Guest post by Ty Abernethy of Zuzuhire.com and Chase Professionals

 

LinkedIn is a professional networking website that has exploded in growth to over 85 million members in 200 countries by late 2010. The power of such a platform for networking is still being assessed by some, but the recruiting community seems to have embraced the networking possibilities of the site and are making it work for them in a big way.

Having ready access to working individuals networked in different ways has proven to be a huge advantage for recruiting professionals. All over the world, professional recruiters are embracing LinkedIn and finding that their ability to find people with specific skills and expertise has increased significantly. Many recruitment companies specialize in specific markets like engineering, sciences, finance…the list could go on. LinkedIn makes it easy to find people in these industries.

A platform like LinkedIn gives recruitment professionals the ability to discover new, bountiful streams of talent that they may not have been aware of before in parts of the world they may not have considered before.

Since LinkedIn allows communication between people, even when they are not directly connected, recruitment companies can get a feel for the candidates who will help their clients. Connecting with people who have the expertise that recruiters are looking for will help them understand the scarcity of certain skills and the value of such skills and experience.

In terms of features, LinkedIn Recruiter is designed to let HR managers and recruiters group candidates in organized folders. Hiring managers are then able to tag the files of potential employees with comments.

Three new “experience” filters that have been recently added allow you to delve even deeper in your search and zero-in on the right people. You can now filter potential candidates by years of experience, years at company and years in a position.

Having an extended network can also help. In your search, you’ll be able to view profiles that may not have come up in your search.  Once you have found a good match for your project, you can now see what members who viewed that profile also viewed; bringing you more suggestions of profiles you might have not searched for.

Having the ability to tap into a broad base like this, and to make contact with potential candidates almost immediately, gives recruiters the ability to perform their task more quickly and to ensure their client receives the best and fastest service possible.

Recruitment professionals have been quick to see the benefit of LinkedIn and to capitalize on it. As the site becomes the go-to network management tool of choice, recruiters will become even savvier in their use of the system. It’s clear then that recruiters and candidates alike who are not yet LinkedIn could very well be missing out on significant opportunities.

Has LinkedIn affected the way you find talent? How do you use it?

Author:

 

Ty Abernethy is founder and CEO of ZuzuHire, a multimedia interviewing tool incorporating video, voice, essay and multiple-choice questions. He has a background in executive recruiting, and currently manages the finance/accounting recruiting division of Chase Professionals.



By Noel Cocca

CEO/Founder RecruitingDaily and avid skier, coach and avid father of two trying to keep up with my altruistic wife. Producing at the sweet spot talent acquisition to create great content for the living breathing human beings in recruiting and hiring. I try to ease the biggest to smallest problems from start-ups to enterprise. Founder of RecruitingDaily and our merry band of rabble-rousers.