OK so you’ve registered with Monster and a plethora of other job boards but still no joy!
Where else do recruiters look these days to find the right candidate to fill the position? Online social networks and in particular LINKED IN!
Recruiters are making best use of LinkedIn to find the talented and experienced through powerful recruiting software tools.
So let’s put ourselves in the shoes of a recruiter. How do they use LinkedIn to sort out the good from the bad, the exceptional from the average, the engaging from the unsociable? What are recruiters looking at and how can you make sure you’re at least in the ‘mix’?
1. Connect
With recruiters, with industry experts, with partners, with the useful people in your field. Don’t just connect for the sake of it but build your network of contact based around the industry based world you live in. Having recruiters in your network gives them better access to you. You’re more likely to appear in their news feeds and be noticed. Recruiters also look at who your connected to. Who do you have access to which might help the client their recruiting for? How well connected are you? Do you come with a ready-made network of associates who can help you to hit the ground running with the recruiter?
2. Profile
Optimise it to the max! It goes without saying! Get it fully completed WITH a decent and professional picture. You are selling yourself online not showing what you get up to in your spare time! Have a good summary which reflects what you are capable of doing. Full in your past employment and qualifications. Add in the key words where relevant. Make sure you fill in the newly added SKILLS section – this is so important. Recruiters will search by key words and if these are not there, guess what, you won’t turn up in their searches!
3. Check your Recommendations
Having recommendations from people within your industry is vital. Recruiters will look to see if you’ve added value to the people you’ve worked for and with. A third party recommendation speaks volumes and can give extra insight into the personality of the individual. Are you a leader? Do you inspire? Are you organised, target driven, good at a particular skills – project management, change management, business development, stakeholder management etc.
4. Group engagement
If you’re ticking all the boxes for the recruiter so far, they may check out a few groups to see if you participate. Make sure you do! This is one way of earning brownie points and showing your market worth. Do you instigate discussions? Do you comment on others discussions? How and what do you comment? Is what you say relevant and adding value to the discussion or is it just ‘noise’.
5. Questions and Answers
Recruiters look to see if you actively offer up solutions to problems. Do you share your knowledge and experience in a way that helps others freely? How do you communicate, how often and who with?
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