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10 Great Tips for Using LinkedIn to Find the Best Passive Candidates on the Planet

By Lou Adler, January 23, 2008

LinkedIn is a great tool for finding passive candidates who want to be found. This is its little-discussed power. No one would publish their profiles otherwise. While some recruiters are still reluctant to jump on board, others have been making placements since day one. Here are some ideas on how to get started right away to take full advantage of this remarkable networking tool:

Read more articles by this author.

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The Official Rules for Hiring Top Talent, Networking, Newsletter, Recruiter Training, Recruiting, Sourcing

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1. Direct Recruiting. Using the advanced search tools, you can find people in your extended network who are potential candidates for your search, or who know someone who is. Since you can see the names and bios of people in your extended network, you can very easily call them up and just recruit them. An extended network consists of three levels of contacts. For example, I have 1,200 people in my direct network. (You can link to me on LinkedIn using this email: lou@adlerconcepts.com.) On average each of these people has 200 people in their own network. This allows me access to over 240,000 people by one degree of separation! I can also see their contacts as well, which gives me visibility to approximately 5 million people.
2. Get Warm Leads from Your Direct Contact's Network. Here's my big rule for successful passive candidate recruiting: only call warm leads who have been pre-qualified. As far as I'm concerned it's a waste of time making a cold call to someone you don't know. First, the person is less likely to call you back. Furthermore, the person might not be qualified, and in this case the person won't give you any good leads. The direct network of all of your first-level LinkedIn contacts can quickly become warm leads. Since you can see the names of the people directly connected to them, just call and ask them who are the most qualified. Then call and recruit them. Since they're all warm leads they'll call you back. During the call make sure you connect directly with them on LinkedIn. This way you'll be able to see their contacts. Call back the next day if they're not a direct fit with one of your current openings and ask them who are the most qualified in their network. This is an awesome way to only work with high-quality warm leads.
3. Leverage Your Employee Referrals. First, get everyone you've placed and currently work with to build a LinkedIn network of associates. Then when you need some referrals, find them on LinkedIn and ask your employees to vouch for them. Make sure the referring employee gets the bonus for any placements. This will go a long way in having your contacts proactively and dramatically increase their network. When you call the referrals tell them who referred you to ensure a return call. This seems quicker to me than using the LinkedIn email system. Additionally, look up some of the employees of your company you don't personally know but who might know people for some of your open searches. Then connect with them and get more referrals. They'll probably call you back and connect with you since you're employees of the same company.
4. Use Google to Search the LinkedIn Public Network. [Note: This tip is from Glenn Gutmacher (glenn@recruiting-online.com), internet sourcer extraordinaire.] Many people have made their LinkedIn profile public. You can find them using Google with this search string:
   

   site:www.linkedin.com intitle:linkedin -intitle:answers -intitle:updated
   -intitle:blog -intitle:directory -inurl:megite.com plus your specific keywords, e.g., sales "Los Angeles area" "consumer electronics"

5. Network through Endorsements and Recommendations. LinkedIn provides a means to endorse others. These endorsements, which show up as recommendations on the endorsed person's profile, provide another series of connections. Not only do these dramatically increase your opportunity to find great candidates, make sure you mention the name of one of these connections when you call to increase your callback rate.
6. Build a Network of Top Candidates and Prospects. Whenever you talk with a good candidate, make sure you connect with them on LinkedIn immediately. Not only is this a great way to keep track of your candidate network, but you'll also be able to see the names and titles of everyone in their networks. Then whenever you need to contact one of these people, all you need to do is ask your initial candidate to pre-qualify the person before calling. Within a few months you'll have a huge network of people for all of your open assignments. To make this manageable, only network with strong people since they tend to network with other strong people.
7. Build a Private Tip-toe Network. When good people get the itch to check out the job market they always connect with their primary network first to see if anything's available. Make sure you tell everyone in your network you want to talk with these people who are tip-toeing into the job market. This is a great way to get first dibs on the best people in your field.
8. Email Your Network. LinkedIn allows you to export your contacts to an Excel file. From this you can then create a mass personalized email. (Word has a wizard for doing this.) This is a great way to keep your network apprised of new and upcoming opportunities.
9. Get Warm Targeted Referrals from Your Network's Network. Remember that you can see the names and bios of everyone in your network within three degrees of connectivity. The first degree are those in your personal network. The second degree is everyone connected to them, and the third degree is everyone connected to them. So before you call a second degree contact, review those connected to them to see if there are any prospects for your search. Then if the person you call is not interested or not qualified, immediately ask about specific people in their network. Mentioning specific names will generate more referrals than asking, "Do you know anyone?"
10. Be Found! LinkedIn has a number of tools for job hunters. You should check these out. In addition, make sure your profile is public and that someone using LinkedIn to find a job in your area of specialty can find you. To ensure this is happening go to the advanced search page and put in the terms someone looking for a job would likely use to find a hiring manager or recruiter. Then make any modifications necessary to make sure your profile comes up.

Of course, LinkedIn has its own email and introduction system, but I'm not sure this is all that advantageous. I personally would rather call or email the person outside of the LinkedIn system. Since calling a warm lead has a high probability of success, this is my preferred option. Here are some articles to help you make these calls.

The power of LinkedIn is the ability to manage your connections efficiently and to see the names and bios of the people connected to those in your network. Asking about a specific person is far better than asking for a referral. You'll discover that this targeted approach to getting warm leads will profoundly increase your productivity and forever change how you recruit.

Don't be left behind. Now is the time to jump on the LinkedIn bandwagon. It promises to be a memorable ride.