Welcome to LinkedIn Recruiter! In just a few moments, you’ll have a simple yet complete set of tools to help you source the perfect candidates. We wrote this

guide to help you get started with the basics in three simple steps.

Getting Started with LinkedIn Recruiter in 3 Easy Steps

Getting Started

LinkedIn Recruiterwith

Find candidates with Search

The expression “business analyst” NOT IT will help you search for business analysts who do not have IT in their job titles.

1 Boolean modifiers: a crash course

NOT

OR + NOTThe expression (Google OR LinkedIn) NOT Salesforce will help you source candidates from Google or LinkedIn but not from Salesforce.

The expression “business analyst” OR “systems analyst” will broaden your search by displaying candidates with one, both, or either title.

OR

To learn more about boolean modifiers, reference this guide here. You can also read about common mistakes with boolean modifiers here.

Narrow or expand keyword searches using boolean modifiers

Boolean modifiers can help you generate search results that are more closely related to the types of profiles that you need to find. Commonly used modifiers that you can use in Recruiter include AND, OR and NOT, quotes, and parentheses. You can build these search strings in the Keywords, Title, Name, and Company Fields.

Use filters to find candidates

Recruiter allows you to source candidates based on 26 filters such as job title, years in role, employer, interests, location, languages spoken, and even degree or school. Get started by experimenting with these settings to see what types of search results you’re able to generate.

When you open Recruiter, your most commonly used filters will appear first.

tip

The best way to get started with Search is to practice for 10 minutes each day. Over time, the candidate search process will become second nature.

Practice

Save your searches so that you can reference them in the future

As a recruiter, you often hire similar roles over time. When you save a search or a project, LinkedIn will actively run that search and return new candidates every day.

Search allows you to find the exact people, professional backgrounds, and skillsets that you’re seeking out. This section will teach you how to focus your research efforts and quickly source top candidates for your open roles. Getting started is simple. Here’s what you need to do:

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2On average, InMail response rates are 3x higher than email.

People who follow your company on LinkedIn are 81% more likely to respond to your InMail than those who don’t.

You’re 21% more likely to get a response from a candidate when you send an InMail to someone who shares a group with you.

21%

Referencing a former employer in common increases your chances of getting an InMail response by 27%.

27%

Referencing a connection in common increases response rates by 31%.

31%

Did you know?

Put yourself in the shoes of someone who is receiving your message out of the blue. You’ll need to build a strong relationship with this person — right off the bat. Here are some ideas to help you capture your candidate’s attention:

Personalize your message

Contact candidates with InMail

Mention a skill or previous position that you noticed on his or her profileTalk about a blog post that this person may have recently sharesMention a group membership that you shareSomething positive about the candidate’s backgroundA reference to an interaction that you’ve had with the candidate (i.e. the candidate viewing your profile)A point of interest that you share in common with the candidate (i.e. membership within a group)

Candidates may not have heard of your company, so it’s important to explain some basics about your company – who you are, what you do, and the perks that you offer. Be very clear about the value that your company offers, and sell the experience to candidates. For added context, you can include links to your websites, videos, and LinkedIn Company Pages.

Describe your company and benefits

Your message’s subject line is the first thing that candidates will see when you reach out to them. With more and more messages being read on mobile devices, subject lines need to be extra compelling.

Create an attention-grabbing subject line

Increase your response rate

81%

With a 25% average response rate, InMails offer you a way to connect with the best (and toughest to reach) candidates on LinkedIn. You need to think carefully about your messaging before you reach out. Here are some tips to get started:

You’ll be writing a lot of InMails, and you’ll need to make sure that you aren’t reinventing the wheel. Write engaging messages that you can quickly customize around your candidates’ personalities, values, and goals.

Create InMail templates that you can customize

There’s also a better time of day – between 9 AM and 10 AM local time for the recipient, on a Thursday. You’re about 12% more likely to get a response at that time of day than on a Friday afternoon, when everyone’s thinking about the weekend.

Timing matters. First, don’t send that InMail over the weekend! InMail messages sent on Saturdays are 16% less likely to get a response compared to those sent earlier in the work week.

16%

Boost efficiency with pipelining

You can save your InMail as a template. You can find more InMail tips here.

Not every candidate will be ready for an immediate career move. Some people are only passively looking. Others will be a better fit for a future rule. Save them to projects so that you can keep track of them in the future.

Save candidates to projects

Use tags to make candidates easily searchable. Start with a broad search and then create a pipeline folder for it. You can also tag reminders to specific candidates to make sure that you’re following up at just the right time. For more tips, check out 12 Tips to Building a Stunning Talent Pipeline.

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Know your ratio of screens to hire so that you can determine how many contacts you need to engage. Measure progress, over time, by seeing which recruiting channels (i.e. employee referral programs and direct sourcing) over time.

Define criteria for success

Before placing candidates in your pipeline, find out from mutual connections whether they are a cultural and performance fit with your organization.

Pre-screen top performers

Recruiter is designed to help you save time and source candidates faster. Here are a few suggestions to help you stay efficient:

tip

Increase your response rate

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