As a hiring manager, you want the best and brightest candidates to fill your open positions. However, finding these people can be a challenge, as they’re not always looking for work ─ and when they are, other companies tend to snap them up pretty quickly.

However, LinkedIn is often the secret to finding these talented workers. An increasing number of companies have begun using social recruiting strategies to track down candidates that in many cases never would’ve even known the position was open.

5 Ways to Use LinkedIn for Social Recruiting

Not quite sure how to use LinkedIn to find candidates? Use the following five tips to get started:

1. Find Qualified Candidates: Use LinkedIn’s search feature to find the best people for your open positions. The advanced people search page allows you to look for candidates based on a wide-variety of features, such as location, current company, years of experience, past companies, languages spoken, school, industry, and more.
2. Search for Passive Contenders: The site offers the unique ability to seek out passive candidates, as not everyone on LinkedIn is currently looking for new opportunities. Uncover top talent that otherwise wouldn’t have applied for the job.
3. Connect with Prospects: LinkedIn allows you to send “InMail” to other users, making it easy to connect with candidates who strike your attention. This is much easier and less time intensive than trying to dig around to find their contact information online.
4. Screen Applicants: It’s quick and easy to check out a candidate’s background by reviewing their LinkedIn profile. Most professionals have complete profiles, thoroughly detailing their past work experience, skills, and educational background. Many also have recommendations from other connections praising their work. Searching through a person’s connections is also a great way to verify that their profile information is correct.
5. Participate in Groups: Gain access to candidates and promote your company by participating in LinkedIn groups relevant to your organization. Many group administrators will also allow you to post jobs to share with members.

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