How to Connect with Potential Workers on LinkedIn


LinkedIn is one of the most popular platforms for recruiters to find new candidates. They often evaluate a big number of profiles to find the necessary specialist whose skills and experience most closely fit the position’s requirements. The problem is that HR experts frequently overlook highly competent candidates owing to a lack of information about how to hire using current solutions and social networks. Do you know how to use LinkedIn to simply find a professional you need?

LinkedIn is a popular place to look for potential workers. Nonetheless, first, one has to go through a huge number of profiles to find someone with the necessary abilities, experience, and education. Let’s look at the ways of finding the top specialists for your company!

How Do You Meet A Potential Candidate On LinkedIn?

There are many ways for you to meet a candidate on LinkedIn. Each of them offers an array of specialists to consider in a specific position.

LinkedIn Search Bar

This approach to finding potential workers falls within the category of passive. It does not require much effort as all you need to do is specify the job title in the search field.

A well-chosen key phrase can assist you in locating the right person. To discover which candidates are now searching for work, type “looking for (job)” in the search bar. For example: looking for UX designer.

You will see a variety of results, including job openings from your competitors. Filter the results by selecting “People” from the top page menu. As a result, you will only see potential workers looking for a new job.

Groups on LinkedIn

You can approach the candidate search in a variety of ways. LinkedIn provides a myriad of groups, including one for those who are currently looking for career opportunities.

For example, if you enter “job,” the first result will show you a variety of groups with job seekers. Furthermore, you will quickly discover who of your contacts are in this group. Perhaps, there is someone suitable for a vacancy in your company among them?

Useful tip:

Professionals who have a job but are looking for better opportunities can also be found in such groups. It is an excellent method for attracting a specialist by providing him with more favorable terms. And in this case, you will almost certainly need to use the primary function of social networks – start communicating with a person.

Publishing Employee Search Posts

Do not be afraid to take more active measures. Post in your profile thread and groups where your target audience communicates that you are looking for new employees.

Find several appropriate groups and post job vacancies there. People who are serious about finding work will employ all methods available at their disposal. As a result, they will be intrigued by your proposal and will contact you when they see your post.

Regardless of where the post will be published, it should look like text that sells. In your case, it will sell a vacancy. There are high-level specialists on LinkedIn.

Therefore, be prepared to compete for them and, possibly, entice them away from a current job. Include as much information about the job offer as possible:

  • Benefits package;
  • Bonuses;
  • Career opportunities;
  • Salary;
  • Working conditions, etc.

Concentrate on employee benefits rather than the company’s achievements. As a result, you will receive dozens of messages from potential workers interested in your offer.

Boolean Search

Boolean Search is a database search that employs logistics operators to get more precise results. It nearly doubles the pace of your candidate search.

The method is easy to use and works in both basic and premium LinkedIn Recruiter accounts. Using Boolean Search, you may find people on LinkedIn based on their “skills” and “headlines:”

  • Skills. As a rule, recruiters are interested in the skills of a potential candidate. As a result, LinkedIn provides this option. To do so, write “Skills: (name the skill you are looking for).” For example: “Skill:flexibility.”
  • Headline. LinkedIn also suggests searching for prospective candidates using headlines. To search by the headline, write “Headline: (position)” in the search bar. To find people who are open to a new job, write “headline:looking for new opportunities” or “headline:open to offers.”

Google Search

You can begin working with Boolean Search in LinkedIn directly from Google Search. This method is not new, but it is seldom used by recruiters.

To do that, open Google’s home page and write “site:linkedin.com/in (search query)” in the search bar. For example, if you are looking for a UX writer, you should write: “site:linkedin.com/in UX writer.”

If you have multiple search queries, you can write them as “site: linkedin.com/in (search query) AND (search query).” For example: “site: linkedin.com/in marketer AND SMM.”

If you want to get a more accurate selection to your request, put the search query in quotation marks (site: linkedin.com/in “search query”). It is also recommended to put a query of two or more words in quotation marks. For example, site: linkedin.com/in “interior designer.”

Tools That Will Make It Easier For You to Search on LinkedIn

Internal social platform searches are extremely beneficial for locating specialists in key parameters, but they are not always sufficient to form the required candidate pool.

LinkedIn applications and programs allow the recruiter to do the following:

  • Save the applicant’s contact data;
  • Receive email without adding a profile to your contacts list;
  • Create posts, choose a publication date, and monitor their popularity;
  • Send personalized emails to a specific contact group.

Here are four of the most popular tools for that:

BufferOpens in a new tab.

This tool will assist you in planning and tracking the popularity of your content, such as job postings. Buffer is a social media platform that allows you to schedule posts and connects to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Dux-SoapOpens in a new tab.

The plugin allows you to take notes after viewing each LinkedIn profile. You can save anything, from a person’s favorite hobby to a task like “Send a personalized email.” The notes taken in a single day are saved to your computer as .csv files with links to applicants’ profiles, last names, first names, contacts, and your notes.

SkrappOpens in a new tab.

Do you need the candidate’s phone number or email address but do not have it on file? Skrapp is a useful solution that will solve the issue.

Aside from searching for profile contact information, the tool saves and sorts your search queries and visit history. It can be accessed from any device. Its free version allows you to search for up to 150 emails per month.

LinMailProOpens in a new tab.

LinMailPro is a browser extension that allows you to send personal messages to LinkedIn automatically. You can make a welcome message template for anyone who has added you to their contacts, as well as create a list of contacts based on tags and write personalized messages to them.

Final Thoughts

LinkedIn makes it easier to find information compared to other social media platforms, whether you use automation or not. After all, the primary purpose of this network is to foster business connections. Therefore, offering jobs to users will not appear inappropriate here, compared to Instagram or Facebook.

LinkedIn users are waiting for job offer letters. Furthermore, the user pages usually include detailed information about workers, among other things, skills, specialization, and experience. It would be irrational for a recruiter to ignore LinkedIn as a modern platform for finding employees when looking for qualified candidates.

Author’s Bio:

Nancy P. Howard has been working as a writing expert at Best Writers OnlineOpens in a new tab. custom review service. She is also a professional writer in such topics as blogging, IT and HR. She loves travelling, photography and is always welcome to meet new people.

Steve Todd

Steve Todd, founder of Open Sourced Workplace and is a recognized thought leader in workplace strategy and the future of work. With a passion for work from anywhere, Steve has successfully implemented transformative strategies that enhance productivity and employee satisfaction. Through Open Sourced Workplace, he fosters collaboration among HR, facilities management, technology, and real estate professionals, providing valuable insights and resources. As a speaker and contributor to various publications, Steve remains dedicated to staying at the forefront of workplace innovation, helping organizations thrive in today's dynamic work environment.

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