Recruiting on LinkedIn can open a whole new world of opportunity for you, both in terms of bringing you in contact with more qualified applicants and also in terms of saving you money. Social media can save you a lot of money when it comes to recruiting. The cost per hire using social media is $377, while traditional methods can run as high as $3,295 per hire. Putting these factors together makes recruiting on LinkedIn a simple choice for many employers today.

In a BLR webinar titled "LinkedIn for HR: How to Get the Most From Online Recruiting," Kelly Dingee outlined the importance of having a plan to get the most out of your efforts while recruiting on LinkedIn and some of the initial considerations when creating a LinkedIn profile.

Recruiting on LinkedIn: Getting Started

Before you get started recruiting on LinkedIn, you should put policies in place. Dingee noted that "you have to lay ground rules with your recruiting team." Everyone should understand:

• What are the expectations of how LinkedIn will be used?
• What information does the employer own? What information does the employee own?
• What are the appropriate messages to be coming out of corporate accounts and employee accounts?
• Will you monitor employee LinkedIn usage? What are your policies for appropriate usage?
• Is there an expectation that an employee’s LinkedIn network is the property of the employer when the employee leaves the company?

There are many online resources to help you get started.

Recruiting on LinkedIn: The Importance of Completing Your Profile

Your profile is where it all begins. "This is your presence. This is how people are going to meet you," Dingee explained. "If you think your candidates are not Googling you, not coming to LinkedIn and checking you out, then you really need to reconsider that thought . . . they want to know who they’re dealing with." This goes for both your company profile and your own personal profile as a recruiter.

In order to make the most out of your profile, you should:

• Organize it. You have a lot of options in how your public profile is presented. Candidates also have options in the display, photos, whether their profile shows up in search engine results, and much more. Even individual sections can be hidden if you choose. Be sure to go through the settings and determine what you would like others to see. You can even change the order of how everything appears on your page. Be sure to present yourself in your best light, depending on who your target audience is for your profile.
• Use your summary wisely, as it may be where the first impression is formed.
• Use status updates to make the best of the social aspect of the site.
• Watch that photo – the photo should be professional and it should be an accurate representation of you.

"The profile is definitely important and it’s the first thing you’re going to do when you start to dive into LinkedIn," Dingee explained. Once you have your own profile, you can better understand what your candidates can use on the site and what to look for. You will become familiar with the site and improve your own ability to get the most out of it from the recruiting perspective. You’ll be in a better position to take advantage of what the site has to offer at the professional level.

For more information on recruiting on LinkedIn, order the webinar recording. To register for a future webinar, visit http://catalog.blr.com/audio.

Kelly Dingee is a strategic recruiting manager and leads the research team at Staffing Advisors. Ms. Dingee has a passion for social media and uses LinkedIn daily to source and hire candidates for clients at Staffing Advisors.