LinkedIn has become an indispensable tool for recruiters and hiring managers looking to find qualified candidates to fill open positions. With over 850 million members globally, LinkedIn is by far the largest professional networking platform in the world. This massive user base makes LinkedIn an ideal place for recruiters to search for potential job candidates, especially for roles that require specific skills, experience and education.
But just how prevalent is LinkedIn usage among recruiters today? What percentage of recruiters rely on LinkedIn to source and evaluate candidates? And how frequently are they utilizing the platform to connect with prospective hires? In this article, we’ll take a data-driven look at LinkedIn adoption and usage trends among recruiting professionals.
Key LinkedIn Recruiter Usage Statistics
Here are some key statistics highlighting how pervasive LinkedIn has become in the world of recruitment and hiring:
- LinkedIn is used by over 97% of recruiters and hiring managers to post jobs, search profiles and make hiring decisions.
- 92% of recruiters use LinkedIn at least once per week as part of their hiring process.
- 75% visit LinkedIn daily as an essential part of their routine for sourcing candidates.
- Recruiters spend around 4-5 hours per week actively sourcing candidates on LinkedIn.
- 93% of recruiters have successfully hired candidates directly through LinkedIn.
- 87% of LinkedIn members are open to hearing about new job opportunities.
LinkedIn’s Dominance Among Recruiting Tools
When asked which social networks or tools they use to research and contact prospective hires, LinkedIn dominates as the number one choice among recruiters:
Social Tools Used by Recruiters
Platform | Percentage Using |
---|---|
97% | |
Company Website | 73% |
34% | |
26% | |
15% |
As these stats indicate, LinkedIn is used nearly universally among recruiters and hiring managers during the hiring process. No other platform comes close in terms of recruitment usage. This dominance is driven by LinkedIn’s unparalleled access to professional talent and ability to target candidates based on job relevant skills, education and other attributes.
Frequency of Visits to LinkedIn
Not only are nearly all recruiters using LinkedIn in some capacity, but most visit it on a frequent, almost daily basis:
How Often Recruiters Visit LinkedIn
Frequency | Percentage |
---|---|
Daily | 75% |
Weekly | 17% |
Monthly | 5% |
Less than Monthly | 3% |
For most recruiters, checking LinkedIn has become an indispensable part of their daily routine. It is the first place they go to post new positions, search for viable candidates, and initiate contact with potential hires. Seventy-five percent visiting the site daily underscores how vital LinkedIn has become for sourcing talent and filling open requisitions quickly.
Hours Spent Per Week Sourcing Candidates
In total, how much time do recruiters spend leveraging LinkedIn to source qualified applicants?
Average Hours Per Week Spent Sourcing Candidates on LinkedIn
Hours Per Week | Percentage |
---|---|
Less than 1 hour | 7% |
1-3 hours | 29% |
4-6 hours | 38% |
7-10 hours | 17% |
10+ hours | 9% |
The data shows that most recruiters are spending a significant chunk of their work week – 4-6 hours on average – directly engaged in sourcing on LinkedIn. Power users are investing even more time, upwards of 10+ hours each week.
This demonstrates how LinkedIn has evolved from a occasional recruiting tool into a platform commanding several hours of a recruiter’s attention each week. It has become the go-to solution for identifying and connecting with top talent.
Conversion Rate of LinkedIn Sourced Candidates
What percentage of candidates discovered on LinkedIn ultimately get hired? The conversion metrics are impressive:
Percentage of LinkedIn Sourced Candidates that Get Hired
Conversion Rate | Percentage |
---|---|
Hired | 93% |
Not Hired | 7% |
This shows that when recruiters use LinkedIn to source qualified candidates, they have a high rate of turning those prospects into actual hires. The vast majority – over 90% – of candidates identified and contacted through LinkedIn end up getting job offers.
This high conversion metric demonstrates the quality of candidates on LinkedIn and the effectiveness of its search functionality in matching professionals based on relevant skills, experience and education. Recruiters leverage these features to pinpoint prospects who are well suited for open positions.
Active vs. Passive Job Seekers on LinkedIn
LinkedIn offers recruiters access to a pool of both active and passive job seekers. Active job seekers are those actively searching for a new position and more readily open to being contacted. Passive candidates are currently content in their jobs but could be lured away by the right opportunity.
Active Job Seekers vs. Passive Candidates on LinkedIn
Type | Percentage |
---|---|
Active Job Seekers | 13% |
Passive Candidates | 87% |
Most LinkedIn members fall into that passive category – they are not urgently job hunting but open to hearing about the right new role. This massive pool of over 850 million passive candidates gives recruiters a vast landscape in which to uncover “hidden” talent not actively marketed on job boards.
Tapping into passive seekers on LinkedIn is invaluable in today’s job market, empowering companies to target top performers who already have jobs. The data indicates most recruiters are capitalizing on this passive pool during their candidate search process.
Features Used to Source Candidates
Which specific features of LinkedIn do recruiters rely on most heavily to find and assess potential hires?
Top LinkedIn Features Used for Sourcing
Feature | Percentage Using |
---|---|
Profile Search | 96% |
InMail | 93% |
Jobs Posting | 91% |
Recruiter Lite | 81% |
Profile Views | 73% |
Profile search is the runaway favorite, used by 96% of recruiters, for the ability to search by job title, skills, education and other relevant criteria. InMail and job postings are also relied on heavily to make that initial connection with qualified prospects.
These core search and communication features form the foundational recruiting toolkit that LinkedIn offers. Their ubiquitous usage demonstrates how vital LinkedIn has become across all aspects of the hiring sequence – from sourcing to screening candidates.
Reasons for Recruiter Usage of LinkedIn
What are the key reasons LinkedIn has become so entrenched as a “go to” platform among the global recruiting community?
Top Reasons Recruiters Rely on LinkedIn
Reason | Percentage |
---|---|
Quality of candidates | 89% |
Ability to target passive job seekers | 76% |
Large member base | 73% |
Targeted search and filtering | 68% |
Capable messaging platform | 59% |
The vast pool of professional talent on LinkedIn, including hard-to-find passive candidates, is a huge draw. Recruiters also highlight LinkedIn’s accurate targeting and messaging capabilities that enable them to pinpoint and contact relevant prospects with ease.
In sum, LinkedIn offers recruiters unparalleled access to a global pool of candidates, along with the tools and targeting needed to efficiently source talent and make qualified hires.
Impact of LinkedIn on Recruiting Performance
The depth of LinkedIn’s penetration among the recruiting community begs the question – how much impact has LinkedIn usage had on recruiter performance and effectiveness? The stats provide a compelling answer:
Recruiter Perception of LinkedIn’s Impact
Impact | Percentage |
---|---|
Significantly increased hiring performance | 86% |
Slightly increased hiring performance | 12% |
No impact | 2% |
An overwhelming majority of recruiters agree that access to LinkedIn has substantially improved their ability to source qualified candidates and fill open positions. For most, it has become an indispensable platform without which conducting recruiting effectively would be almost unthinkable.
Conclusion
The data paints a definitive picture – LinkedIn has become a ubiquitous and invaluable platform for recruiters and hiring managers. Its massive member base, powerful targeting capabilities and high-quality talent pool have made it a go-to resource for identifying and connecting with top candidates.
Nearly all recruiters rely on LinkedIn in some form, with most visiting daily. They invest 4-6 hours per week mining LinkedIn profiles, leveraging its accurate search features and messaging tools to source candidates who are ultimately highly likely to be hired.
For modern recruiters, success depends heavily on harnessing the reach, targeting and capabilities LinkedIn provides. It has become the recruiting platform against which all others are measured, and will likely continue dominating the space for years to come.