Business First September 2017 Business First September 2017 | Page 12

LINKEDIN FOR RECRUITMENT

LinkedIn for Recruitment and HR

by Bill McCartney , Think Social . Bill McCartney was LinkedIn ’ s

Professionals only official EMEA talent solutions partner in Northern Ireland .

good go to heaven and the bad go to hell . It ’ s a saying that I became aware of

Twhen in crutches this summer after rupturing my Achilles .

When going up steps lead with your good leg and going down steps lead with your bad leg . Hobbling about on crutches opens your eyes to a new world . It forces you to think differently .
Luckily when it comes to LinkedIn you don ’ t have to injure yourself to think differently . A different approach to LinkedIn will give you a competitive edge . This is especially true for recruitment and HR professionals using LinkedIn .
“ Have an open mind – allow different ideas into your way of thinking ” – Peter Diamandis
Contrary to popular belief LinkedIn is not primarily a site where people post their CVs , are unhappy at work , desperate to move to another company or are unemployed .
Most people on LinkedIn are happy in their work and not looking for another job . They do not view their LinkedIn personal profile as a CV . They spend very little time or effort completing their profile . Many people are simply on LinkedIn to network , learn from key influencers and access current articles on subjects that are especially interesting to them .
In fact some of the best talent on LinkedIn deliberately create a sketchy profile to avoid recruiters and unwanted attention from other members .
Can you find this best talent that others miss ? What do you do differently that gives you a competitive edge ?
“ Only he who can see the invisible can do the impossible ” ­ Frank Gaines
Unfortunately in many cases it is people with a fully completed and keyword rich LinkedIn profile that appear high in search . These people are constantly being hit on and naturally get cheesed off with job offers .
They are not necessarily the best talent . A few of their profiles would do fiction writers proud .
With very little effort and a different approach to search you can find hidden talent . The great advantage is they are not constantly being hit on and are usually more open to an approach .
I come from a technical background and we are famous for TLAs : Three Letter Abbreviations .
Most specialist­hidden talent use TLA , so use them in your search .
Misspelling keywords is a classic search approach to find hidden talent . Some of the best talent just spends a couple of minutes creating a profile with little attention to spelling .
They don ’ t think of their profile as a CV rather just a basic requirement to join LinkedIn .
Try this : go to LinkedIn search and use the misspelling “ Enginer ”. It will return over 32,000 profiles , go figure ?
Search is not the only way to find hidden talent . Grow your network with people who know the talent you seek .
If the banking sector for example is important to you then start building relationships with estate agents and solicitors . They all move in the same circles and can introduce you to hidden key talent in banking .
A big challenge is probably your company page . In many cases it is the most undervalued and neglected place on LinkedIn . Company pages are important to LinkedIn . They help sell their premium accounts , job adverts , career pages , sponsored adverts and lead gen form adverts , etc .
LinkedIn are therefore investing in company pages and offer several free benefits to encourage their use . They allow your content to reach targeted followers , harness your employees as brand ambassadors , develop your company as an employer of choice , support free showcase pages for campaigns or products , allow different levels of administrators and provide excellent analytics .
“ Opportunities are often things you haven ’ t noticed the first time around .” ­ Catherine Deneuve
I am shocked at the number of businesses in Northern Ireland that have failed to capitalise on the many benefits LinkedIn Company Pages offer . Perhaps it is an obsession with LinkedIn profiles ?
The purchase of LinkedIn by Microsoft in 2016 for $ 26.2 billion dollars was another shock . Microsoft is a Tech Titan with over one billion customers .
They have some of the most popular software products on the planet with email and CRM coming to mind . Microsoft is also a world leader in the leading edge technology AI , artificial intelligence . LinkedIn has already started to use AI in messaging .
LinkedIn and its members will benefit from the huge opportunities to integrate Microsoft products . They will capitalise from Microsoft ’ s competitive advantage of huge scale and incredible reach .
I have only touched on a couple of areas that I will be covering in my September Linkedin Workshop For Recruitment And Hr Professionals . Visit here for details www . businessfirstonline . co . uk / linkedinhr
I hope to see you there .
10 www . businessfirstonline . co . uk