Is there any social network more important to recruiters than LinkedIn? Highly unlikely (if you think so, leave us a comment below — we’d love to get this discussion going). It’s the recruiter’s go-to platform for sourcing and vetting candidates, building valuable contacts, staying on top of industry trends and growing one’s personal brand. With 530 million users, it is the world's largest professional social network, and 98 percent of recruiters use it as a sourcing tool, according toSocialTalent's 2017 Global Recruiting Survey.
With numbers like that, it’s fair to say you’re probably already using the platform to find candidates. But there’s another important Linkedin feature that can help you grow your recruiting career and find success: LinkedIn Groups. Are you leveraging them for all they’re worth?
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Using LinkedIn Groups for Recruiters
LinkedIn Groups are communities of professionals who are in the same industry or have similar interests. Use them to:
Establish yourself as an industry expert. When you are an active and thoughtful member of a few important groups, you establish trust and gain authority with the groups’ members. This means they’ll be more likely to use you for their future recruiting needs and refer you to others.
Learn and grow. No matter how much you know, you can always learn more, right? Following and participating in group discussions is a wonderful way to learn from those who have gone before you or who may just have a better way of doing something. Groups offer an amazing opportunity to ask questions of industry thought leaders and leverage their knowledge.
Connect and engage with like-minded people. Use groups to network, explore interesting ideas and build your own (highly targeted) audience. As you continue to demonstrate your own value and expertise in turn, the group becomes a lead-gen tool.
Find decision-makers at your target company. When you’re trying to get in with a specific company, you can use the group to connect with the decision-makers there. Reach out to fellow group members and ask for an introduction to the right people, making sure to emphasize how you’ll help them and their company.
Convinced? Fantastic. Here, in no particular order, are the 12 must-join* LinkedIn Groups for recruiters:
1. The Recruiter.com Network
Current members: 831,710
Managed by Recruiter.com, this group bills itself as the “Number one LinkedIn recruitment and career networking social media group.” It’s LinkedIn’s largest group targeting recruiters, but beware: it also caters to job seekers, so you’ll have to wade through that content as well.
2. Recruitment Consultants and Staffing Professionals
Current members: 201,175
Thousands of agency recruiters, headhunters, talent managers and HR Directors use this group to network, share leads and follow employment news.
3. The Recruitment Network
Current members: 537,409
This group brings together people interested in pursuing open networking opportunities. They tout an atmosphere of integrity and transparency.
4. Onrec Online Recruitment Network
Current members: 11,344
Smaller groups like this one can often be more valuable. Go to this group to learn and share best practices in online recruiting and get insight on talent management technologies.
5. HR Professionals
Current members: 310,206
The name says “HR,” but thousands of recruiters are members here. Look for the ‘Jobs’ section — recruiters are encouraged to post HR-specific openings here.
6. Talent Economy HCM
Current members: 46,256
Talent Economy is an online publication that covers the role talent plays in the modern economy, and this is its accompanying LinkedIn Group. Run by journalists and editors, it’s aimed at HR and recruiting pros who want the latest recruiting insight.
7. The Undercover Recruiter
Current members: 46,538
This LinkedIn Group sprang from the popular Undercover Recruiter blog, and it’s a wonderful place to get industry news and tips.
8. Talent Management Technology
Current members: 3,381
Again, smaller is better sometimes, especially in niche topics such as this one. This group bills itself as “the world's largest searchable directory of talent management technologies and services…. the place to learn more about the intersection of HR, recruiting and high-tech.”
9. Recruitment Consultants and Staffing Professionals
Current members: 201,174
Go to this group for serious networking, expertise-sharing and hot-button recruiting discussions among agency recruiters, headhunters, talent managers and HR directors.
10. Recruitment Marketing Network
Current members: 2,477
This is the smallest group on our list and the only one devoted to recruitment marketing. This is a great place to ask and answer questions related to recruitment marketing, including email marketing, social media marketing, SEO, content marketing and lead generation.
11. International Recruiting Discussion Group
Current members: 3,018
Another Recruiter.com group, join this group if you’re tasked with international recruiting and global talent acquisition.
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* Don’t rush out and join all of the following groups. Being an active member is 12 groups could be its own full-time gig, and you don’t have time for that. Pick two or three and do them well.
