How Do Recruiters Source on LinkedIn?

Any successful recruiter knows that they need to be hyper-efficient whenever they open LinkedIn. While the content of the LinkedIn feed is variable (to say the least), the distractions are still very real. When recruiters source on LinkedIn they have specific jobs to fill for their clients and must go about their candidate sourcing in a particular way.

While recruiters (contingent and retained) are different, all follow a typical sourcing process:

LinkedIn sourcing starts with the search function.

Setting the parameters for every candidate search will vary significantly by recruiter and industry. Some will be Boolean wizards and drill down with precision, while others will cast the net wide and scan many results to see who pops up. The most important consideration for a candidate is that your profile needs to be complete enough (and contain enough keywords) in the first place. Recruiters won’t find it otherwise.

Imagine a few search parameters for your dream job that a recruiter might key into the LinkedIn engine and then see how high your profile comes on the list. Have a look at the profiles that are higher than yours. What do they have that you don’t? Make some changes, rinse and repeat.

When recruiters source on LinkedIn and click on your profile, what do they find?

It is relatively easy to game the LinkedIn search function to appear on the relevant searches. Still, if your profile is not immediately impressive, you will not get that crucial InMail.

Make sure your career history is complete, with brief accomplishments for each role. For any job seeker, the summary is a pivotal place to articulate your career ambitions. Make sure that it ties up with the jobs you target. Lastly, you will get “extra credit” for any blogs or content (i.e. links to an industry portfolio) located at the top of the profile.

Recruiters source effectively

If a recruiter finds your LinkedIn profile attractive, likely, an employer will too. That matters to a recruiter as that means they have a chance of earning their commission.

You don’t have to be front of mind to be headhunted (but it helps).

It is a fallacy to think that you need to be visible to every single industry recruiter every week for them to approach you for a job. They will conduct a thorough search, and it is highly likely that you will be on their long list. Your activity on LinkedIn and the “fit” with your profile and the job description will then dictate whether they want to speak with you.

On the other hand, it never hurts to be a familiar contributor within your industry’s social media circles. It could be that you are approached directly by employers who might not be so keen to pay a recruitment fee, so keeping active on LinkedIn for the period leading up to your job search is essential.

LinkedIn is the shop window for your career. Suppose you have the right industry keywords in your profile. In that case, you won’t be hard to find, so give a recruiter or potential employer enough reasons to dig deeper into your background and hopefully invite you for an interview.

Being found on LinkedIn is where many candidates begin their job search.

Make sure it is a great first impression because recruiters source on LinkedIn all the time.

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This blog is shared with Job Seeker Duetists. 

Written by former recruitment ghostwriter Paul Drury (not AI).