1. LinkedIn Research Tips
Adapted from Josef Kadlec’s book People as
Merchandise
Powerpoint by Andrew Meadows, Kelley Smith,
Emily Ames, Caitlin Heflin, and Sarah Fischetti

2. “It’s personal, not just a business”
Think outside of the box. Do not go with the
mainstream recruiting tactics.
Let’s change the recruitment sector in favor of the
candidates. Think what would the candidate want?
Focus on building relationships – focus on
personalization to drive communications.
Get to know your talent pools
The main concern is the candidates

3. The Modern Headhunter
80% of jobs are filled informally by social recruitment,
internal recommendations etc. 20% are filled by job ads.
Mastering social recruitment via LinkedIn, is the only
way to succeed in the competitive industry.
LinkedIn is up-to-date compared with internal database
– automatically notified of changes.

4. Connections
1st degree connections
– can be contacted the
Send a message
function without
restrictions
2nd degree
connections – can be
contacted only by
using the connect
function. You may
also use the Get
Introduced function
which is not very
effective since it is
dependent on
others.
3rd degree
connections – Can
only see the users
last name initial.
Can be only
connected by the
Get introduced and
the Send InMail
functions.

5. Connections
Strategically connect
to “power users” –
who have more
connections.
Connect with people
in your firm’s niche
market (government
contracting) and
geographical
locations.
Grow your
connections every
day, strategically.
Expand your groups
and fine tune your
profile.
Do your connections
include potential
candidates, irrelevant
people, or
competitors?

6. Goals
Reach all potential candidates within your niche and location (should we be
inviting anyone who looks like a good candidate when we come across
them?) (3rd, 2nd, and 1st connections)
Avoid other recruiters parasiting on your network.
If you have a search in another geographical location, immediately find
“power users” in that location and connect with them. (LinkedIn Open
Networkers- LION) – They will accept you.
Find power users (recruiters and headhunters) in their niche and location
(they may not accept you, if they are smart) – Should we not accept
recruiters?

7. Active vs. Passive Candidates
15% - Tiptoer
(thinking about
changing a job)
45% Explorer – Not
looking for a new job but
open
20% - Active Candidates
– actively looking for a
job.
20% Super Passive –
Satisfied at current job.
Passive candidates – currently employed,
usually at least one year, and not seeking a
job. Not closed to new opportunities.
Active Candidates – actively looking for a job.
Do not discard people who are not interested
now. Take a “long term advisor” approach so
they will get back to you in the future.
Establish a competitive advantage by being
extremely efficient in hiring passive
candidates
Focus on the 60% of approachable candidates.

8. Recruiting Passive Candidates
Credibility
Be memorable
and interesting to
candidates. Step out of
the box. Many view
recruiters as “all the
same” so try to break
that stereotype.
Use jargon they
understand and
let them know
you understand
the role.
Mention news
from the
industry they
work in.
What drives career change from
Passive candidates?
They want to make an impact
– Highlight impact over a skill
focused job description.
They want a culture that
fits their personality.
More important than
salary. Emphasize
culture and how your
candidate can fit into it.
Want challenging work.
Emphasize the
challenges
of the job.

9. Candidate Pipeline & System
Communication should
be a long conversation.
Be an advisor.
Develop a system of four
groups
• Candidates who did not
reply to your message yet.
• Candidates who are in
touch with you
• Candidates in process
• Candidates who were
successfully hired.
Keep in touch with
candidates who you
have recruited! They are
not useable for 1-2
years, but after that it is
much easier to persuade
them above your
competition.
Devise an “aftercare
program” to assist such
candidates till the end of
their careers.
• Develop pipeline of
new candidates to
your system
• Communicate with
candidates and solving
specific opportunities
• Organizing aftercare
for hired candidates.
Once they are
prepared for another
challenge, put them
back into the second
slot.

10. Advisor, Ambassador, Advocate
Push a candidate only when it makes sense. Be friendly, casual, and personal but not sleazy. If they are not
interested, suggest you will contact them again in a few months.
Become a brand ambassador for your company clients and be prepared to support their brand.
Be a career advisor to your candidate
Advocate for both clients and candidates
Get back to them when they are not right, without exceptions. You never know when they will be a candidate
again. Take the longterm approach. His slogan: We provide all job candidates with prompt feedback EVERY TIME”
Customize communication with all candidates.
Measure your recruitment activities. Try one approach and measure it. Then adjust. Be patient when waiting for
replies, but try again with a different message if it did not work.
Do not discard candidates with poorly written LinkedIn profiles
Do not overwhelm candidates with too much information. Less is more sometimes.

11. Social Headhunting
Description of the vacancy available via a weblink reference – your website.
Do not hide the name of the targeted company.
Have a client description on your website. Offer success stories, references, and company
presentation video. Brand ambassador.
Mention all facts which may be attractive. Salary range, benefits, describe workplace and
culture.
Make it look like you know the company from the insiders viewpoint.
Mention that you know about the industry prior to the interview.

12. Fine Tune Your
LinkedIn Profile
• Get profile to “All-star” level
• Have your profile look “solid and trustworthy”.
 A good profile should contain only information that is
necessary.
• When you update your profile often, your
connections visit your profile.
 However, sometimes some changes you do not want
announced to everyone. Fix your settings to do this.
• Put LinkedIn Open networker on your profile.
State why people should connect with you.
 (I will accept your invitation. 1,000+ direct contacts.
Example@gmail.com)
 Update number of contacts as you gain them!
• Your Headline should not just say HR
Professional, Senior Recruiter etc.
 Recruiting for X, expert in X, IT Career advocate
 Your headline can state you are a LinkedIn Open Networker.
• Summary should contain and a synopsis of your
professional profile and expertise.
 Do not make it too long. Use bullet points.
 One or two sentences about yourself
 Show candidates what your area of recruitment is
(industries/markets/positions)
 Mention Geographical area of your openings
 Description of your company
 Include contact information (website, phone number, email)
Picture – Your face is
covering most of your
picture.
Have a friendly picture –
Try to look naturally
relaxed and happy
After your name, put
[LION] abbreviation.
Publish your email address
so people can connect with
you as a LION.
Add a headline to your
profile
Use the Summary Section.

13. Fine Tune Your
LinkedIn Profile
• Publish up to 5 of your job roles in the
experience section.
 Mention what your company did, tasks, and some
references.
• Recommendations
 Support your credibility in front of your potential
candidates. Aim to get 15 recommendations.
 Try to have a recommendation from each of your roles
 Ask for recommendations – peers, former clients, former
colleagues, successfully hired candidates
• Endorsements
 Use to gain credit in your field (we can endorse each
other too)
• Public Profile URL
 Can be seen by people who are not on LinkedIn
 Edit your Public Profile URL so it’s short (first name followed by last
name)
• Other Parts of the profile
 Leave out unless you have something noteworthy.
Otherwise it make it look cluttered.
 Move around the most relevant section to the top of the
profile
Add
recommendatio
ns
Get
Endorsements
Get a Public
Profile URL
Add Media

14. Profile Settings
Activity Broadcasts –
turn off if you want to
make changes
unknown to others
Who can see your
activity feed?
Who can see you when
you’ve viewed your
profile. Depends on if
you’re trying to remain
anonymous looking at
profiles or want them
to see you.
Who can see your
connections? Hide your
connections from
everyone (but this is
not a powerful weapon
against your
competitors because
they still end up in
their search results)

15. LinkedIn Networking Strategy: Cultivate Your Hunting
Ground
Quality vs. Quantity
Increase Connections
Establish Goals

16. What do you want to achieve from using LinkedIn?
You’re optimal networking goal is to have a target
group within your location reachable via LinkedIn but
isolated from your competition.
Think about your goals for LinkedIn. What are they?

17. I know what you’re thinking…
Why does it matter?
I’m in research – I don’t need a robust
network.

18. Here’s why it matters:
The more connections you have, the more targeted and
robust your search results will be.
From a personal career growth perspective, having a
rich and robust LinkedIn network will benefit you far
into the future.
You will be able to track career moves, locations, and
former clients and candidates from your own LinkedIn
Profile.

19. How to Build Your Network
Connect
•Connect with acquaintances, colleagues, and former colleagues.
•You can remove irrelevant connections later. When you are first building your network almost any real connections will do.
Connect
•Connect with everyone you meet at Dinte.
•After an interview, connect with the candidate immediately. They will be more familiar with you and you will be adding a very
relevant, richly connected individual to your network. Awesome!
•Be sure to create a personal message that references your meeting. This is all apart of the candidate expereince!
Join Groups
•Groups are a great way to inadvertently expand your network. It is also a way to mine for relevant connections based on a
particular industry, career level, or skill.
Connect with
LIONs!
•As discussed previously, these connections will expand and broaden your search results significantly. If you are able, I
would suggest to become a LION.

20. Quality vs. Quantity
• Always err on the side of
quality (senior level
executives, connections in
your niche area, etc.),
especially as you continue to
build and grow your network.
• Stay away from adding other
recruiters to your network.
They will have access to your
connections when they
conduct advanced searches –
even if you have your
contacts hidden!

21. Chase Down Your Targets
How to Target Candidates
• Boolean search
• X-Ray search
• User diversity
Targeting candidates is about diversity based on their level of competency,
geographical area, past company engagements, average or top achievers in terms of
skills, etc.

22. Acting Immediately
• One a job opportunity is open, you must act fast
and in a large volume.
• Work Smarter, Not Harder
• Contact as many candidates as possible, but only the
relevant ones for sure.
• You are seeking people who are suitable for the specific
opening.
• You are NOT seeking the most accessible candidates, nor
those who have their Linked-In profiles best completed.

23. Standing out
Compare Linked-In to an apple tree.
• The first apples to be picked are
at the bottom where everybody
can access them. But for the
apples at the top of the tree, you
will need a ladder.
• If you just use basic search with
basic keywords, you will get to
the same people as the majority
of your competitors.

24. Basic Search
• Using standard search bar
• All fields are not case sensitive
• Using Quotation Marks – Gets you results with
the exact term but miss candidates with
alternative titles

25. Advanced Search
• Filtering Current vs. Past Job searches
• Avoiding quotation marks
– This will include a lot of irrelevant backgrounds,
but also uncover relevant potential candidates
who are not included in the more obvious search.
• This is the difference which can make you successful
because the majority of recruiters just try the simple
search and do not bother with its modifications.

26. X-Ray Search
• Without a premium account, you only see 100
users in your search results.
– X-Ray search is a way to get around this as you get
the very same results with the basic as with the
premium account.

27. X-Ray Search
• Using Google to find candidates
• Non-Linear Search: Looking at the “People also viewed”
section
• Start broad, and then refine your search.
– Search results are sorted by relevance by default.
• 1st degree
• 2nd degree
• 3rd degree
• Group members (Linked-In users who are in the same groups as you)
• Users based on profile completeness from the highest to lowest
• Everyone else with an All-Star profile strength
• Everyone else with low profile Completeness

28. Change the Relevance
• You can change the way results are sorted for
you in the advanced settings. These can be
sorted by:
• Relevance (Default)
• Relationship
• Relationship + Recommendations
• Connections
• Keywords

29. Boolean Searches
Working
smarter &
faster
• Quotes – “ ”
• Parenthesis – ( )
• OR
• AND
• NOT / (-)
5 Methods
to Boolean

30. Searching Titles
• Should search all titles:
– Vice President, V.P., VP, SEVP, EVP, SVP, CVP, FVP, AVP
– Software Engineer, SW Engineer, Software Developer, SW
Developer, Coder, Developer, Programmer
• Boolean Titles:
– These are always case sensitive
– Exclude titles (NOT) = (-)
– “Quality Assurance Engineer” NOT manager NOT senior NOT
recruiter
– “Quality Assurance Engineer” –manager –senior –recruiter

31. Diversifying your candidates
• Putting “Her” or “She” into the keywords
• Seeking professionals by company and
expanding the targets
• This can also be done in Google in their advanced
settings to find competitors

32. Diversification
• Using Boolean
– “JP Morgan Chase” OR “JPMorganChase” OR “JP Morgan” OR
“JPMorgan” OR JPMC
– NOT recruitment OR recruiter OR sourcer OR headhunter
• Using Dates
– “JP Morgan Chase” OR “JPMorganChase” OR “JP Morgan” OR
“JPMorgan” OR JPMC
– NOT recruitment OR recruiter OR sourcer OR headhunter

33. Knowledge Management
Candidate Search Automation
• Save your searches and the keywords used in
Google/Linked-In.
• Setting alerts to monthly or weekly updates sends you
an update when new people enter these search fields.
• Downside is you can only save three of these. May only
be good for current search work until a candidate is
placed.
• Can set Google Alerts to do this in creating a query and
creating a custom search engine

34. How to Reach Candidates with
LinkedIn Every Time
• Strategy for engaging with potential
candidates
• How to uncover full profiles without
upgrading your account

35. 6 Options for Reaching out to
prospects
• LinkedIn Invitation
• Introduction
• LinkedIn Message
• InMail
• Email
• Telephone/VoIP

36. LinkedIn Invitation
• Best way to reach candidates (other than
email or telephone)
• Things to consider:
– Can’t send more than 1 invite to a user without
knowing email
– Too many declined invites will cause you to be
suspended
– Customize your invitation. (DUH!)

37. Introduction
• A way to connect with 2nd or 3rd degree
connections.
• Message is forwarded to the desired user by
one of your first degree connections.
• Basic accounts only have 5 introductions
available
• Beware of Tollboothing

38. LinkedIn Message
• Pros: Not limited by characters
• Cons: Limited to 1st degree connections

39. InMail
• Form of message for premium users
• Can only be sent to 2nd degree connections
• You can have up to 50 InMails sent at a time.

40. Email
• Best, non-invasive way to reach a candidate
• Research shows average e-mail responses are:
– 7 hours for close friends
– 11 hours for professional contacts
– 50 hours for people you barely know or e-mail you
when you’re not expecting it.

41. How to Find an Email address
• Search for published emails within profiles
using the “Ctrl + F” Function.
• If published, use email rather than wasting
invitation.
• Finding company emails:
– Locate domain name

42. Finding Company emails
• Start by locating the domain name.
• In Google type the domain name in the
following format: *+<domain name>
– For example *+dinte.com
– Look for someone within the organization with a
published email in order to find proper format.

43. Verifying Email
• www.mailtester.com
• Rapportive gmail extension
• Email Permutator

44. 3 Strategies for reaching out
• Aggressive
• Conservative
• Super Conservative

45. Aggressive

46. Conservative

47. Super Conservative

48. Which strategy is appropriate?
• Depends on your own personal style
• Put yourself in the prospect’s shoes
• Keep the organization in mind

49. How to uncover a full profile – for free!
• ID Variable Trick
• Share profile Trick
• X-Ray search
• Using a public profile URL
• Using a full name

50. Using LinkedIn Groups and
Companies for Recruitment

51. Group Limits
• Own up to 10 groups
• Own up to 20 subgroups
• Be a member of up to 50 groups or subgroups
• Moderator of up to 50 groups
• Follow up to 20,000 people
Limits for Group
Members
• Each group can have 1 owner
• Each group can have up to 10 managers
• Each group can have up to 50 moderators
• Can have up to 20,000 group members
Limits for Main
(Parent) Groups
• Each group can have up to 20 subgroups
• Each subgroup can have 1 owner
• Each subgroup can have up to 10 managers
• Each subgroup can have up to 50 moderators
Limits for
Subgroups

52. Types of Groups
Niche Groups
• Groups with a specific industry or functional area focus.
• Don’t be drawn only to groups with lots of members. Focus on quality over quantity.
• Join groups specific to a geographical location or specific skill set (example: “digital marketing” or organization focus
group instead of just “marketing”).
• Niche groups are good for find candidates who don’t have good keywords in their profile.
• Groups will expand your network. You can contact most group members even if they are not 1st degree connections.
• Avoid joining recruitment groups. You won’t find candidates here.
Company Groups
• Alumni or current employee groups for a specific company.
• Joining these groups will help you find people from a specific target company.
• Not all company groups will accept people who have no history with the company.
• Some LinkedIn users temporarily add false experience to their profile to gain access to company groups. (Ethics)
Create Your Own Group
• Consider creating your own group. This will expand your network but growing a group can take time.
• Do not let other recruiters in your group.
• You will be able to contact all members of your group in bulk via group announcements.

53. LinkedIn Features You Hardly Use
Share Updates
•Updates show up in LinkedIn feed (on
the home page) and on your profile.
Keep in mind, few people spend a lot
of time on the LinkedIn home page
•Connect your Twitter to LinkedIn so
updates are pushed out to your
Twitter following. Consider scheduling
updates to go out to multiple social
networks
LinkedIn Labs
•Now engineering.linkedin.com
•Read blogs about new tips
•Find resources to better leverage
LinkedIn
Mobile App
•It is difficult to do recruiting through
the mobile app but is helpful to have
messages and easy access to your
network
LinkedIn Toolbar
•Quickly search from anywhere
•Directly access LinkedIn

54. Paid LinkedIn Search Features
• Contact people via InMail
o Not a good reason to upgrade
o You can contact people in many other ways for free
• Use advanced Search Features
o Can see additional filters.
o Not a good reason to upgrade
• Search for top talent within groups
o With a free account you can only filter candidates belonging to a single
group. With a paid account, you can filter through multiple groups
• See full profiles of anyone in your network
• Results will vary depending on how big your network is
• Open your network to active candidates
– Anyone can contact you with via InMail without being a paid user
– This isn’t helpful because you can make your profile public and provide
contact information.

55. Paid Search Features Continued
• See names of your 3rd degree and group connections
• Who’s viewed your profile
– This may or may not be reason to upgrade
• Saved search alerts
– Free accounts have 3 saved searches. Paid accounts have 15.
• Use Reference Search
– Can see all shared connections. You would be able to reach out
to these people for references. There are ways to do this
without the paid account
• Get Priority Customer Service
– There are very few reasons you would need priority customer
service. Not a good reason to upgrade

56. LinkedIn Recruiter
• Allows you to contact people on LinkedIn without
limitations
• If someone leaves your recruiting firm, you can
revoke access but still keep all their notes in the
system.
• Offers 50 saved searches, full name visibility,
1,000 profiles per search, project folders, and
tagging candidates.
• Can also filter by candidates following your
company (response rate will likely be higher)

57. LinkedIn Career Pages
• Upgraded version of LinkedIn Company Pages
• Capabilities: employee spotlight, job postings,
video, list employee benefits, links to
additional content. Great for employment
branding.
• Three tiers: silver, gold, platinum. Main
difference is the number of impressions for
job ads and number of visitors you can target

58. LinkedIn Talent Brand Index
• Recruiters should behave more like marketers
and company brand ambassadors.
• Can use Talent Brand Index to measure
success.

59. LinkedIn Jobs
• LinkedIn Jobs
– Post job openings to LinkedIn
– Passive talent may not see your ad
• LinkedIn Ads
– Target job or services ads that show up in the sidebars
– Can target by company, title, school, skills, gender, etc.
– Example: if you wanted to advertise recruiting services you
could target Directors and Vice Presidents of Human Resources
• LinkedIn Talent Direct
– Works on a InMail campaign basis
– Select target criteria and craft a message
– This can help you build a talent pipeline

60. More information
• Head to LinkedIn Recruitment Academy for up
to date information:
http://linrea.com