan says, but a career page may attract applicants.