LinkedIn Recruiter is a powerful tool that allows recruiters and hiring managers to source, engage, and manage candidates efficiently. One of its most useful features is the ability to search for and filter candidates by location.
With LinkedIn Recruiter, you can narrow your candidate search by including or excluding specific countries, states, metro areas, postal codes, and regions. This allows you to laser-focus your search on candidates in your ideal locations.
Why exclude locations?
There are several reasons you may want to exclude locations when searching for candidates on LinkedIn Recruiter:
- Your job requisition is location-specific. For example, if you’re hiring for a role that requires the candidate to be onsite in San Francisco, you’ll want to exclude all other locations.
- You want to focus your outreach in certain metro areas or regions. Excluding all other locations allows you to hone in on the locations that matter most for your search.
- You have enough candidates in some locations. If your search is producing plenty of qualified candidates in New York City, for instance, you can exclude that metro and focus your efforts elsewhere.
- You want to avoid oversaturated locations. Some locations, like India for tech roles, tend to attract lots of applicants. Excluding these allows you to uncover candidates in less obvious areas.
- You have visa or legal limitations. If your company cannot sponsor candidates from certain countries, it’s important to exclude those locations from your search parameters.
The ability to narrow your candidate search by location helps ensure you’re focusing your recruiting efforts in the geographies that make the most strategic sense for your hiring needs.
How to exclude locations on LinkedIn Recruiter
Excluding locations on LinkedIn Recruiter is simple and only takes a few clicks. Here are step-by-step instructions:
- Access your LinkedIn Recruiter account and navigate to the “Post a job” page. This is where you’ll configure the search criteria for your job posting.
- Enter the details of the position, including title and description. Make sure to toggle on “Enable candidate search” at the bottom of the page.
- Scroll down to the “Locations” section. Here you can start typing in specific countries, states, metro areas, etc. that you want to target in your search.
Now here is where you can exclude locations:
- As you start typing in locations, a dropdown menu will appear with suggestions. When you see a location you want to exclude, simply click the “Exclude” toggle next to it.
- The location will now appear under the “Excluded locations” section, indicating it is being excluded from your search. Repeat this for all the locations you want to exclude.
- Once you’ve included your target locations and excluded the locations you want filtered out, click “Save search” at the bottom of the page.
You can revisit and modify your included/excluded locations at any time by editing the saved search configuration.
Tips for effectively excluding locations
Here are some tips to use location exclusions most effectively in LinkedIn Recruiter:
- Always include at least one or two target locations. Don’t only exclude locations without specifying where you do want to find candidates.
- Think globally. Don’t limit yourself to US states and metro areas. Talented candidates exist around the world.
- Specify cities for targeted metro searches. Excluding New York state but including New York City will give you better focus.
- Reassess and tweak your locations regularly. You may need to broaden or refine your search geography over time.
- Search broadly at first. Start with only a few excluded locations and then narrow your geography once you see the full candidate landscape.
- Avoid excluding entire countries unless absolutely necessary. Cast a wide net and then filter down for the best results.
Examples of excluding locations in LinkedIn Recruiter
Here are a few examples of when you might exclude locations on a LinkedIn Recruiter search:
Bay Area startup role
If recruiting for a startup role focused on the San Francisco Bay Area, you might:
- Include: San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley metro regions
- Exclude: Los Angeles, Sacramento, Portland, Seattle, San Diego metro areas
This allows you to concentrate your search on qualified candidates in the immediate Bay Area.
Remote role with legal limitations
If recruiting for a remote role with legal limitations, you might:
- Include: USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France
- Exclude: China, Russia, India, UAE, Brazil
This enables you to search broadly but excludes countries where legal restrictions apply.
Localized onsite role
If recruiting for an onsite customer service role in Miami, you might:
- Include: Miami metro area
- Exclude: New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston metro areas
You can zone in on just the Miami metro by excluding all other major cities where candidates are likely plentiful.
Pro tips for location exclusions
Here are some pro tips for getting the most out of excluding locations on LinkedIn Recruiter searches:
- Track your location inclusion and exclusion over time. You may need to adjust based on response rates.
- Always include a broad region or country, not just specific cities. Lots of candidates omit exact locations.
- Don’t go overboard with exclusions at first. You can always narrow your geography later.
- Review any guidance from hiring managers about ideal locations or regions to prioritize.
- Be mindful of diversity. Excluding locations could unintentionally filter out candidates who bring diversity.
- Think about time zones. If scheduling interviews across time zones, minimize exclusions.
Optimizing your location exclusions takes experimentation. Monitor your search results and candidate response rates regularly to see if your geography targeting needs adjustment.
Limitations of location exclusions
While location exclusions are useful on LinkedIn Recruiter, there are some limitations to be aware of:
- Candidates may omit location information from their profile, limiting exclusions’ effectiveness
- Traveling or relocating candidates may not be filtered out by exclusions
- Location data quality issues can cause candidates from excluded places to still appear
- Too many exclusions can overly limit your candidate pool and lead to lackluster response rates
Location data isn’t always perfect, so some candidates from excluded geographies may still slip through. Use exclusions thoughtfully and as just one part of an effective search strategy.
Conclusion
Excluding locations on LinkedIn Recruiter gives recruiters powerful geography targeting capabilities. By carefully choosing which regions, countries, states and cities to exclude, you can zone in on the candidates that are most relevant for your hiring needs.
However, location exclusions should be used judiciously. Cast your net wide at first and then narrow down gradually. Monitor search results and response metrics to tweak locations frequently. With the right exclusions in place, you’ll be geographic targeting like a pro on LinkedIn Recruiter.