Linkedin - Just How Good is it?

Comment by Mark Rinovato on March 21, 2010 at 2:52am

While I would not describe LinkedIn as a Job Board, I would not describe it as an entirely "Social" Network either. It's a place for professionals to see and be seen. In today's business and corporate climate, no one feels entirely comfortable with their current work situation. Everyone feels the need to let the world know who they are and want they are capable of doing professionally. Being invisible is no longer a good idea, if it ever was. As a recruiter, I have approached many people on LinkedIn with opportunities, and most of them are not ready to move immediately. But most listen and respond. They want to stay in touch and will usually let you know their current situation and timeframe for any future moves. My experience in running ads is much different. The response is usually not very good. The ad response within specific LinkedIn groups is a little better, but not by much. So I would say that the stats collected by Top-Consultant are pretty valid in the US as well.

Comment by pam claughton on March 21, 2010 at 9:20am

I agree. I think the reason the job response rates are poor on LInkedIn is because it isn't a job board. People are not there solely to seek new employment, so they are much more passive. I find LinkedIn to be a great resource, but often more of a starting point to generate addditional referrals. Or a great tool to keep aware of good people, to not just make one call and give up if no response, but to track your efforts and keep trying as so much of what we do is timing. My last placement was a woman I reached out to several times over several months, no return call. Until finally, on the fourth attempt we connected. She was not looking but something about my search intrigued her enough to want to learn more and then she really liked what she learned. Have to say I'm a huge fan of LInkedIN. :)

Comment by Gareth Jones on March 22, 2010 at 6:32am

Great post Keith - and some good comments. I'm not surprised by the findings. I think it will take a long time for social media to be a key job finding route, if indeed it ever does. Personally, i love linkedin and for me its actually re energised the direct sourcing approach. Its certainly made it easier - i remember the days, pre internet when we had to do the 'ident' as we called it!

And despite the general level of defunct profiles etc, its still way more up to date than the average database for those candidates that are in the habit of using LinkedIn. I also would echo what Pam says, its important to build a network of trusted 'sources'.

Comment by Paul Alfred on March 22, 2010 at 10:49am

Keith .... I think Linkedin is a pretty powerful tool and as per Pam's note its not a Job Board. I wrote a blog on how I have found it to be quite useful: LinkedIn, Its’ Unorthodox Use Revealed! A recruiter's perspective: http://bit.ly/deglE7 ....

Comment by Keith Robinson on March 22, 2010 at 11:28am

Mark, Pam, Gareth and Paul,

Thanks so much for your comments and advice. Agree in principle re Linkedin not being a job board (yet) but I know recruiters who do post jobs too Linkedin.

My real concern which all of you have address is the defunct profiles one and yes I agree with the "build trusted networks" comment.

Paul liked your blog and agree about "watching the competition".

Thanks again to all.

Keith

Comment by Joe Goss on March 23, 2010 at 11:23am

Interestingly enough, there are dead people on LinkedIn with "active" profiles. I've also had people respond to InMails one year after I sent them.

LinkedIn is aware of the concern of the community about inactive members and how to get them more engaged. It's not something they are working on (that I'm aware of), but they have been open to ideas on how to connect better with these folks. I expect it to become a bigger issue as more "dead end" and duplicate profiles emerge.

Disclosure: I sit on the LinkedIn Recruiter Advisory Board.

Comment by carol koegel on March 23, 2010 at 11:43am

LinkedIn (and most other netowrking sites) are indeed another source to find someone in your niche. Someone that you need to build a relationship with. Ideally if you can have an admin or researcher manage this process while you (the recruiter) stays on the phone having conversations it would be more beneficial. The biggest negative I see in any of the networking sites is it becomes a big "time sucker" and the Recruiter ends typing rather than talking. At the end of the day, Phone Time (or actual conversations) is the beginning of all the metrics we track. It is the beginning of the placement process.

Comment by Ron Kubitz on March 23, 2010 at 12:03pm

Interesting topic Keith! As with any source of information there is good and bad with LinkedIN! In my opinion the good far outweighs the bad! Using LinkedIn as a recruiting souce last year alone (2009) I was able to find 6 candidates that were subsequently hired by my company not to mention of course countless referrals and excellent industry contacts!

Using LinkedIn has increased my recruiting capacity and enabled me to cut the costs of the pay sites we use by about 60%. I am planning to use even more Social Media Sites and less job boards going forward in 2010!

Well worth the trouble of a few glitches!!

Comment by chandra bodapati on March 23, 2010 at 12:08pm

LinkedIn is a great place to find qualified people. Communicating with them might be a problem.
Many recruiters rely on LeadResearcher from eGrabber to connect to people on LinkedIn.
http://tinyurl.com/egrabberleadresearcher
With LeadResearcher, you enter the name/company info from LinkedIn, and it finds reminder of the contact information - enabling you to contact the person directly through phone, email or postal mail.

Disclosure: I am the founder of eGrabber, the makers of LeadResearcher

Chandra

Comment by Gerry Crispin on March 23, 2010 at 12:17pm

The power of linkedin in the US especially has nothing to do with recruiters. Instead it is the ability of jobseekers to quickly obtain connections within target firms who can affirm their cultural value propositions...or not and supply the person applying with an "employee referrall". It changes the game for a grwoing number of savvy job seekers. In the UK, external recruiters still dominate the "entry" and so this mnode is less helpful...for now.

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