LinkedIn has become the go-to platform for companies looking to make the right hires in today‘s competitive job market. With over 810 million members globally, tapping into LinkedIn Jobs provides instant access to expansive talent pools brimming with qualified candidates relevant to your roles.
But simply creating a basic job post and hoping for replies is rarely enough to drive real results. To fully capitalize on LinkedIn‘s capabilities and recruit top applicants consistently, you need an optimized, methodical approach across the entire job posting and hiring workflow.
In this comprehensive 2800+ word guide, I‘ll provide specialized tips and actionable advice on:
- Crafting compelling, optimized job posts designed to engage relevant candidates
- Implementing proven promotion strategies to boost job post visibility
- Managing and nurturing prospective applicants through the hiring process
- Tracking meaningful performance metrics to refine your strategy
Let‘s get right into it!
Size and Scale of LinkedIn‘s Candidate Network
To start, it helps to grasp the sheer size and level of talent accessibility you gain by posting roles on LinkedIn rather than traditional job boards.
Here are some eye-opening facts and figures:
- Over 810 million members as of 2022, representing the world‘s largest professional network
- New members join at a rate of more than 2 per second
- Includes over 55 million company pages showcasing employer brands
- Every day, LinkedIn delivers over 4 million job recommendations tailored to member skills/interests
In 2022 alone, more than 20 million jobs were posted directly through LinkedIn.
The graph below illustrates the substantial growth in both overall platform membership and job posting volume over the past decade:
With over 61 million weekly job searchers and fantastic built-in targeting based on job details, its clear LinkedIn offers unparalleled talent reach and discovery compared to any other channel.
But attracting applicants is only step one. You also need stellar job marketing and application management to drive great hires.
Let‘s explore the specifics of creating high-converting job posts next.
Crafting Your LinkedIn Job Post
While LinkedIn‘s algorithms help surface relevant prospects, the content and formatting of your actual job posts significantly impacts visibility, click-through rate and applicant conversion.
Here is a step-by-step playbook for optimizing new job posts on LinkedIn:
Compelling, Keyword-Rich Headlines
The brief job post headline will be the first thing candidates see in search, their feed, and recommendations. These precious characters are your opportunity to capture attention and set accurate expectations.
Some tips for writing great LinkedIn job post headlines:
- Lead with the job title or level – This establishes relevance to searchers
- Include critical modifiers – Like location, schedule, seniority, etc
- Keep it concise and scannable – Use 60 chars or less
- Incorporate powerful verbs – Such as "seeking", "hiring", "looking for"
- Leverage keywords – Relevant to your requirements
A strong headline establishes credibility and aligns with searcher intent right off the bat.
Job Descriptions That Sell Your Roles
Within the job description section, you have ample space to provide the details that will compel the most qualified prospects to apply.
Structure your descriptions clearly around key areas like:
- Overview – High-level role summary and context
- Responsibilities – Day-to-day duties and tasks
- Requirements – Must-have qualifications and competencies
- Preferred Skills – Bonus but not mandatory capabilities
- Company Culture – What makes your environment and mission unique
- Logistics – Location, schedule, salary range, etc
Use concise paragraphs and bullet points rather than dense blocks of text for skimmability.
Here is a snippet example:
Notice the balance of hard skills and cultural fit factors – this attracts applicants on multiple levels.
Showcase Authentic Employer Branding
Giving candidates a transparent view of your workplace environment and culture is key for self-selective applicants that will likely thrive working for your company long-term.
Don‘t simply list generic perks and values in the job description. Instead, direct applicants to dedicated Pages and multimedia that bring your culture and mission to life:
The more you can reinforce alignment on culture fit through job posts, the higher quality your incoming candidate pool will be.
Promoting Open Roles for Maximum Applicants
Driving visibility and engagement with your posted jobs is critical to surfacing them for interested candidates daily.
Roughly only 30% of applicants on average discover opportunities organically on LinkedIn without direct promotion.
You can amplify visibility through both organic and paid tactics:
Activate your workforce by:
- Having management share job posts with large networks
- Rotating posts across broader employee bases
This spreads exposure virally to engaged audiences.
Join Targeted LinkedIn Groups
Based on the focus area of the job, consider joining 1-2 relevant niche groups on LinkedIn to share posts.
But first, verify their rules allow open job broadcasting to members.
Pay to Sponsor Your Listing
One of the most effective ways to extend reach and discovery on demand is sponsoring your job post using LinkedIn‘s self-serve advertising platform.
You can target promotion of your listings by:
- Location
- Job function
- Industry
- Seniority
- And more
This surfaces your post in front of defined audience segments primed for your opportunity.
For example, Grammarly routinely sponsors job posts targeted to reach over 100,000 professionals specializing in "writing" and "editing":
In many cases, a small daily ad spend on LinkedIn job promotion yields substantial applicant volumes and great ROI.
Managing Applicants and the Hiring Process
With properly optimized job posts driving interest and visibility, you‘ll need structured processes for managing the inbound flow of prospective talent.
This phase is just as vital for nurturing great fits through to hire.
Here is a framework for applicant tracking and communication that maintains positive candidate relationships throughout pipeline progression:
Centralize Applications with Built-In ATS
LinkedIn Recruiter features powerful applicant tracking system (ATS) capabilities for organizing candidates by stage and facilitating collaboration among hiring team members.
Configure custom status categories, share feedback on applicants, schedule interviews, and extend offers all within the platform based on each role‘s workflow.
Overcommunicate with Transparency
The top complaint among job seekers is lack of communication from companies post-application. Set proper expectations upfront by informing candidates of:
- Typical hiring timelines
- Steps in your process
- Any assessments required
Then provide prompt email updates at each stage—even just to notify an applicant they weren‘t selected.
Here is a sample template:
This level of positive candidate experience pays dividends in employer brand perception.
Tracking Performance and Results
With the foundation of well-designed job posts, ample visibility efforts and streamlined applicant management in place, the final step is monitoring key metrics for continuous optimization.
Relevant metrics to track include:
- Impressions – Total post views
- CTR % – Click-through-rate
- Apply Rate % – Ratio of applicants to impressions
- Quality Score – LinkedIn‘s rating of incoming candidates
- Time-to-Hire – From posting to offer acceptance
Set benchmark goals based on position type and location to evaluate effectiveness over time.
For example, aim for:
- Impressions: ~5,000+
- CTR: ~ 5-15%+
- Apply Rate: ~ 10-25%
- Quality: 7+
Continuously tweak elements like job post wording, qualifications, advertisement targeting and application process until you close skill gaps and see positive traction.
Key Takeaways
Posting roles strategically on LinkedIn and nurturing prospective talent through to hire requires meticulous effort across multiple phases:
- Compelling job post copywriting
- Multichannel visibility boosting
- Structured application tracking
- Prompt communication
- Result measurement
But perfecting this workflow leads to inbound applicant queues brimming with great fits for your roles on demand.
So dive in and start connecting with your next cohort of amazing hires!
