LinkedIn is an industry-leading mining ground for recruiters to find top talent to fill their positions. It is a platform that not only makes it easy for job seekers to showcase their career but also creates a seamless filtering system for recruiters to find what they are looking for. In fact, 77% of Noto Group’s filled positions in 2020 came from passive candidates sourced from LinkedIn.
That said, not only is it imperative for job seekers to have a LinkedIn profile but to have one that is professional, up to date, and easily detectable by LinkedIn’s filters. But how do you do this and what are recruiters looking for? As some of you may know, many recruiters (including Noto Group) use the LinkedIn Recruiter (LIR) tool to source their candidates. While there are multiple areas to discuss about optimizing a LinkedIn profile, this article is here to give you the inside scoop on how the LIR platform works and what you can do to make your profile more detectable.
HOW LINKEDIN RECRUITER IS USED
LIR has a search function that filters based on a recruiter’s search criteria and the program’s algorithms. While the recruiter decides what type of profiles show up, the algorithm choses which profiles show up first. So let’s dive in. When a recruiter starts their search, they primarily focus on job titles, location, companies/industry, and keywords found within a profile.
TITLES
Titles are the quickest way for a recruiter to identify if a candidate is at the right level and has the right scope for a role. That said, recruiters often begin a search with different titles they are open to. For instance, “Director of Marketing”, “Marketing Director”, “Marketing Brand Director” or “Sr. Marketing Manager”. If you are someone looking for a new role and have an obscure title, it is acceptable to change it to something more common within your industry.
LOCATION
In LIR recruiters can filter based off where a candidate is currently located or if they are willing to relocate to other cities/states (shown below).
With so many people being unwilling to relocate post COVID, it is common for recruiters to filter based on state or city to ensure they are reaching out to people who would be interested in the role. If you are a person who lists their location as “United States” a recruiter will not come across your profile if they are filtering by state or city. Just as well, you should fill out other locations you would be willing to relocate to as this is also a searchable section.
COMPANIES/INDUSTRY
It is required that all LinkedIn users fill out their industry when creating a profile, however, LinkedIn only allows you to select one option. It is important to be strategic with your selection, as many recruiters utilize the industry filter to identify relevant talent. For example, if you are a Human Resources professional who is in the food & beverage space and hopes to stay there, it could be beneficial to list “Food & Beverage” as your industry instead of “Human Resources”. This is because recruiters will already narrow down their search to find HR professionals by using the titles filter. However, they will use the industry section to identify food & beverage professionals. If you do not have this listed on your LinkedIn profile, you will not appear in the search results.
KEYWORDS
There is a section in LIR that allows for recruiters to search by keyword. This capability scans for a specific word throughout a professional’s entire profile – including their titles, headline, bullet points, skills & endorsements, and so forth. The more a candidate uses said word in their profile, the higher it will be placed in the search results. That said, fill out your profile as completely as possible. Whenever you can, use common words and acronyms that you might see in job descriptions for your line of work. A few good examples are go-to-market strategy (GTM), sales, inventory, and operations planning (SIOP or S&OP).
FINAL TIDBITS
- LIR’s algorithm prioritizes candidates who are most likely to respond to recruiters. If you are open to new opportunities, take time to respond to recruiters when they message you, even if it’s to let them know you are not interested.
- Always proofread your profile. Your information will not come up if you misspell a keyword, job title, or company name that the recruiter is searching for.
- Keep your profile up to date. If you are no longer interested in new opportunities, take it down. If you landed a new job, update your title and place of work.
- Follow companies you are interested in. This is another filter that recruiters can use to find talent and LinkedIn will keep you updated on the company’s latest job postings.
- Login regularly to maintain and develop your LinkedIn community. The more connections you make on LinkedIn, the more likely you are to have common connections with the recruiter. This ranks you higher on the recruiter’s search results.
