Some skeptics argue that folks who have a LinkedIn profile and get employed through the social media site are more the exception than the rule. All the hype about LinkedIn’s supposed power to connect headhunters to potential recruits is dismissed as nothing but self-serving press release. And it’s understandable if you’re a non-believer. After all, so many companies and job-hunters remain traditionalist; surely not everyone will migrate to an online platform.
But below are some of the reasons why investing in a well-written LinkedIn profile is worth it.
‘Cause contrary to popular belief, LinkedIn is changing the way Human Resources and employment agencies approach their craft. In fact, some pundits argue that LinkedIn will soon make employment agencies obsolete — or at least force them to adapt. If this is the case then you want to get on the bandwagon before it leaves without you!
Read the following and judge for yourself.
LinkedIn is actively marketing to companies with staffing needs
Here’s why you can expect LinkedIn to be friendly to job hunters: the site is actively courting companies and headhunters with the promise of specialized searching capacity, exclusive access to prime candidates, systematic recruitment databases, and candidate relationship management. And the more companies they entice with their wares, the more the site will be used for sourcing purposes.
Consider the LinkedIn feature Talent Pipeline. For a small fee, recruiters can tap into well-filtered lists of applicants and invite potentials for interviews through InMail. You can expect this feature to sell well as it saves companies precious time and money. You can also expect that once many companies avail of this service, you’ll have more job-hunters creating competitive LinkedIn profiles, which in turn will make LinkedIn a robust place for linking talent with organizations.
The companies themselves have spoken
You need not look far for evidence that LinkedIn’s job matching potential is fact and not fiction. Why? Companies themselves have declared their reliance on Linkedin for hiring employees.
According to BlueRiseMedia, half of the Fortune 100 companies hire through Linkedin. Pfizer, for example, has revealed that 4 out of 10 of its employees were recruited through LinkedIn.
There’s also a study conducted this year by the Society for Human Resource Management which found that almost 80% of recruiters use social media in hiring. Of this web-savvy number, majority prefer to use Linkedin than Facebook or Twitter. Makes sense given that of the three social media sites, LinkedIn is the one aimed at creating professional persona.
LinkedIn makes scoping passive candidates safer and more convenient.
One attraction of LinkedIn for recruiters is its ability to get companies connected with passive candidates — that is, people who are not actively job-hunting. If you’re aware of how top employees sometimes get “pirated” or “poached” by the competition, then you have a good idea what scoping passive candidates is all about. Cause for many headhunters, the best hires can be those with proven track records, people you can entice to leave their present place of work through fatter benefit packages or more impressive positions. With LinkedIn recruiters can subtly and even anonymously search for potentials — an important consideration, as communication with passive candidates needs to be done as discreetly as possible.
But more so, LinkedIn offers companies targeted job advertising — vacancies are posted only for the viewing of those whose qualifications closely match the companies’ needs. This puts the job opening within the radar of people who wouldn’t otherwise have known that a company is hiring. A definite attraction as sorting the traditional file cabinet of resumes is not only outdated but time-consuming.
LinkedIn is more credible.
Simple logic will point to you why LinkedIn is a recruiter’s tool of choice. Anyone can embellish or lie in a resume but with a LinkedIn profile, the chances of a candidate faking his or her credentials is minimized. This is because endorsements and recommendations can be traced to real people, some of whom may even be well-respected names in the industry. Also, the fact that these online CVs are broadcasted to all members of one’s professional network means that a profile owner would think twice before putting something he or she can’t back up.
Lastly, LinkedIn members are growing in number.
A solid principle in economics: business goes where the market is. And you don’t have a bigger manpower market than in LinkedIn.
According to Mashable, as of 2013, there are 200 million LinkedIn users all over the world. TechCrunch reports that 2 new people create LinkedIn accounts every second. More so, as many as 40% of LinkedIn members are active, updating their LinkedIn profile regularly. This means more accurate and up-to-date online CVs, which in turn means a stronger roster of would be employees.
So if you’re a recruiter, wouldn’t using LinkedIn be a reasonable choice? You can’t say getting hired through the site is by chance when so much of the site’s appeal is self-explanatory. If you’re still in doubt, just look at how well Linkedin stock prices are selling. The site is not perfect, true, but its immense potential is unquestionable. Therefore if you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, do give it a try!