LinkedIn Recruiter is a powerful tool that allows recruiters and hiring managers to source, engage, and hire top talent more efficiently. With over 740 million members on LinkedIn, it has become the go-to platform for recruiting passive candidates. LinkedIn Recruiter provides several benefits that make hiring easier, faster, and more effective. Here are the top reasons why you should be using LinkedIn Recruiter:
Access to the Largest Talent Pool
LinkedIn has over 740 million members globally, with 260 million active monthly users. This gives recruiters access to the largest professional network in the world for sourcing candidates. Unlike job boards where candidates actively apply, LinkedIn allows you to proactively search its extensive database and identify passive candidates who are not actively job hunting.
According to LinkedIn’s research, 70% of people are passive candidates, which means only 30% of people are actively looking. Tapping into this vast passive talent pool gives you an edge in finding qualified candidates quickly.
Advanced Search and Sourcing
LinkedIn Recruiter offers powerful search functionality using over 20 search filters such as location, experience, skills, company size, seniority level, and more. You can easily narrow down your search criteria to find the best matches for the job requisition.
The platform also enables searching by group membership, which allows you to target candidates belonging to specific professional associations or alumni networks. This results in 50% more InMail acceptance from these candidates compared to cold outreach.
Insights on Candidates
LinkedIn profiles provide a wealth of information on candidates, including their background, experiences, skills, accomplishments, recommendations, and connections. This allows you to thoroughly vet and evaluate candidates before you reach out to them.
You can also view their activity feed to gain insights into what they are sharing and engaged in professionally. This helps start more meaningful conversations and build rapport faster.
Engage Passive Candidates
One of the hardest parts of recruiting is engaging passive candidates who are not actively looking for a job. LinkedIn Recruiter makes this possible in the following ways:
- Send InMail messages directly to candidates.
- View email addresses of 2nd-degree connections so you can send personalized emails.
- Follow candidates and stay up-to-date on their activity so you know when to engage.
- Share job postings and update your network when you have relevant openings.
According to LinkedIn, InMail messages have 4X higher response rates compared to cold emails.
Integrated Analytics and Reporting
LinkedIn Recruiter provides real-time analytics so you can track your sourcing efforts and optimize your strategy. You can view reports on InMail response rates, source of hire, and the effectiveness of job postings.
The platform also offers data insights using AI, such as suggested skills for the job requisition to target suitable candidates. This data-driven approach boosts recruiting productivity and success.
Team Collaboration
With LinkedIn Recruiter, your entire team can collaborate seamlessly on sourcing and recruiting. You can share shortlists, notes, project status, and feedback on candidates. Recruiters can work together on specific assignments and projects or divide the tasks for faster hiring.
Some key features include:
- Unified search across the team’s databases.
- Talent pool collaboration across recruiters.
- Assignment management for requisitions.
- Activity tracking and notes on each prospect.
This level of collaboration improves work distribution, accountability, and productivity.
Built-in ATS Integration
LinkedIn Recruiter integrates directly with leading Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) like Lever, Greenhouse, Jobvite, SmartRecruiters, and more. This allows seamless transfer of candidate information between the two systems.
Key benefits include:
- Sync candidate records and data fields between LinkedIn and ATS.
- Reduce manual data entry and duplication of work.
- Transition candidates smoothly from sourcing to onboarding.
- View LinkedIn profiles and activity updates within the ATS.
This unified experience saves time, minimizes errors, and improves recruiter productivity.
How Does LinkedIn Recruiter Work?
Now that we’ve covered the key advantages of LinkedIn Recruiter, let’s look at how it actually works:
Sourcing Candidates
LinkedIn Recruiter supercharges your ability to source relevant candidates beyond your existing network. Key features include:
- Advanced search filters – Find candidates by location, title, company, skills, and other criteria.
- Saved searches – Automate and save searches to automatically surface new, relevant profiles.
- Suggested candidates – Let LinkedIn’s AI recommend candidates based on your search parameters.
- Browse anonymously – Discreetly explore candidates’ profiles without notifying them.
- Talent pool organization – Curate and group prospects into relevant talent pools for your roles.
Engaging Candidates
Once you’ve identified prospects, LinkedIn Recruiter enables you to reach out and engage them through:
- InMail messages – Send direct emails to anyone on LinkedIn, including passive prospects outside your network.
- 2nd degree InMails – Unlock email addresses of 2nd-degree connections for more targeted outreach.
- OpenCandidates – See which passive prospects are open to being contacted by recruiters.
- LinkedIn Jobs – Post roles and get matched with suitable candidates who have applied.
You can further engage candidates by following them, sharing content, liking and commenting on their posts, and joining their groups.
Manage Candidates Seamlessly
Once prospects are in your pipeline, LinkedIn Recruiter provides powerful tools to manage and advance them through the hiring process:
- Profile tracking – Follow a candidate’s LinkedIn activity and new role changes.
- Notes and reminders – Log candidate communications, feedback, and next steps.
- Stage management – Track each candidate’s stage from sourcing to offer.
- Customizable workflow – Set up workflows specific to your hiring process.
- Interview scheduling – Schedule interviews and coordinate details seamlessly.
Analytics and Reporting
Robust analytics help optimize your recruiting strategy and build data-driven teams:
- Sourcing analysis – Evaluate the effectiveness of your search methods and talent pools.
- Pipeline reporting – See real-time pipeline data on prospects in your workflow.
- InMail analytics – Track open, response, and conversion rates of your emails.
- Diversity analytics – Monitor diversity metrics across your pipeline.
- Source of hire reporting – Understand the most effective channels driving hires.
These insights help identify what’s working and where improvements can be made.
Who Can Benefit from LinkedIn Recruiter?
While LinkedIn Recruiter is designed for recruiters and talent acquisition teams, other stakeholders can also benefit:
Hiring Managers
Hiring managers can partner with recruiters and leverage LinkedIn Recruiter in the following ways:
- Provide input on job requirements, skills needed, and hiring criteria.
- Identify existing professional connections who could be good prospects.
- Review shortlisted profiles shared by the recruiter.
- Schedule and conduct interviews with candidates.
- Give feedback on candidates’ job fit and strengths/weaknesses.
This ensures they are aligned with recruiters and part of the hiring decision.
Business Leaders
Business leaders and executives can use LinkedIn Recruiter reports and analytics to get valuable insights like:
- Quality of hire by business unit or function.
- Time-to-fill metrics across different roles.
- Candidate pipeline health by stage.
- Diversity representation in the workforce.
- Best source channels for attracting talent.
These insights help them make better workforce planning and recruiting investment decisions.
Employees
Employees can support recruiters by sharing open job posts in their network to help attract relevant candidates. They can also refer qualified prospects from their connections, which typically have a higher response rate.
LinkedIn Recruiter Plans and Pricing
LinkedIn Recruiter comes in three plans – Recruiter Lite, Professional, and Corporate. Here is an overview of the key differences in features and pricing:
| Plan | Recruiter Lite | Recruiter Professional | Recruiter Corporate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $599/year | $1,199/year | Contact for Quote |
| Number of users | 1 | 5 | 10+ |
| Search filters | 12 | 17 | 25+ |
| InMail credits | 25/month | 75/month | Custom |
| ATS integrations | None | Standard | Advanced |
| Analytics and reporting | Basic | Advanced | Custom |
As you can see, Recruiter Corporate offers the most extensive capabilities for larger recruiting teams. Recruiter Lite is best for individuals or very small teams.
Getting the Most from LinkedIn Recruiter
Here are some tips to maximize your results from LinkedIn Recruiter:
Optimize LinkedIn profiles
Ensure all your team members have optimized profiles highlighting background, skills, and experience. This gives candidates a great first impression.
Personalize InMail messages
Research prospects before reaching out and reference specific points in their background in your InMail. Personalized messages have higher response rates.
Follow up persistently
It may take several touchpoints before some passive prospects respond. Follow up via InMail or customized emails if they don’t respond right away.
Use messaging templates
Create templates for basic communication like initial outreach, scheduling interviews, etc to save time. Modify them to personalize for each prospect.
Monitor activity feed
Check a prospect’s LinkedIn feed periodically for life events and new roles. Reach out to congratulate them or discuss new opportunities.
Collaborate with hiring managers
Ensure alignment with hiring managers on desired candidate criteria and keep them updated on the pipeline.
Leverage analytics
Use sourcing analytics reports to refine search queries and methods. Review InMail and job posting performance data to improve outreach.
Conclusion
LinkedIn Recruiter provides a powerful suite of tools that enable recruiters to source quality talent efficiently, engage them effectively, and manage the end-to-end hiring workflow seamlessly. Key advantages include:
- Accessing LinkedIn’s vast 740+ million member database, 70% of whom are passive prospects.
- Advanced search functionality to pinpoint suitable candidates.
- InMail messaging and other tools to connect with passive prospects.
- Rich candidate insights for sourcing and evaluating talent.
- Seamless collaboration across the recruiting team.
- Integrations with major ATS platforms.
- Analytics and reporting to optimize the recruiting process.
While LinkedIn Recruiter requires a financial investment, it pays for itself by enabling recruiters to source quality talent faster, reduce time-to-fill, and build stronger, analytics-driven teams. Companies of all sizes and industries can benefit from the capabilities LinkedIn Recruiter provides.