Introduction
Finding the right candidates is a skill that requires tact and strategy, especially on professional platforms like LinkedIn. For employers and recruiters, attracting the best talent is crucial to the development and success of their organization. This article is intended to provide you with useful techniques and tips to improve your candidate search process and identify those who could become relevant members of your team.
Understanding the basics of sourcing on Linkedin
Sourcing on LinkedIn is like making your way through a jungle of talent. To be effective in this complex environment, it’s essential to master advanced search, as well as knowing how to take advantage of professional groups and hashtags. This is crucial for any recruiter looking to find the perfect candidate. Think of Linkedin as a gigantic ATS that, once you’ve mastered the codes, can be easily organized and tidied up.
Using advanced search filters
LinkedIn’s advanced filters are invaluable for precise targeting. They help you refine your search according to specific criteria such as location, sector, experience and more. Thanks to these filters, you can considerably reduce the number of potential candidates, targeting only those who meet your exact requirements.
For all recruiters, I recommend at least one of the following two paid subscriptions: Sales Navigator or Recruiter Lite.
The two can be complementary. The advantage of Sales Navigator filters lies in their ability to perform double filtering with a company list. If you’re looking for a professional candidate in a specific sector, this subscription is very useful.
The most widely used is Recruiter Lite, because it’s truly human-centric and gives you access to finer granularity on :
- Years of professional experience
- If the person is “Open to work
- Diplomas
- Previous experience
A good Recruiter Lite search should be between 100 and 300 people maximum. If you have more, don’t hesitate to use more discriminating filters like “keywords”. In fact, this option can be used is interesting in many ways, as this filter will parse the person’s Linkedin profile. It’s like pressing CTRL + F on a Linkedin profile, and you’ll immediately see which profiles are more “passionate” than others about a particular subject.
Exploiting professional groups and hashtags
Professional groups on LinkedIn are spaces where professionals gather according to their interests or sector of activity. By taking part, you’re not just observing, you’re also engaging in discussion, increasing your visibility and that of your company. You can also scrape all members of a group if you are also a member. Next, you’ll need to clean up this file to keep only the profiles that interest you. That’s why I recommend this technique only for very specific groups that don’t have thousands of members.
As for hashtags, they are essential for keeping abreast of trends and identifying candidates active in specific fields. By using them in your posts, you extend the reach of your ads and capture the attention of qualified professionals.
Optimize your Linkedin profile and presence
On Linkedin, first impressions are crucial. A polished profile and regular activity can go a long way to attracting top candidates. As a recruiter, you’ve been taught to take care of your employer brand, but tell yourself that on Linkedin it’s the recruiter’s brand that you need to improve. On Linkedin, people carry more weight than company pages.
Let’s see how your Linkedin profile can become a real talent magnet.
Create an attractive profile for candidates
Your Linkedin profile should illustrate your professionalism and brand identity. Here are a few aspects to fine-tune:
- Profile photo: Choose a clean, professional photo that effectively identifies you in your sector.
- Professional title: Your title should be precise, reflecting your current position or the one you aspire to.
- Summary: Share your career path, highlighting your major assets.
- Experience: List your previous assignments and successes, selecting keywords relevant to your field.
- Skills: Highlight the most sought-after skills in your field.
- Recommendations: Testimonials from colleagues or superiors can greatly enhance your profile.
By fine-tuning every section of your profile, you’ll significantly increase your visibility to potential candidates. We’ve put together a number of tutorial videos in our guides to help you optimize the technical aspects of your Linkedin account.
Publish relevant content on a regular basis
Maintaining an active presence on Linkedin means regularly publishing relevant content. Here’s how to publish effectively:
- Share your expertise: Articles, case studies or infographics can demonstrate your specificity.
- Promote your company: Share your company’s success stories and feedback from satisfied customers.
- Engage your network: Launch debates via questions or polls and take part in exchanges to stimulate commitment.
- Use visuals: Visual content such as images, videos or infographics increase engagement and captivate attention.
By adopting these best practices, you’ll affirm your personal brand and naturally attract qualified candidates. Creating content can be time-consuming, and it’s hard to be consistent. But that’s what Linkedin’s algorithm prefers: regularity. I advise you to prepare an editorial calendar in advance, in which you’ll have 1 Linkedin post per week for 5 months. You’ll need to prepare 20 Linkedin posts in advance, but thanks to this you’ll never be caught short. Software such as Taplio can also help.
What’s more, there are tricks you can use to be present on Linkedin even when you don’t have the time, such as publishing automatic Linkedin posts.
Methods for finding and approaching candidates
To excel at recruiting on LinkedIn, it’s essential to master candidate search methods. This requires in-depth knowledge of Boolean search techniques, the art of personalizing approach messages and establishing an effective follow-up strategy.
Boolean search for precise results
It’s a powerful system on LinkedIn that allows you to filter very precisely. By using keywords in combination with operators such as AND, NOT and OR, it’s possible to refine searches so that they perfectly match your requirements. For example, to target a “product manager” while excluding an “assistant”, the query “product manager NOT assistant” is used. This method enables us to focus on the most relevant profiles and optimizes the time spent looking for ideal candidates. These Booleans can be used in the “Keywords” box of your SalesNavigator, Recruiter Lite or classic Linkedin.
Personalize approach messages
Sending a personalized approach message is crucial to attracting the attention of potential candidates. It’s important to demonstrate that you’ve looked at the candidate’s page and that the proposed opportunity matches their skills and ambitions. Starting with a personalized greeting and including specific details that indicate the message is not generic can establish an initial connection and encourage a favorable response from the candidate.
To send a message to someone, you need to be connected to them. This requires a prior connection request. Surprisingly, following a study we carried out on over 4,000 Linkedin accounts, candidate prospecting campaigns have a higher acceptance rate when the connection request does not have a note message.
If you want to be more effective in your recruitment, using MirrorProfiles is a serious asset up your sleeve. Indeed, when you have a database of potential candidates of around 500/600 people. If you only use your personal Linkedin account, at most you’ll be able to contact all of them within 6 weeks. But if you complete your Linkedin profile with 2 Linkedin Mirrorprofiles, mathematically you’ll be able to contact them all in less than 2 weeks.
From experience, I know that when you’re entrusted with a recruitment and you ask “Ideally, when should he/she join you?”, the answer is always “ASAP / as soon as possible”. With our solution, you save a lot of time and it’s easier for you to meet deadlines.
Building a follow-up strategy
It’s vital to keep in touch with candidates after the first message, by adopting a structured follow-up strategy. This can include scheduled reminders, up-to-date information about the recruitment process, or additional details about the company and the position on offer. That’s why we’ve developed MirrorChat, which gives you a kind of pre-ATS, ideal for field actions. What’s more, and we can help you with this, our system has an API which allows you to automatically synchronize your tasks with your ATS. Forget about copying and pasting to update your tracker 😉
Maintaining regular, meaningful communication shows candidates that they are being considered, and enhances your image as a well-organized, caring employer.
Use automation tools
There are many solutions on the market that are useful for candidate prospecting. Previously, these systems were geared towards salespeople, but in 2024 they were adapted to meet the needs of recruiters. They can revolutionize your recruitment strategy. By taking advantage of these resources, you can not only simplify your search for candidates, but also make it more efficient.
Maximize productivity with Linkedin automation tools
Dedicated LinkedIn tools can greatly improve your efficiency. Software such as Hey Reach, Dripify or LinkedHelper automate tedious tasks such as sending invitations, reminders and collecting profile information. They work like virtual assistants, saving you time to concentrate on more important recruitment strategies.
MirrorProfiles: the tool for sourcing and generating interviews faster
In the competitive world of recruitment, speed and efficiency are paramount. MirrorProfiles stands out as the perfect solution for companies wishing to improve their candidate search process on LinkedIn.
By coupling it with software such as Waalaxy, LGM or Lemlist, you can launch automated communication campaigns, targeting specific profiles with large-scale personalized messages. The alliance between MirrorProfiles and these companies opens up new perspectives in recruitment methods on LinkedIn. Users benefit from the ability to create tailor-made workflows for contacting candidates, managing responses, and even synchronizing this information with their CRM or Applicant Tracking System.
This multi-channel method is proving particularly effective for outgoing recruitment strategies in 2024, helping recruiters stay ahead in terms of efficiency. MirrorProfiles also offers the management of multiple LinkedIn accounts, increasing prospecting limits and making it possible to reach a greater number of candidates each week. This function is very useful for companies with extensive or varied recruitment needs.
In conclusion, MirrorProfiles is an invaluable tool for any recruiter wishing to accelerate sourcing and enrich interactions with potential candidates. By fully exploiting the functionalities offered by this tool, recruitment professionals can not only save time but also significantly increase their chances of finding the perfect candidate.
Best practices for an effective sourcing strategy
To attract and recruit the best talent, an effective strategy is crucial. This approach must be methodical, capable of adapting to the constant fluctuations in the job market. Here are some relevant practices to improve your sourcing.
Develop and maintain a network of potential candidates
Having a solid network of potential candidates is crucial for any company. It’s essential to build and maintain relationships with qualified candidates, even if they’re not immediately looking for a job. This means keeping in touch with former candidates, participants in events organized by the company, as well as professionals met at conferences or on professional social networks.
Adopting an ethical and respectful approach
Ethics are at the heart of a successful sourcing strategy. The aim is to treat each applicant with consideration, to ensure confidentiality and to refuse any form of discrimination. Ethical conduct enhances the company’s reputation and attracts quality candidates in line with the company’s values.
Evaluate and continuously improve your methods
The job market is changing at lightning speed. It’s vital that your sourcing techniques evolve to stay relevant. Review the effectiveness of your strategies regularly and adjust them to embrace new developments, whether in terms of technology, training or selection criteria.
Conclusion
In conclusion, capitalizing on LinkedIn for sourcing involves a dynamic strategy that includes a well-groomed presence, personalized interactions, and clever use of the elements at hand. Building a strong network, following impeccable ethics and continually re-evaluating your strategies are crucial to maintaining a competitive edge. Now’s the time to act: apply these tips and tricks to revolutionize your approach to sourcing!
FAQ
What are the sourcing methods?
Methods include using job board platforms, consulting CV databases (CVthèques), recruiting via social networks, sourcing via Linkedin and cooptation.
How do you define sourcing?
It refers to the process of researching and identifying potential candidates to fill a specific recruitment need. This process uses a variety of strategies to attract and encourage talent to apply for a job.
What are the sourcing stages?
It takes place in several stages, including precise identification of recruitment needs, definition of the candidate profiles required, choice of the most suitable sourcing software, detection of potential candidates, active talent sourcing and talent management. We can also include in the sourcing process the 1st contact to see if the potential candidate is open to our hiring proposal.
What are the sourcing tools?
Sourcing software includes job boards, specialized search engines, social networks, cooptation techniques, the use of smartphones to facilitate mobility, business games and networking events, not to mention the company’s internal database.
