LinkedIn Tips for Recruiters

Last week Mark Hobson at ProjectHouse posted on our discussion board sharing some tips for recruiters on using LinkedIn. I thought I'd pass them on here:

1) Get a target list of competitors to your client - or similar companies
2) In advanced search - go through each company name plus a loose job title (or key words like audit, tax etc) to start putting together a long list of names
3) Look at the potential candidates work history - it should throw up a few more target companies to search under
4) Look at their network - more potential candidates for your long list!
5) Once you have done this you should have a decent long list of potential candidates to headhunt - get the company number, make sure you have a bit of a story and call them up.

I also spotted an email from Bill Vick some time back with his top tips (with a US focus).  Bill is a bit of a LinkedIn guru as he is co-author of "Happy About LinkedIn For Recruiting".  As a bonus they are commented on by Scott Allen (who is also something of a recruitment guru in the US).

Despite all the excitement about Facebook (which, don't get me wrong, I do love) it's still LinkedIn that I turn to right at the start of any recruitment search.  As well as taking Mark and Bill's tips I'd recommend looking at LinkedIn Answers. Ask a savvy question, relevant to your search, and see who the experts are in  that field.  If they are potential candidates then they'll be possible sources (to tap for potential candidates).

If you aren't LinkedIn to me yet please feel free to connect up (my contact details are here).