Social Media Corner: How Employers are using LinkedIn for Recruiting

As the online social networking world is expanding, there are now better ways for businesses to recruit superior employees through LinkedIn. Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms are more associated with your personal brand; LinkedIn is focused on building your professional brand. Here are some ways that employers are now using LinkedIn for their recruiting needs and what you can do to get your profile noticed.

After ensuring that your profile is complete and all your details and keywords are filled in, the first task is to develop a personal network of professionals to whom a recruiter can send a request for a referral for a job opening. In addition to building this “referral chain”, people are also building authentic relationships virtually. Strong relationships, not large contact databases build this kind of success. While you are building your network of professional contacts, don’t forget to stay in touch with former, trusted colleagues for potential future employment. 

One of the valuable components of LinkedIn that is underused is the “Networks Updates” feature. When you log in to LinkedIn your home page pops up and it shows the status updates from your connections. This is your professional billboard and without updating your status every day, you are invisible to all of your connections. In order to make yourself more visible it is recommended that you update your status once a day to give you the opportunity to make a pitch, talk about an event or announce something special. This is a way to stay top of mind with your connections. Remember that your LinkedIn updates should be professional and not be used the same way as your Facebook and Twitter personal updates.

Another way to boost your presence in the LinkedIn world is by joining groups. There are participant groups that share interests, backgrounds, specializations or experience. Join these groups, there may be job openings posted, other members could give you a referral or you may be contacted by a potential employer just for being a part of a focused group.

With over 200 million members worldwide, and new members joining every second, LinkedIn is the go-to social media tool for a job hunt or to boost your professional brand.  LinkedIn has proven to be a huge traffic driver for many employers and a valuable lead source. LinkedIn is a dynamic network of individuals representing employees in over 2 million businesses and for the future employees out there…this is huge!