Happy About LinkedIn for Recruiting · 20660 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite 210 Cupertino, CA 95014 Happy About® LinkedIn for Recruiting By Bill Vick and Des Walsh Foreword by Conrad

20660 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite 210Cupertino, CA 95014

Happy About® LinkedIn for Recruiting

By Bill Vickand Des Walsh

Foreword by Conrad Taylor,President & Past Chairman of the

National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS)

***This book is no longer for sale!******Made available for reference purposes***

ii

Happy About® LinkedIn for Recruiting

Copyright © 2006, 2008 by Happy About®

All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, storedin a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without writtenpermission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed withrespect to the use of the information contained herein. Althoughevery precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, thepublisher and author(s) assume no responsibility for errors oromissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resultingfrom the use of the information contained herein.

First Printing: March 2006Second Printing: November 2008Paperback ISBN: 978-1-60005-002-2 (1-60005-002-6)Place of Publication: Silicon Valley, California, USAPaperback Library of Congress Number: 2006922728

eBook ISBN: 978-1-60005-003-9 (1-60005-003-4)

Trademarks

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks orservice marks have been appropriately capitalized. Happy About®cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in thisbook should not be regarded as affecting the validity of anytrademark or service mark.

Warning and Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and asaccurate as possible, but no warranty of fitness is implied. Theinformation provided is on an “as is” basis. The authors and thepublisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any personor entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from theinformation contained in this book.

iii

Praise for this Book

"Reading Happy About LinkedIn for Recruiting was like having aconversation with 100 Different industry professionals all at thesame time. This is the definitive guide for recruiters looking to utilizeall that LinkedIn has to offer."Jason Patino, Division Head, Latitude Technical Resources

"Having created the first job board on the Internet andwatching/supporting the industry as President of Monster and nowas Executive Director of Direct Employers Association, I have abroad view of the overall recruiting marketplace. If you are arecruiter today, you should be using LinkedIn as one of the tools inyour arsenal. If you are using LinkedIn as a recruiter, you need toread this book to pick up some of the hidden nuggets that often takemonths, if not years to unravel."Bill Warren, Founder and Executive Director of DirectEmployers Association

"If the primary goal of recruiting and search professionals is to cashfee checks from happy clients—and it is—then 'Happy AboutLinkedIn for Recruiting' is a tremendous leap forward in making thathappen. This book and the use of LinkedIn is truly an innovation inrecruiting!"Paul Hawkinson, Publisher - The Fordyce Letter(www.fordyceletter.com)

"The 'Happy About LinkedIn for Recruiting' book has beenincredibly helpful in both finding alternate ways to recruit, as well asrefining our recruiting process."Jim Sullivan, President & CEO, JCSI Corporate Staffing

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"Bill Vick is a visionary who has been on the cutting edge oftechnology his entire career. 'Happy About LinkedIn for Recruiting'is another example of Bill developing a tool that will turbo chargeyour recruiting and marketing efforts. LinkedIn allows you todevelop rapport and relationships with individuals who willdramatically increase your ability to reach levels of top production.It is important today to utilize cutting edge tools available, in orderfor you to 'stand out from the crowd.'"Barbara J. Bruno, CPC, President - Good as Gold Training, PastNAPS Chairman of the Board

"I picked up a copy of the book and it is AWESOME! It is gearedtowards recruiters and gives us tips on how best to use LinkedIn. Ihighly recommend everyone buying a copy."Tanya Steffen, Recruiter, Right Staff

"It is a great read, I am actually on my second go around."Brice Benefiel, Sr. Recruiter - Information Technology,Omnikron Systems Inc

"LinkedIn is a phenomenal tool for business networkers, job seekers,and recruiters alike. Everyone has different objectives behind thenetworking they do. Bill Vick's book is a fantastic resource for anyrecruiter who wants to understand how to get the most out ofLinkedIn. The book's value isn't limited to recruiters however. Thebook is also a great resource for job seekers desiring to maximizetheir exposure to opportunity by understanding how recruiters utilizeLinkedIn to identify great candidates, in addition to having obviousapplicability to business networkers in general."Ron Bates, Managing Principal, Executive Advantage Group,Inc. and #1 most connected person on LinkedIn.

"You can be sure that in my role as President of the NationalAssociation of Personnel Services (NAPS) I will be recommendingour members to get LinkedIn and to read and listen to this book."Conrad G. Taylor, CPC/CTS, President, Past Chairman, NAPS

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"Bill Vick and Desmond Walsh have written a very good book, onethat every recruiter using LinkedIn should have. (I also thinknon-Recruiters may also benefit from insights in 'Happy AboutLinkedIn for Recruiting.')

From its inception, I knew that if Bill Vick were to get involved,'Happy About LinkedIn for Recruiting' would be a successful bookproject. Bill pulled out all the stops to interview top recruiters andsourcing professionals in the staffing industry to get their take onbest practices for Recruiters who are looking to maximize the valueof LinkedIn in their daily business lives.

I haven't really added up the numbers for the 7 bonuses that comewith the book but, it appears that if an astute Recruiter purchased thebook and used all 7 bonuses, they could make at least 10 times thecost of the book from the bonuses, alone. Of course, they could makeMANY times that were they to put the book into practice.

Because there are many Recruiters on MLPF and a number of otherswho might benefit from a close reading of 'Happy About LinkedIn forRecruiting,' I'm happy about recommending it to you, your staff, andall members of My LinkedIn Power Forum.

Kudos to Bill and Des for a job well done!"Vincent Wright, Moderator, My LinkedIn Power Forum

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Acknowledgments by Bill Vick

This book was first and foremost a work of love and joy. I’m only themessenger for others and in sharing their wisdom I have been forcedto re-evaluate my view of networking, recruiting and using LinkedIn.

Many people were involved in making this book possible but I wantto thank Bob Bassman, Anthony Byrne, Des Walsh, Patty Vickand the United States Marine Corps.

The USMC for teaching me the values I live by.

Bob Bassman, owner of Management Recruiters of Plano, and theperson who taught me what recruiting could be and led the way byexample.

Anthony Byrne, trainer extraordinary, a friend and mentor whoconstantly challenged me to be all I could be.

Des Walsh, for his intelligence, can-do attitude and true partnershipin this effort.

Mitchell Levy, and the team at Happy About are a joy to work withand I'm better off for the experience.

My wife Patty, for always believing that I could become the personI wanted to be.

“Being ready is not what matters. What matters is winning after you get there.”

Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak, USMC, April 1965.

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Acknowledgments by Des Walsh

It has been a privilege to work on this book and I wish toacknowledge in particular the following people:

Suzie Cheel, for her dedicated support and masterful organizing.

Bill Vick, for being a great colleague to work with and a superbexplainer of how the recruitment industry works.

Mitchell Levy, a very supportive publisher and open communicator.

Richard Reardon, a valued colleague and my business coach, forhis always wise counsel and unwavering support.

Vincent Wright, for inspiring me to make serious use of LinkedIn,and supporting me as moderator of the LinkedIn Bloggers group.

Dave Taylor and Dennis McDonald, my co-moderators on LinkedInBloggers, who kept the group happy and productive while Iconcentrated on the book.

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• Happy About My Resume: http://happyabout.info/myresume.php

C o n t e n t s

Happy About LinkedIn for Recruiting ix

Foreword Foreword by Conrad Taylor, President & Past Chairman of the National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 1 Challenges and Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter 2 The LinkedIn Solution to Professional Recruiting: An Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Getting Known . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Getting Connected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Quality vs. Quantity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Using the Search and Reference Tools Effectively . 22LinkedIn’s Premium Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Checklist for Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Chapter 3 LinkedIn for Marketing and Finding New Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

A Path of Trusted Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Standing Out From the Crowd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Checklist for Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Chapter 4 LinkedIn for Candidate Sourcing . . . . . . . . . 43

Checklist for Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Chapter 5 LinkedIn for Collaboration and Third Party Splits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

A Key Element of Collaboration and Splits is Building Trust and Rapport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61A Challenge for LinkedIn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Finding Split Partners Through LinkedIn . . . . . . . . . 63Step-by-Step Illustration of a Search for a Split Partner64Checklist for Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Chapter 6 LinkedIn—a Superior Networking Tool . . . . 67

x Contents

LinkedIn—More Than a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Developing Trust Relationships Virtually . . . . . . . . . 70Using the LinkedIn Network To Find A Passive Candidate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Networking: A Key to Accessing Difficult-to-Find Candidates and Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72No More Cold-Calling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Being Findable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74The Power of Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76A Core Competency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Checklist for Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Chapter 7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Key Lessons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Checklist for Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Appendix 87 References and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

LinkedIn Selected Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87LinkedIn Groups Search Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Other Groups on LinkedIn Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Appendix 91 People and Their LinkedIn Profile Links . . . 91

Appendix 99 Leadership Thoughts on LinkedIn. . . . . . . . 99

Authors About the Authors, Bill Vick and Des Walsh . . . . . 103

Your Book Create Thought Leadership for your Company . . . 105Why Wait to Write Your Book?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Books Other Happy About® Books. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

F o r e w o r d

Foreword by Conrad Taylor, President & Past Chairman of the National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS)When asked to write an introduction for this book onLinkedIn, I was challenged since I did not useLinkedIn. Given my respect for Bill Vick and hisaccomplishments both professionally and for thestaffing industry, I decided to explore this tool. I wasconsumed from the minute I started reviewing thisbook. I followed the message and the examples ofhow to get the results that were possible from thebeginning to the end. I am anxious to listen to eachinterview conducted. I started with 48 direct contactsand now have access to over 506,800 professionalsthrough those initial contacts. To say I have beenWOWed would be an understatement. This book is agold mine of tips and information.

In my career in the US Navy (where I was a MasterChief, Warrant officer and Mustang Lieutenant), Ilearned that it was important to be good at what youdo, but more importantly to have key contacts withinevery area you interfaced with. No matter what Ineeded to accomplish, someone in my network “knewa guy that could make it happen.”

In my Staffing Industry career, I have certainly usedthe basic concept I practiced in my Navy career andhave tracked the use of technology to automate all theprocesses that lead to success. I rememberintroducing Bill Vick in 1994 to a large audience at aNAPS national meeting where only three hands went

Happy About LinkedIn for Recruiting 1

up when Bill asked who had any automation in theiroffice. From there, Recruiters on Line and a numberof other automation systems have become thefoundation of tools used to be effective in ourindustry.

I spent one weekend reading this book, joiningLinkedIn and putting into practical use the examplesthat the interviewees in this book provided. What atremendous example of shared value. If you didnothing more that read this book, you will receivevalue! But, I submit that you cannot stop there!90,000 plus recruiters are not wasting their time bybeing actively involved with LinkedIn.

LinkedIn can help you on many levels protect yourinvestment in this industry.

You can be sure that in my role as President of theNational Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) Iwill be recommending our members to get LinkedInand to read and listen to this book.

Conrad G. Taylor, CPC/CTSPresident Past [email protected]

2 Foreword

Happy

C h a p t e r

1

About LinkedIn fo

Challenges and Opportunities

Although the online business network LinkedIn wasnot designed specifically for the recruiting industry, ithas become a favorite tool of recruiters. This book,based on many interviews with recruiters who havelearned how to leverage LinkedIn’s capabilities,shows why.

Like so much else in our era, the recruiting industry ischanging rapidly; sometimes it seems to change on adaily basis. At the same time, there are aspects of thebusiness which stay constant and procedures andpractices which are effectively timeless.

The basic driver of change in the recruiting industry,as in industries across the spectrum, is technology;specifically, Internet technology. And what makes somany procedures and practices timeless is that, nomatter how smart and fast the technology becomes,recruiting, by definition, is and always will be apeople business – about people, by people, for people.

While there is state-of-the-art technology to supportthe recruiting industry, the core challenge for anyrecruiter in this first decade of the twenty-first centuryis the same core challenge a recruiter has alwaysfaced: to find the most placeable candidate for a

r Recruiting 3

nominated position and to ensure that particularcandidate is selected and hired, whether working on acontingency or retainer basis.

To meet that challenge successfully, the recruiter isrequired to manage some specific challenges, whethersolely or in collaboration with others:

• find jobs and businesses with jobs to offer (hiringauthorities)

• research the available field of candidates• present the most placeable candidates to the hiring

authorities• control the process step-by-step • repeat the process

Ron Bates,ManagingPrincipal,Executive

Advantage Group,and the top

LinkedIn memberin terms of number

of connections

“Ultimately what a recruiter is being paid for is todo the best possible job covering a viablecandidate population and from that put the bestpossible candidates in front of their clients.”

In addition, on the broader business developmentfront, the recruiter will need to meet the followingchallenges:

• planning and conducting marketing• developing and maintaining databases and systems• finding and collaborating with other recruiters • establishing and maintaining business continuity

Technology helps recruiters with each of thesechallenges, turning them into opportunities. Wellused, technology enhances effectiveness withoutreplacing the time-tested, people-focused processes,such as picking up the phone and making a call. Forall the capabilities of Internet technology andsophisticated databases, the telephone is often the

4 Chapter 1: Challenges and Opportunities

shortest distance between two points! But technology,and specifically the Internet and World Wide Web,have made the processes much faster and moreefficient, to a degree probably unthinkable by mostpeople twenty and more years ago.

The increase in speed is very significant. Forexample, because many of the processes ofrecruitment can be carried out more rapidly, recruiterscan now bill at higher volumes relative to the timethey spend on tasks.

By the same token, hiring authorities have alwayswanted positions filled promptly and technology hasgiven them heightened expectations of satisfaction.Thus, while the technology provides the recruiterwith ways to streamline and speed up the process,there is increased pressure on the recruiter to deliversooner—and from a more widely and deeplysearchable population.

Gerry Crispin,Principal,

CareerXroads,and pioneer in

using the Internetfor recruiting

“Technology has improved the efficiency andproductivity of the recruiter and the employer.”

One particular challenge the new technologyrepresents for recruiters is that it enables clientcompanies to do for themselves much of what theyhave previously engaged third-party recruiters to do.This threat to recruiters is more likely to affect thosewhose focus is on the middle range ofpositions—those which pay between about $50,000and $100,000 annually.


Also, all recruiters have access to the new search,matching and applicant-tracking databasetechnology, so that objectively, all recruiters are onthe same footing when it comes to technology.

The operative word is objectively. We know that eventhough a whole industry or group of people can facethe same challenges, not everyone finds or takes upthe available ways, including technology, to deal withthose challenges. LinkedIn is a case in point.

There are many online resources and tools.Increasingly, recruiters are coming to see LinkedIn asthe premier online tool for recruiters. This is borneout by the interviews conducted for Happy AboutLinkedIn for Recruiting. From these interviews withrecruiters, including some big billing industryleaders, it is evident that LinkedIn is the leadingonline tool to facilitate and enhance a twenty-firstcentury recruiter’s success.

On the other hand, it is also evident from theinterviews that:

• some recruiters do not see how LinkedIn can helpthem

• some recruiters who are LinkedIn members do notmake full use of its features

Joe Pelayo,ExecutiveRecruiter;

Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Joseph

Michaels Inc., andPinnacle member

“LinkedIn is a breakthrough tool that mostpeople don’t understand.”


For LinkedIn, that lack of understanding or utilizationis a significant challenge. But for recruiters who findout what LinkedIn has to offer and decide to “seizethe day” it represents an unparalleled opportunity todramatically enhance their business. This book showshow recruiters are doing this right now.

Some key reasons for lack of understanding orunderutilization of LinkedIn are:

• seeing LinkedIn too simply, as just another databaseof candidates

• not investigating or utilizing the advanced features ofLinkedIn

Arthur Young,Founder at Delta

ResourcesInternational,

Recruiter.com andthe Recruitment

Consulting Group

Industry specialist Arthur Young, founder at DeltaResources International, Recruiter.com and theRecruitment Consulting Group, commented on theimpressive achievement of LinkedIn, in bringingtogether so many people from the recruiting industry.Speaking of numbers of people in the industry, inNorth America, he said “If we include staffing and weinclude the staff at the retained companies, as well asthird party recruiters, we’re probably looking at about100,000 people. That would also include contractrecruiters who operate on a company site, or usingcompany resources, corporate resources, but are notemployees.” Add to that an estimated 30,000recruiters in other countries and it is immediatelyevident that the more than 90,000 recruiters who areLinkedIn members constitute a very high proportionof the global recruitment industry’s population.

It is quite natural that when recruiters first come intocontact with LinkedIn, one of the first things to strikethem is that with over 25 million members, largely inthe executive and professional sectors, LinkedIn is agreat source of candidates for a wide range ofpositions, especially the higher paying ones. And theyare not wrong.


There is no question that LinkedIn represents aformidable database of potential candidates. Oftenmany of them are the hard-to-find passive candidatesthat so much of the recruiting effort is designed touncover. LinkedIn also represents an incomparablenetwork of people, business owners, vice presidentsand others in key positions to decide or influencehiring decisions across a range of industry sectors andmany companies.

CraigSilverman,

Executive VicePresident of Sales

and Marketing,HireAbility

“What I’ve learned since becoming an avid userof the application is that it aids a large number ofrecruitment functions and services. LinkedIn hasbeen a great way for our recruiters to locate somenew business opportunities and buildrelationships with hiring managers that want totake advantage of recruitment services. At thesame time, it’s a great way for people to findcandidates that might be either passively oractively looking for work.”

But LinkedIn is much more than a database ofpotential candidates and hiring authorities. As theinterviews conducted for this book have consistentlyconfirmed, LinkedIn has great value beyond its roleas a database. In fact, for many very successfulrecruiters, LinkedIn’s value as a networking andmarketing tool is seen as being, if anything, greaterthan its value as a database.

Gerry Crispin “LinkedIn is a tool for building relationships tocontribute to long-term business.”

What has also emerged from the interviews is thatLinkedIn enables recruiters to find and connect moreeffectively with other recruiters interested in workingcollaboratively. LinkedIn has a significant role toplay for recruiters looking for such collaborative


deals and “splits,” arrangements in which two or morerecruiters agree to share the search for candidates andsplit the fees. Through the introduction and referralsystem on LinkedIn, the availability of detailedprofiles, and the provision of endorsements, recruiterscan find other individual recruitment specialists andfirms with whom they can establish relationships oftrust and broach possible collaborative arrangements.In the past year, some 16 per cent of all recruitmentdeals industry-wide were splits, and interviewresponses suggest that this percentage can beexpected to grow, especially with the help ofLinkedIn.

Another way in which recruiters on LinkedInleverage their membership is by joiningLinkedIn-related groups, either the officiallyrecognized LinkedIn groups or one or more of thevarious online discussion and mailing list groups.

In short, the recruiter who will stand out and excel inthe industry today will be someone who has learnedto harness the power of LinkedIn and related groupsas a marketing and networking tool as well as a highlyvalued database and aid to managing the recruitmentprocess.

Shally Steckerl,Leading

RecruitmentSpeaker and

Consultant

“I may not necessarily be the person everybodylooks for, but I want to be connected orassociated with many of the people everybodyelse looks for. Because … being that connector,that node in this network, increases my value as arecruiter. So it’s not that I use LinkedIn as a hugedatabase like Monster where I can do a search,pull up a résumé and recruit that person.Typically what I do with LinkedIn is marketmyself, market the opportunity to network withme, and market my company and what I do.”


Chris Forman,CEO, AIRS

"LinkedIn's a great tool. Learn about it. Use it. Itchanges a lot. One of the things I love about theteam at LinkedIn is that they're innovators. Theyare a rapid prototyping shop of great ideas. Andso every day that tool is new and interesting andvaluable. And you know I have to go in and learnhow to use it. And our labs team goes and looksat it on a regular basis. We're constantly amazedat the cool things it has from a capabilitystandpoint. So learn, use. Don't discount. Don'tsay 'I looked at it once,' and not go back to itagain. Continue to use it. But again, it's only atool. It's not a panacea."

The following chapters discuss:

• Why and how high-billing recruiters use LinkedIn asa very effective means to market their services andbuild their networks

• Why LinkedIn is the smart way to start a search forcandidates and often the best tool to complete asearch

• How LinkedIn can be used to find and develop newbusiness in a trust-based network

• How using LinkedIn effectively can turn cold callsinto warm calls, with door-opening introductions andthird-party endorsements.

• How to stand out from the crowd• How LinkedIn facilitates collaboration and splits• Practical action steps to leverage membership in

LinkedIn


Happy

C h a p t e r

2

About LinkedIn fo

The LinkedIn Solution to Professional Recruiting: An Overview

General

Bret Hollander,Sr.

Recruiter/TalentAcquisition

Director,NETRECRUITER

“LinkedIn has a tremendous amount ofresources. I think the biggest problem… from therecruiting perspective is that most people are notutilizing everything LinkedIn has to offer, ordon’t know how to leverage what’s there.”

MarcFreedman, ChiefMarketing Officer,

WeMeUsCEO and Founder,

Dallas BlueBusiness Network

“There’s a lot of shock…when people firstexperience LinkedIn. It can be very exciting. It isvery complicated. There is a lot going on.”

r Recruiting 11

This chapter provides an overview of what users mustknow and do to get maximum leverage from theirLinkedIn membership:

• getting known• getting connected• getting endorsements• using the search and reference tools effectively• LinkedIn’s premium services

Particular attention is paid to the “quality vs.quantity” issue, probably the most commonly debatedtopic online and offline among serious users ofLinkedIn.

Getting KnownThe first step in getting known through LinkedIn is toensure your LinkedIn profile is complete and up todate and it is important to ensure you are listed in theright services category.

The importance of a complete, current profile

For a job seeker, a complete, current profile onLinkedIn is clearly an advantage. Recruiters onLinkedIn also recognize the importance of their ownprofiles being complete and up to date, to supportthem in finding and building business via LinkedIn.That means making full use of the way the LinkedInprofile format enables members to list what they arelooking for, in terms of positions, businessopportunities or collaborations.

David Teten,Co-Managing

Director,Evalueserve Circle

of Experts

“At Nitron Advisors, we focus on leveragingpeople's virtual presence, via online networks,LinkedIn, blogs, social network sites, virtualcommunities, and so on. It is more and morenormative that people have a virtual presence.

12 Chapter 2: The LinkedIn Solution to Professional Recruiting: An Overview

Particularly in the tech industry, it’s almoststandard that before you meet with someone youGoogle™ them, search for their digital trail. Andeven people not in the technology industryalmost always have a digital trail.”

David Allen,President, Century

Associates and35-year veteran

recruiter

“I think that if you can list the kinds of work thatyou’ve done on your profile, you build up yourown individual network, and you respond tothose individuals on your network to let themknow of your specialties and your successes, thatenables individuals to be comfortable with you,which in turn makes them feel more comfortablein giving you assignments and in giving yousearches to work on.”

Shally Steckerl “Put every job you’ve ever had on your profile,everything going back all the way to when youwere flipping hamburgers at McDonalds,because every one of those experiences can yieldother opportunities.”

Jim Stroud,Social MediaDevelopment

Manager,EnglishCafe.com

“I would tell recruiters to optimize their profile.That’s paramount. Then I would tell them to listvery conclusively what they have to offer, andthen list what they are in need of. People want tohelp people. But you have to help them help you.So listing what you have to give and what you’rein need of helps both parties.”

SuzanneTonini, Manager,Internet Research

(Center ofExcellence) at

Deloitte

“List your strengths and accomplishments. Anduse keywords. Keywords are important anywhereon the Internet. As many keywords as apply toyour industry, background, accomplishments,whatever you’ve done—put them in there. Thenanybody who wants to network with you will beable to find you easier.”


On the LinkedIn website there is a Learning Center,which includes a good introduction to setting up aprofile.3

Endorsements demonstrate respect and trustworthiness

LinkedIn’s unique endorsement feature is highlyvalued by recruiters and sourcing specialists.

Shally Steckerl “Get a lot of endorsements from people you trust.Not fake endorsements, not just asking anybodythat you know…Go out there and developstronger relationships with the people youalready know and have them put their name onyour page.”

Tina Boone,Branch Manager at

Controller'sGroup, Inc.

“I’ve leveraged LinkedIn into a marketing toolfor myself: the endorsements and my statementthere, my profile, are very important. I guide mycandidates to it. I will send my LinkedIn link tocandidates. They can take a look at myendorsements. It helps me build a level of trustwith them….I think the endorsements are huge.”

Join LinkedIn Groups

A number of recruiters make use of groups within theofficial LinkedIn Groups category, such as groups forcollege alumni, professional organizations andindustry conference groups.4 One advantage of beinga member of one or more of these groups is the extrasearch functionality provided within the respectivegroups.

3. http://learn.linkedin.com/profiles/4. There is a directory of these officially recognized LinkedIn

groups at http://www.linkedin.com/groupsDirectory.


https://www.linkedin.com/static?key=about_providing_services

http://www.linkedin.com/groupsDirectory

There are also LinkedIn related groups on othersystems, such as the many LinkedIn-related groups onYahoo!® Groups.5 These groups, which are set up asforums or discussion groups with mailing lists,provide a way of comparing notes on how best toleverage LinkedIn.

The subject of using groups is discussed further inChapter 6 in the context of networking.

Getting ConnectedLinkedIn provides some very helpful tools for quicklybuilding a LinkedIn network, based on people themember knows and trusts. One such tool is thedownloadable Outlook Toolbar which automates theprocess of collecting the member’s existing emailcontacts, checking whether they are on LinkedIn andthen enabling the member to invite them to join themember’s LinkedIn network.6 The toolbar helps youbuild your network with people you contactfrequently, manage your LinkedIn contacts fromwithin Outlook and stay connected to your networkvia Outlook.

5. See http://www.yahoogroups.com.6. Download LinkedIn Outlook Toolbar

http://www.linkedin.com/static?key=outlook_toolbar_download


http://www.yahoogroups.com

StuartThompson,

Director of TalentDevelopment, The

McGraw-HillCompanies

“The Outlook Toolbar is a great timesaver. Anytime I can consolidate the amount of things I haveopen on my computer and be able to use onesystem to do more than one thing, I’m thrilledabout it. I’ve really found the Outlook tool hasconsolidated all of the really essential pieces ofLinkedIn I really like, such as the searches, andbeing able to collect and find peoples’information. Giving it to me on a small toolbarhas been really beneficial.”

TIP For new LinkedIn Users—Personalize the standardor boilerplate LinkedIn invitation messages. This willsignificantly increase chances of a positive response rate.


Quality vs. QuantityA regular topic of discussion in various newsgroups,online and privately, is the concept of a “quality”network versus a “quantity” network:

• “quality” in the sense of a small, tight network ofpeople one can work with, know and trust, or

• “quantity” as in a lot of people, who can provide agreat deal of access

LinkedIn is understandably very protective of thequality of the network, and this view is expressed in aconservative view of how people should “connect,”using the word in the LinkedIn sense of someoneactually joining a network and being a first-degreeconnection, not in the broader sense of “makingcontact.”

LinkedIn management’s approach is indicated by thetext that a member sees when he or she is about toreply to a request for a connection:

LinkedInManagement

“We recommend that you only connect withprofessionals you know well and who you aregenerally willing to recommend to your otherbusiness contacts.”

Commenting on LinkedIn’s rules for connecting,Konstantin Guericke, then VP Marketing andCo-Founder at LinkedIn, observed that this issueneeds to be looked at on two levels, a basic level ofwhat members are allowed to do in connecting withother members and a level of best practice fornetworking, which allows for a variety of approaches.


KonstantinGuericke,

CEO, jaxtrFormer VP

Marketing andCo-Founder,

LinkedIn

“The first level is what is allowed by the useragreement, because those are the rules thateverybody needs to adhere to when they’rejoining LinkedIn. That means that when youinvite people, those people already know you. Itmeans that when you contact people, you use thecontact mechanisms provided by LinkedIn.”

The interviews for this book indicate that recruiterswho use LinkedIn on a daily basis have generallybeen focused on building a large network.

JonWilliamson,

President,Southron Dreams

“As I understand it, there are two schools ofphilosophy on online networking. One is whatLinkedIn suggests that you do, which is toconnect only with people who you know and trustvery well. The other is that you should be open toconnection with almost anybody, because youdon’t know if some gentleman or lady in Belarusmay not be acquainted with a software developerin Topeka, Kansas, who knows a hiring managerin Chicago, who may offer you a job.”

Marc Freedman “A recruiter’s objective is to get business. It’s togenerate leads, it’s to be known and it’s to reachpeople. So in that context, because that’s yourbusiness objective, I’ve seen it work verysuccessfully. And I highly recommend thatactive, aggressive recruiters focus on buildingtheir connections, because once they’ve built alarge list of connections it works multiple waysfor them.“It will allow a recruiter to reach candidates thatyou didn’t have access to and it will bring thosecandidates closer than otherwise. Instead ofbeing three connections away maybe they’re onlyone connection away.”


Peter Weddle,Owner,

WEDDLE’s LLC

“Networking is about relationships. It’s aboutbuilding trust and confidence and familiarity.And you can’t do that simply with an e-mailmessage that invites somebody to come into anetwork. It has to be developed and worked, inmy opinion.“The feedback that I’m getting is that a messagefrom someone who is not known by somebodyelse, which comes in through networkingtechnology, is viewed as intrusive. In fact, at asummit that Yahoo!® held last week suchmessages were actually described as spam – thenew spam on the Internet. So I would argue thatthe quantity idea really does nothing more thanfacilitate access to the low-hanging fruit, thepeople who are already likely to move. If theyaren’t active job seekers they are just about readyto be active. “If you’re trying to connect with the truly greattalent, the best talent, the people whoseemployers already take good care of them, whoare highly valued in their field, who make anextraordinary contribution to their employer,then that kind of contact requires a qualitativedimension that I think can be facilitated by theInternet but can’t be replaced with a broad,‘shotgun’ approach to networking.”

Others interviewed for this book emphasize quality,although not to the exclusion of quantity.

StuartThompson

“You want to be selective on whom you bring into your connections and who you have on yourlist, that they’re people that add value to yourselfand to what you’re looking to do with LinkedIn.And I would encourage people to be selective onbringing in people that you can help and will be


able to help you, so that you really create thosenetworking relationships, create mutuallybeneficial relationships.”

Gerry Crispin “I am not into a quantity model and this is the guywho has 700 people connected to him onLinkedIn and who also believes that I cannetwork with more than 25,000 people inrecruiting every month. So when I say I am notinto quantity I mean that a bit tongue in cheek.But the point is I’m not focused on quantity, I’mfocused on a quality relationship with anotherindividual, a very specific one.“I will not engage as a connection anyone that Ihaven't met, and ‘meeting with someone’ meanshaving a conversation with them after aconference meeting, it means talking to them onthe phone, it means engaging them in any numberof different ways. I want to have some sense ofwho this person is and what they're about, and Iwant them to have some sense of me. So, if that’strue and they opt in to a connection with me,that’s great.”

CraigSilverman

“At HireAbility we encourage people to go in thequality direction because the belief is strong thata good relationship is going to be much morevaluable to you. But at the same time, it’s almostlike a startup company. You need revenue. Youneed some activity. And with LinkedIn there’ssome of that quantity activity there as well.“So, for example, I have a newsletter. 25,000people read the newsletter that we put out everymonth. So when I see high volumes of peoplewho read that newsletter and click through, it’svery easy for me to see who those people are andpotentially invite some of those people and see if


they could be interested in being in my LinkedInnetwork.”

A balancing act? What seems to be at issue here is thatthere are two different perspectives on how best tonetwork. The “quality” argument is for building astrong network by establishing connections withpeople one knows professionally or personally andwith whom there is mutual trust. The “quantity”argument, at least as many recruiters see it, is forbuilding a large network because one does not knowat the outset what connections will be needed in thefuture.

Among the recruiters who use LinkedIn as a key partof their business, the current consensus seems to bethat by building a large network as quickly as possiblethey will have a greater pool of contacts to networkwith, be they candidates, clients or other recruiters.

It is worth noting however, as Konstantin Guerickepointed out, that with the Business or Pro membershipsystem, searching on LinkedIn is no longer limited topeople in an individual’s own network, so evenrecruiters with few connections can now access theentire LinkedIn network.

KonstantinGuericke

“It’s really a trade-off that recruiters makebetween time and money. Some recruiters have alot more time available than money. They focuson things they can do for free within their ownnetwork. For people where time is more at apremium, they tend to go with a Pro account.”

Basically, recruiters building their networks need astrategy that works for everyone they deal with, andeach of those people will be in one of the followingfive groups:


• a current or potential candidate • a current or potential client• a current or potential reference• a current or potential center of influence • a current or potential recruiter for split activity.

There is no doubt that everyone wants qualityconnections. But recruiters also need to have a lot ofconnections, including both those currently neededconnections and potential future connections, fortheir businesses to develop and grow. They need to“dig the well before they are thirsty.”

None of the interviewees argued for “quantity at anyprice,” but there is little doubt that the moredetermined recruiters on LinkedIn are keen to havelarge networks as well as quality relationships.

Using the Search and Reference Tools EffectivelySeveral recruiters emphasize the importance of usingthe powerful search capacity built into LinkedIn.7

Ron Bates pointed out that as a searchable database,LinkedIn provides an excellent resource withinformation about millions of people, albeit limitedby how much somebody chose to put in his or herprofile.

As LinkedIn is an opt-in database, with membershaving complete control over the content of theirprofiles and also being able to indicate the types of

7. There is a useful guide to the various search possibilities at the LinkedIn website Learning Center, under Search: http://learn.linkedin.com/linkedin-search/


requests they are open to receiving, people are morelikely to respond to requests than if their contactdetails have been found from some other database.

Speaking of LinkedIn’s comparative effectiveness asan organized database, Shally Steckerl used the imageof an offline library and, in a dramatic image, likenedother search engines to a library card index system,but with the library cards strewn on the floor:

Shally Steckerl “A lot of times the privileges of membership inLinkedIn allow you access to information thatwouldn’t normally be publicly available. In otherwords, it’s not part of that card catalog on thefloor, it’s actually part of one of the books youhave to take out of the library and open. Butbecause of that it’s much more organized.”

MaureenSharib,

Human ResourcesResearcher;

NamesSourcer/SourcingMethods Trainer;Names Generator

at techtrak.com

“I think sourcers are using LinkedIn in the sameway as they are using other information portals.They’re going to LinkedIn in order to get a‘toehold’.”


More than one power user of LinkedIn remarked onits value for finding people in strongly specializedpositions, who may be “deep down” in a company andnot readily located. Keith Halperin was looking for aRF engineer in Denver and had used other searchtools without success. He drilled down in LinkedInand found someone.

Ron Bates demonstrated how to use the search featureof LinkedIn to connect with an individual therecruiter is not yet acquainted with. His approach is touse LinkedIn to identify relevant companies togenerate a peer level search, find people who wouldknow the individual the recruiter is seeking to contact,and then network through those people to connectwith that individual.

David Perry,Managing Partner,

Perry-MartelInternational Inc.

“LinkedIn is a great tool! Whenever you search,the hardest part is, you know, starting. Where doyou find them? Who are the people you need totalk to? LinkedIn is a great tool for primarysourcing. It’s a great tool for trying to break intoa company to find out who to talk to, becauseeven if the perfect prospect is not directly inLinkedIn, one of their co-workers probably is.”

Some of the search features of LinkedIn may not beimmediately evident to a new user but can acceleratea search considerably. For example, you can searchfor a particular person by name, or search with orwithout a name, using various search parameters,such as location, industry, area of expertise, and/orcompany name.


The capacity to search for references is anothervalued tool for a recruiter or sourcer. It can save agreat deal of time in locating people who may knowthe person a member is interested in contacting,whether as a prospective candidate or for businessdevelopment. Any member can search for people whohave worked at particular companies during specifiedperiods. A member with a Business or Pro accountcan then check on the most appropriate way to contactthe individuals concerned.

Business or Pro accountholders have access to the

powerful one click reference tool, which is linked toeach of the profiles displayed in the reference searchresults. This tool allows you to quickly see who in thenetwork may have worked with the person inquestion, and refine the search progressively.

RondaWoodcox,

Owner andPresident, TalentScout Recruiting

“I was conducting a search for a Fortune 100company, where I’d used the connections andreferrals approach on LinkedIn. One of thepeople contacted me back and said ‘I’m notqualified for this. However, I do have a group thatI’m involved with, that I run, and I would verymuch like to be able to post your informationabout this position.’ At that time, none of these


people were involved with LinkedIn and I wasable, through this contact, to tap into thisamazing resource of people who were incrediblyqualified and exactly what my client was lookingfor. From there, I was able to place them and itworked out very successfully. I never would haveknown of that person without LinkedIn.”

LinkedIn’s Premium ServicesFor any recruiter wanting to use LinkedIn for theirbusiness, one of the Premium accounts is amust-have. There are three levels of Premiumaccount: Business, Business Plus and Pro. Amongother benefits, there is no question that the searchcapability is significantly enhanced by upgrading to aPremium account.

There is a list of account types online, with features,benefits and pricing for each, in the LinkedIn FAQand Help section, under the heading “PremiumAccounts.”8 This list also includes the Personal Plusaccount type, which is more modestly priced and islimited in its search capacity, compared to the otheraccount types in the list.

The same page links to an account type comparisontable (see image on next page) which does not includethe Personal Pro or Pro accounts but does include acolumn for the relatively new Enterprise levelaccount type, Corporate Solutions.

Any of the premium accounts provide expandedprofiles for candidates outside the member’s ownnetwork. According to LinkedIn, the typical user has

8. http://www.linkedin.com/static?key=customer_service_premium


fewer than 80 connections and a network of fewerthan 30,000, so upgrading to a premium account hasa dramatic multiplier effect on the member’s reach,because it provides access to the whole, 25 millionplus network. The premium member is also able tocontact any of these members directly.

A Business, Business Plus or Pro account gives muchmore access to the LinkedIn network than a Personal(free) account. These premium accounts also provideaccess to LinkedIn's InMail service and render themember more accessible (in a personally controllableway) to other LinkedIn members, through the OpenLink system. They also allow the member tosend more invitations and InMails, the numbersincreasing with the level of premium account, fromthree a month for a Business account to fifty a monthfor a Pro account. There is also a response guarantee:if a candidate doesn't respond within seven days,premium account holders automatically get a freeInMail credit to contact another candidate directly.

As indicated in the table below, LinkedIn has recentlyintroduced a new Enterprise level of service,designated as Corporate Solutions and offering ahigher level of service, including a superior level ofaccess to the network, exclusive tools, dedicatedaccount managers and customized training. Theservice is designed for corporate staffingdepartments. There is an onsite demo and companieswishing to know more should contact LinkedIn viathe form provided for the purpose on the LinkedInsite.9

9. http://www.linkedin.com/static?key=corporate_landing


Randy Bogue,Managing Director,

Venator Partners

“We use InMail frequently. We find that we’repleased with the value we receive from it. Andwe use it on pretty much every search. It’s notexclusively what we use, but we use it.”

Another premium service, tailor made for recruiterswith multiple positions to fill, provides for:

• Purchasing ‘job packs’ in multiples of five or ten • Arranging directly with LinkedIn to advertise jobs on

the basis of a corporate subscription.10

Because responses to the job advertisements comethrough the LinkedIn system, the recruiter who isadvertising is able to see any connections theapplicant shares with them and whether any of therecruiter’s connections has worked with the applicantat some stage.

10. See http://www.linkedin.com/hiring.


Recruiters using this service can also let their ownnetwork know about advertised positions, whichcould result in a passive candidate being attracted toapply.

Roger King,CEO, Chief People

“We started out with InMail when InMail firstcame out and we really see the value of InMail,in that it gives us the opportunity to contactpeople directly, rather than going through thechain of our two to three referrals that might bebetween us and the person that we’re trying to getto.“I think we go through 50 to 100 InMails amonth. I think the success rate’s pretty high. Onthe one hand we’re pretty conservative on howwe use InMails, because we want to keep out fivestar rating, meaning we make sure the InMails wesend out are appropriate to the profiles of thecandidates we’re posting to. So we’re not doinglarge InMail blasts. And I would say the responsewe’ve had has been probably 80% ‘Yes, I’minterested’ and 20% ‘No, but thank you’.“The response is high because (a) you can readthe profiles of the candidates, whether or notthey’re open to a career opportunity, and (b) youcan read something about their background andwhat they’re doing and get a feel for whether theyare or might be a fit for your current client.”


Checklist for ActionBecome known on LinkedInHave an up-to-date profile Seek quality endorsementsJoin LinkedIn GroupsGet connected building a large network based onquality connectionsUse search and reference tools effectivelyUpgrade to a Premium account


Happy

C h a p t e r

3

About LinkedIn fo

LinkedIn for Marketing and Finding New Clients

LinkedIn, with its four million-plus members and apowerful search engine, is obviously a potential toolfor recruiters seeking candidates for variouspositions. The bigger picture, which is not alwaysobvious at first glance, but clear to expert recruiterswho are experienced LinkedIn users, is this: LinkedInis a powerful networking tool, with significantbenefits for recruiters marketing their own services,finding opportunities for business development, andlocating candidates.

Vincent Wright,Founder and

President, WrightEnterprises

“I think LinkedIn’s strength shows up in findingclients. It gives you a huge, almost inexhaustiblearray of companies and executives you can readabout in unusual detail. You have their profilesthere, in most instances. You have an opportunityto see who they know as well. So it gives you arich pool of knowledge.”

r Recruiting 31

The importance of a complete, current profile

As several quotes in the previous chapter showed, anumber of people interviewed stressed theimportance of the LinkedIn profile for marketing andattracting new business. Having a well-constructed,up-to-date LinkedIn profile is clearly an essential stepfor a LinkedIn member seeking to be hired. Individualrecruiters should also ensure that their profilescommunicate their own messages to the market ascomprehensively and with as much detail as possible.

Shally Steckerl says a profile that works for LinkedInnetworking will be different from a “résumé-style”profile, where most people put in what they think arethe highlights of their careers. He recommendshaving a profile that tells your story: what you are likeand what makes you who you are, and to put every jobyou have ever had on your profile, using as anexample his own profile’s reference to having been inthe Peace Corps as “one more way I can connect.”

But a good profile needs more than an interestingstory. An effective profile in LinkedIn’s elaboratelyconstructed, highly searchable database system willincorporate the key words for the LinkedIn member’sinterests, employment history and industry, evencasual or vacation jobs. It will also include accuratetitles, as this is a specific, well-used field for LinkedInsearches.

32 Chapter 3: LinkedIn for Marketing and Finding New Clients

Case Study: Improving the Value of Travel by Connecting with Prospective ClientsThe geographic search capability of LinkedIn is veryhelpful when recruiters are looking for prospectiveclients in specific locations.

Carl Kutsmode,Human Capital

ManagementConsultant,Expertise inRecruitment

ProcessOptimization and

Outsourcing

“About a year ago I was traveling to the PacificNorthwest. I only had one client meeting set up inSeattle, didn’t have any other prospects out there.I thought, well, let’s see who’s in LinkedInconnected to me and what companies are outthere. Sure enough, through a LinkedInconnection, I got a connection at Expedia.com.Didn’t end up doing business yet, but got ameeting and some great insights into theorganization. I’m staying in touch with them andhave actually gotten referrals to candidates fromthat person.”

Rick Shull, President at RGS Research Partners, alsouses the geographic area search capability ofLinkedIn to look for potential new clients in areaswhere his firm does business:

Rick Shull,President, RGS

Research Partners

“I have utilized LinkedIn from a marketingperspective. Oftentimes, what I will do is I lookfor members of LinkedIn that are in thegeographical areas in which we do business andoftentimes will reach out to them throughLinkedIn to see if they would be open to whatyou might call ‘meet and greet’ sessions, tointroduce our services, and to hear more about


what they do. That’s been somewhat effective,especially in the geographical markets where ourfirm is known.”

Gerry Crispin talked about how a small recruitingbusiness can better utilize LinkedIn to find newclients:

Gerry Crispin “I would be focusing in on clients, and looking atidentifying potential clients, using LinkedIn, andwould stay away from multi-national firms. Iwould be focusing on firms where I can have anintroduction and would work my way down achain that allowed me to engage small firmsabout their interests, their needs and what gaps Imight be able to fill.”

Gerry also spoke about how he uses LinkedIn as partof his marketing:

Gerry Crispin “So number one, I think it’s part of my sales andmarketing strategy. My interest in using LinkedInand a couple of other services, is in connecting ormeeting every person that influences staffing in amajor corporation in the United States. So that’sa finite number of companies, that’s a finitenumber of people. I know the names and the titlesof everybody in this country that I want to meetand I know what percentage of them I’ve alreadymet.“My accessed information on LinkedIn gives mea list of companies, the people in them and theirtitles and often their contact information, as wellas who I know who knows them.”


LinkedIn broadens the recruiter’s field of possibilitiesfor new business:

Doug Beabout,Professional

Speaker, Trainingand Coaching

Consultant andContractor

“I think LinkedIn has become widely popular fora very good reason. It provides us with anelectronic means to get to know others on alllevels, who can help us to do business, whereotherwise we would not even be aware. And so itexpands our vista. It gives us an opportunity, notonly to hook up with people who may use us asrecruiters, or may become a placed candidate.But it goes so far beyond that, because it gives meopportunities to meet people in other cultures. Itgives me an opportunity to meet people in othervenues where I’m not involved directly at myown recruiting desk. And it gives me a chance tounderstand what’s going on somewhere else andwhat’s hot and what’s not. I mean, just on a rawlevel it’s a great networking tool.”“But it also leads me towards people who lead metowards people who are clients. And I don’t knowwhat that old saying is, but I think we’re all,what, seven people removed from everybodyelse? And LinkedIn cuts that number downconsiderably. I’ve had so many interesting peoplecontact me because I put a profile on, I contactedothers, I worked the system. And people havecontacted me that I had no idea I might be able todo business with and did do business with,simply because LinkedIn was there and it worksso well.”


David Perry finds new clients by seekingopportunities for candidates who have beenshort-listed for positions but not hired for thosepositions:

David Perry “Every time I find a search I finish up with fiveor six guys that are great and you’re only evergoing to have one of them. And if you’ve doneyour job right as a recruiter it usually comesdown to a ‘fit’ of chemistry. So the questionbecomes, what do I do with the other five guys?“The answer to that question is that I get hold ofthem and I say, ‘You went through the dance andyou weren’t successful, for whatever reason. Areyou interested in continuing the process?’ And ifthey say yes, then I’ll log on to LinkedIn and I’lldo a search for companies in the same area, eitherin the same area of industry or the samegeographic area, or both. I’ll find who thePresident is and the VP of Engineering, orwhoever I happen to need. And I’ll go and do apresentation of one or two of those candidates tothat employer.”

In a comment with special resonance for people within-house recruitment responsibilities, Kevin Wheelerexplained the value to be gained for a company’semployment brand by encouraging peoplewell-disposed to the company to join LinkedIn.

Kevin Wheeler,President/Founder

Global LearningResources, Inc.

"If you can get people who have a positive viewof your company to be in the LinkedIn networkand to talk about it in positive ways in theircommunication with their friends and in any oftheir social activities, you’re promoting thebrand. And the more people you have, the more'friends of the company' you can get into yournetwork, the broader and better your corporateemployment brand is going to become."


A Path of Trusted ConnectionsOne of the advantages of LinkedIn for recruiterswanting to connect with potential clients is thatLinkedIn provides a path of trusted connections tokey people in companies the recruiter would like toengage as clients. The internal LinkedIn e-mailsystem, InMail™, is also helpful, especially as therecipient knows the sender paid to reach the recipient,unlike regular free email, and the InMail™ Feedbacksystem shows the recipient how the last ten peoplecontacted by this person via InMail responded tothose contacts, whether favorably or not.

David Teten “It’s easier to get to people on LinkedIn becausethere’s a path to get to them. One of the reasonswhy LinkedIn is successful is that, to quote RossMayfield11, ‘email is broken’. It’s more and moredifficult to get people’s attention with just anemail, because email is so overburdened withspam, bulk cc'ing, and so on. With LinkedIn’sInMail™ system, as well as their standardreferral system, there is a way to get people’sattention much more effectively than with asimple, direct mail.”

11. Ross Mayfield is CEO and founder of SocialText


Case Study: Building Business by Helping Another with Strategic Introductions

Josh Arnold,Owner, Arnold

Career Services,a nationwide

recruiting service

“I try to find anybody in the recruiting field orpeople who would have use of recruiters orpeople who are in our industry, and I respond todifferent newsgroups.“These are great opportunities to post, to look atthe kinds of challenges recruiters are faced with,those charged with acquiring professional staff,talent, for companies, and it’s a great way tointeract with people. So the more people you canreach out and help, the better off you are. Let megive you a little story. I received this messagefrom LinkedIn where someone asked me, ‘Willyou link me up to so-and-so?’ “I got it and I’m reviewing it. The man is anauditor of workers’ compensation profiles forcompanies. So I asked him the question, I wroteback and I said, ‘I’ve made your referral asrequested: do you do work for the public sector?’And he wrote back, yes, absolutely. So I wroteand introduced him to the local Mayor, theDeputy Mayor and the Personnel Director of ourtown, and said, ‘This is the service this manprovides, this might be something you coulduse.’ Then I wrote to a guy I used to work with, aformer colleague, because I was in educationaladministration. He’s now the Executive Directorof the Massachusetts Association of SchoolBusiness Officials. I wrote to him and said,‘Look, this is a good guy, good services, it’s avalue-added proposition, business officials coulduse this.’ Then at the same time, I wrote to theauditor guy, I cc’d him on the whole thing and


said, ‘You should write to this guy—join theirgroup as a vendor, there’s a price involved, andthen get access to the distribution list of thepeople that are there: that’s a great marketopportunity.’“It took me probably three or four minutes out ofmy day to help that guy but I just opened upmultiple, you know hundreds or so doors ofbusiness opportunity for him. He’s forevergrateful. That’s where you give something backto the industry, and eventually those things filterout and eventually someone’s going to do thesame thing for you.”

Standing Out From the CrowdMarc Freedman pointed out that with tens ofthousands of recruiters on LinkedIn today, those whowant to be successful will need to stand out from thecrowd through smarter marketing, including personalor business branding as well as marketing candidates.

Other interviewees emphasized various aspects ofmarketing that can be enhanced by more effective useof LinkedIn.

Gerry Crispin “The market part is how you position yourself asa recruiter. That actually helps you three ways: ithelps you in terms of people who are runningsearches and want to find you; it helps you interms of sending out requests that you want to beaccepted; and it helps you in terms of findingcandidates.“Anybody in any business should start with thepoint of who are these prospects out there andwhat are they about? Who do they know? Do any


of the people I know, know them? Do they showup in various places that I could also go to andmeet them?”

Ron Bates “LinkedIn’s an additional branding tool to helpbrand myself in the firm that I work for from anexposure perspective. You know you’ve got aprofile in there, it can be hit by people that aredoing searches, when they are looking forservices, for example.“In terms of reaching out to people, if I identify acompany that I think could precipitate either animmediate or a future opportunity, I canobviously identify an executive and then figureout how I want to approach them. Being able touse LinkedIn as a database to identify corporateexecutives, from a business developmentperspective is, I think, of huge value.”

Jerry Bernhart,Owner, Bernhart

AssociatesExecutive Search

“It’s natural just to send a message through tosomebody saying, ‘Hey, I may have a greatcandidate. Can I contact you? I know about yourbusiness. I’ve checked your website. I’ve lookedat your bio on LinkedIn, so I know somethingabout you and your background and yourbusiness, what you do. I may have someone thatyou may be interested in.’ I mean, what a greatway to market candidates! Because that’s more ofa warm marketing contact. It’s not callingsomeone out of the blue.”


Checklist for ActionHave a well-constructed, up-to-date LinkedIn ProfileDevelop trusted connectionsHelp others with introductionsStand out from the crowdCheck a potential client’s profile before makingcontact (create a warm marketing contact)



Happy

C h a p t e r

4

About LinkedIn fo

LinkedIn for Candidate Sourcing

In using LinkedIn for finding candidates, recruitersneed to recognize that they are operating in a climateof intense change. They are facing a boom or bubble,where the aging population will depart from theworkforce and there will be an immense talent gap.That coming gap represents many opportunities, bothgood and bad, for recruiters. The good part is thatrecruiters will have as much work as they can handle,the bad part is that it will be increasingly difficult tofind the right people with the right talents forcompanies.

Networks like LinkedIn give the recruiter anopportunity to interact and interface with the passivecandidate who is not knocking on the recruiter’s door,and allows the recruiter to knock on the candidate’sdoor. Because a LinkedIn profile is provided directlyby the owner and is completely and directly editableat any time by the profile’s owner, it can be expectedto be much more accurate than profiles on otherdatabases built by automatically generating profilesbased on information from the Web and/or SECfilings. Additionally, many professionals at theDirector level or in internal roles (like legal, IT andpurchasing) don't show up in press releases or indatabases compiled from mentions on the Web, butmay maintain their professional profile on LinkedIn.

r Recruiting 43

Roger King "We start the recruiting process by wrapping ourarms around what the ideal profile is of thecandidate the client's looking for, what type ofcompany they need to come from, the specificindustry, the specific role that individuals held inthe past and the challenges they might be facingmoving forward. So the beginning of our processis basically research, meaning where are thosecompanies, where are those individuals, wheredo they hang, where do they meet, where do theyspeak, and of course where they are currentlyworking? LinkedIn is a valuable tool in terms offinding those passive candidates and getting intotheir network and starting preliminaryconversations."

GlennGutmacher,

RecruitingResearcher at

MicrosoftCorporation and

Founder ofRecruiting-online.

com

“LinkedIn is the largest portal, in terms ofnumber of professional users, that would be ofvalue to a recruiter. There may be other, largernetworks in total, but if you’re trying to find thekind of information about potential candidatesthat a recruiter would need to act on, LinkedInhas the critical mass for that.”

Among the various candidate search resourcesavailable to recruiters, LinkedIn may in manyinstances be the most appropriate place to startsearching:

Keith Halperin,Recruiting Lead,Senior Recruiter,

RecruitingStrategist,

RecruitmentProcess

Outsourcing (RPO)Consultant

“Many LinkedIn people are available throughother channels but you’re able to find themthrough LinkedIn first, and more efficiently.”

44 Chapter 4: LinkedIn for Candidate Sourcing

LinkedIn’s search options lend themselves tosystematic searching for candidates and some lateralthinking about search parameters:12

BrianAnderson,

President,BA Search Group;

ExecutiveSearch Consultant

“If I’ve got a search that I’ll conduct I’ll get onLinkedIn and populate the keyword search. Or Imay use the competitive companies, I may usethe academic tie, I may use the geographic tie.But I’ll try to go at it with four or five differentapproaches. I may tap into any associations thatperson may belong to, whether it’s a triple Egroup or specific category, and then I’ll work itfour or five different ways. And you know thatsometimes you may tap into a contact who maynot be an exact fit, but that person’s going toguide you to the perfect candidate.“I kind of use it with the idea that if you’re not thetarget you’re still going to be a great opportunityfor me to network with.”

Vincent Wright described how he would go aboutconducting a typical search for a candidate,emphasizing his use of Boolean search operators:

Vincent Wright “Start with what you need: who do you need tohave for this particular job? I’d start with awell-constructed argument for what I’m lookingfor, I’d construct a good, healthy Boolean searchstring. It really doesn’t take that much work toconstruct those search strings. I’d let the Booleansearch strings help me out as much as possible.I’d then go through my searches and I’d look atthe results.

12. There is an excellent post by Adam Nash, "5 Tips on How to Search LinkedIn Like a Pro" on the LinkedIn blog, explaining LinkedIn's search capability and especially its excellent use of Boolean search operators: http://blog.linkedin.com/blog/2007/07/5-tips-on-how-t.html


“What LinkedIn then does, it gives you a table often people at a time that you can look at. It alsogives you a little snippet about what the person’sexperience is, and some of the keywords willprobably be highlighted there as well.“I’d review the person’s profile as I wouldnormally review a résumé. I’d then click to seewho they know. If they make those detailsavailable, that could be very, very helpful. Andthat means you can get additional informationfrom your own contacts who may know theperson, who may help you with an introduction.”

In speaking about searching for candidates, severalrecruiters spoke of the need to realize that whileLinkedIn might not produce the specific candidate arecruiter wants, it is an excellent resource fornarrowing the search for that candidate.

Ron Bates “LinkedIn’s a database that’s searchable, like alot of other databases that you might have at yourdisposal, either because they’re your corporatedatabases or they’re subscription-based. You goin to find people, you make the keyword searchesthat make sense given what you’re trying to do,to narrow it down and identify people that, basedon the information you’re exposed to, look likethey have resonant background for the searchyou’re trying to fill at any particular time,whether you’re a recruiter or you’re a hiringexecutive at a company that’s trying to fill aposition.“LinkedIn is a great resource, given the fact thatit’s got over four million people in it. You’resomewhat limited by how much informationsomeone chose to put in a profile, so far as howyou end up hitting them through searches. Butthen there’s also identifying companies thatwould precipitate a peer-level candidate for a


search that you’re doing. If you can’t find thatcandidate in LinkedIn, you might then try andfind an individual who would logically know thatcandidate from a peer perspective that you canthen target and network through to get to thatindividual. It’s basically using LinkedIn as adatabase to identify people and candidates.”

CarmenHudson, Senior

Manager, TalentAcquisition at

Yahoo! Inc

"LinkedIn is an extremely valuable tool thatallows the average corporate or third-partyrecruiter to work like an executive searchconsultant. When I was an executive searchresearcher, we spent hundreds of hours perposition doing the legwork to develop a networkof appropriate candidates. With LinkedIn, I cancreate a very targeted network in minutes."

Greg Buechler,COO at GolfTraxx

Founder & CEO,OffTheHookJobs

"LinkedIn is an exceptionally good tool forcertain types of research, identifying individualsdirectly. And that's primarily how I have used ittypically. I've used it as a direct sourcing tool."

A candidate search on LinkedIn can becomplemented by running an advertisement onLinkedIn Jobs. After an all-day searchingsession, David Perry had a very positive responsefrom an advertisement:

David Perry “Very recently I did a project for a productmanager. I probably started about 6 in themorning and didn’t bring my head up until about5 o’clock at night, but I ended up with anexhaustive list of people that I wanted to talk to.I probably went through about 1,100 profiles.And LinkedIn had just recently come up with theability to put an ad on LinkedIn Jobs and I endedup running an ad as well.


“The response to the ad on first day was that I got9 responses, on the second day I got 37, on thethird day 52. I don’t remember the fourth or fifthdays, but they kept coming in for probably abouttwo weeks. By the middle of the second day, theresponses that came in saved me the trouble ofhaving to go after these guys. I’d found three thatI was definitely interested in and I folded thatdown to one within three days. We closed inabout two weeks, through the interview process.”

Several interviewees mentioned the usefulness ofLinkedIn for seeking hard-to-find passive candidatesfor specialized positions.

SandySanderson,

Founding Partner,Meridian Executive

Resources

“I recently completed a CEO search for ahard-to-locate executive, for an early stagecompany. The usual process would have taken amonth, to make many calls and maybe come upwith twenty contacts and ten candidates. Runningone placement ad on LinkedIn generatedqualified candidates, and over seventy-five newcontacts. I was able to find five candidates in lessthan a week and completed the search in threeweeks.”

Taj Haslani,Owner andPresident,

NetPixel Inc.

“LinkedIn is playing a very important role in avery hard-to-find-talent area. We don’t useLinkedIn for finding a Java programmer, but weuse it for locating people with specific businessknowledge and skills in certain areas.”


Eric Misch,District Sales

Manager, ADP -Small Business

Services

"We recently worked on a systems architectposition for a software company in the North Eastand this individual traveled roughly up to fiftypercent of his time and definitely was not lookingfor employment at that time. And we usedLinkedIn. We found him on LinkedIn. Wecontacted him and he's now deep into theirinterview process. We expect him to be hired.There really wouldn't have been any other way tofind this individual. They were located in adifferent area, a different marketplace and he wasnot looking for a job at the time. He would nothave had any reason to make himself visible.""We know in today's recruiting world it's gettingmore and more difficult to find the passive, nonjob-seeking candidate. LinkedIn's a great way todo that. I'm not sure how long this revolution, soto speak will last, but as long as it does, I thinkLinkedIn should be used by everyone."

Case Study: Candidate Search Against the Odds, With Bellringer Result

Susan Hand,Senior Technical

Recruiter,TheMathWorks

“I had a very hard-to-fill position on the WestCoast, in California, in an area I did not know andin an industry I did not know. I was able to searcha database,” Susan Hand, Senior TechnicalRecruiter at TheMathWorks, recalled.“This was not a job I could post. We didn’texactly have the position yet. I couldn’t post theposition, I couldn’t solicit résumés. I was able todo a search and drill down through some of mysourcing techniques. So I came up with three leadrésumés. Two of these résumés were alreadyemployed by Getronics and one of the résuméswas employed by the chief industry competitor. I


contacted that person who turned out to be justtwo degrees away from me on LinkedIn, and notonly was she successful in filling the position, butshe was offered a more senior level position andnow runs the industry. Also, from that we wereafforded an extension of the business contractbecause our candidate was so full of quality thatshe hired other qualified candidates around her.So the client, the staffing augmentation client,gave us $10 million in additional business.”In the light of this experience, it’s understandablethat Susan remarked, “I can’t understand whyevery single recruiter in America isn’t onLinkedIn!”

Case Study: Substantial Fees For Two Positions Sourced From LinkedIn

CraigSilverman

“We had a new member come to us about three orfour months ago, a small recruitment firm with avery large client, a well-knowntelecommunications company. They had a verygood relationship with the hiring manager, theyhad a lot of job orders that were active. But thesecandidates were extremely difficult for thisperson to locate, so they decided to join theHireAbility network so that our team of 130 plusrecruiters could help them to generate candidateflow, in hopes of making split placements. Therecruiter who jumped on these orders happens tobe an avid user of LinkedIn and she went to worknetworking through her networks and searching,making requests et cetera through the LinkedInsystem, to try and find some people.


“She was very fortunate. There were two jobsthat were open at the time. Both of these werevery high level positions, salaries north of$200,000, each at a 25 per cent fee. These werevery large contingency fees that were involvedhere and through LinkedIn she found, not one,but two candidates for these two differentpositions. Both of these positions ended upgetting filled through a very lengthy interviewprocess that took a couple of months' time. But inthe end she made two placements. The fees thatwere generated were around $65,000 from thesetwo placements, and in the database and on theplacement data form the source for the twocandidates was noted as LinkedIn.”

Case Study: Using the LinkedIn Tools to Narrow The SearchBret Hollander, whose company’s main focus ofcandidate searches is for people with high-levelsecurity clearances for government positions,described LinkedIn as “a wonderful tool” which hehas made extensive use of to make many placements.He provided the following case study to show how heused LinkedIn’s search capability in seeking acandidate for a specialist position.

Bret Hollander “Beyond looking for secret and top-secretcandidates I have other clients that know of meand ask me to do work on their behalf, and theirrequirements have nothing to do with the intelcommunity. Let me give you an example. “Today I did a search - and you’ll see on myprofile that I do work with clients who needreal-time embedded engineers - so I put in thekeyword ‘embedded.’ Then I did a basic search


with just the word ‘embedded’ in the keywordsand it brought up about 500 users. Then I refinedthe search and said beyond ‘embedded’ I wantedto focus specifically on the industry pertaining to‘computer hardware’. Of course the list is goingto be more refined. That’s what you’re trying todo, focus on your specific area. So I click on‘computer hardware’ as another feature and from500 I get down to 305. “And now let’s say my employer wants me tofocus more on people in his backyard so I choose“located in or near” and I put in his zip code. Isearch again and I come up with three contacts.Now this might not seem like a lot, but I’m notreally looking at LinkedIn from the point of viewthat this is the person I’m going to solicit for aparticular opportunity. The way I’m going to lookat LinkedIn is, this is the person I’m going tosolicit in terms of who they might know, as in‘birds of a feather flock together’, and see if I cannetwork through them to identify more people Ineed on behalf of the particular company I’mrecruiting for.”

Case Study: Leveraging LinkedIn’s Advanced Search

Joe Pelayo “Today I’m trying to talk to some Big Fourpeople. I’ve been retained by a bio-tech companyto find someone to run their SEC reporting. Theywould take someone out of the Big Fouraccounting firms, so I was expanding mynetwork, going back through LinkedIn. You cansearch by company names. So I entered ‘KPMG’and the other Big Four companies and I enteredmy area, and then I selected an Advanced Search.


“Whenever you have an option of a regularsearch or an advanced search, you click onAdvanced. Under an Advanced Search you cansearch by people new to LinkedIn in the lastthirty days. So I did that and I added about sixnames to my search from each of the Big Four.”

Case Study: A Quick, Effective Search In An Emerging Technology SpaceCandidate search on LinkedIn does not always haveto be gruelling or very complex, as David Perry foundwith a search for a product manager:

David Perry “I went onto LinkedIn and did a product managersearch in the technology space, for VoIP and I put‘VoIP’ as a search term. I put the title as ‘productmanagement’ or ‘product manager’ and they justpopped up. It was that simple.”


Joe Pelayo’s Hitherto Secret Ingredient for LinkedIn Search: Re-name the Position

“I was retained by a company to do a search for aDirector of Revenue Recognition.

“The first thing that I did was to sit down with thecompany—it’s a big software company—andexplained to them that was the most common title forthese types of people and we needed to re-work thetitle a little bit. They said ‘What are you thinking?What have you got in mind?’ Anyway, we gottogether and sat down and brainstormed for twentyminutes and came up with a new title, which was a‘Director of Worldwide Revenue Operations’. AndI’ll tell you we had our pick of the litter, becausepeople would hear that title - the title’s your curbappeal, you know. If they don’t like the title they’renot going to come in and look around.”

“The first thing I do on any search is re-work the title.I make it as sexy a title as the company will allow. Ifit’s a manager I want a ‘Director,’ if it‘s a Director ofRevenue I want something ‘Worldwide.’ If it’s aController I’m going to make it a ‘Global Controller.’If it’s not global I’ll make it a ‘U.S. Controller’. Iwant to make it something that’s different, that’sgoing to make it stand out from all the other jobs thatare out there.”


Checklist for Actiondefine your candidate profileidentify position title – amend it if appropriateidentify industry sectoridentify location (currently by zip code in UnitedStates)identify associations – college, group, companiesconstruct Boolean stringsearch first on LinkedIn before using otherdatabasesalways choose Advanced Searchnarrow your searchuse other search tools in complementary fashionif a placeable candidate does not emerge, noticecontacts and peers and deviseinformation/contact/introduction path via peer group



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About LinkedIn fo

LinkedIn for Collaboration and Third Party Splits

One of the most significant aspects of the recruitingindustry today is the use of collaboration or splitsbetween participating recruiters. Paul Hawkinson ofthe Kimberly Organization and the publisher of themost widely read newsletter on recruiting, TheFordyce Letter, estimates that last year some 16percent of all recruiting business was done by way ofsplits. And it seems that interest in this way of doingbusiness is growing.

The opportunity that networks like LinkedIn bring tothe table is the ease of identifying and interacting withpotential split partners. No longer is a recruiterisolated by the limits of his or her front door.Recruiters are now plugged in, with a virtuallyunlimited reach, thanks to broadband connections.They are now operating in a worldwide talentmarketplace, no longer a regional one, and splits arean ideal method and way to reach out and touchpeople around the world.

Some recruiters do not do any splits; others do splitsexclusively. With 90,000+ recruiters on LinkedIn,there is obvious potential for recruiters who want todevelop split opportunities via LinkedIn.

r Recruiting 57

Bret Hollander “One of the areas that a lot of recruiters like meare always looking for is splits. I did a search onsplits. I simply put the word ‘splits’ in and ofcourse I got a lot of split stock offers. So I refinedit and I put in ‘splits’ and I put in ‘staffing’ and‘recruiting’ and I came up with six firms that areinterested in split arrangements. I have alreadycontacted, in the past, five of those firms,although you know, from my perspective I preferworking splits with firms that do similar kinds ofwork that I do, but it’s an excellent example ofquickly identifying people who are willing to dothe same kind of work you’re willing to do.“At the same time, if I want to do a search and putin words like ‘clearance’ or ‘polygraph’ I’ll beable to distinguish between people in theindustry, i.e. professionals and people who arerecruiters that want to recruit in that industry andthat I want to align myself with.”

There is an element of risk in splits:

• the risk of misunderstanding or disagreementbetween the parties

• the risk of rewards being disproportionate to effort byone or other party

• the risk of engaging in a split with another recruiterand not getting paid.

These risks help to explain the growth of associationsand agencies which function as brokers for split deals,as is often done with multiple listing services used byrealtors worldwide. In the recruiting industry, thesegroups or agencies bring various tools to bear to helpmatch up job orders and candidates for recruiters andto make sure people are paid, although some onlineservices restrict their role to being essentially aninformation and job posting exchange rather thanplaying a more active brokering role.

58 Chapter 5: LinkedIn for Collaboration and Third Party Splits

Craig Silverman, whose firm HireAbility has aco-marketing agreement with LinkedIn, spoke aboutthe possibilities and the risks in split opportunities:

CraigSilverman

“When parties are in a similar space, one is oftenreally good with the client while the other is oftenreally good with the candidate. Most recruiterstend to have strength on one side of the desk orthe other. In the recruitment business, on thepermanent side, people try to work a full desk. Sothat means they try to get job orders andcandidates. But if you talk to any of those people,they’re typically much better at one or the other,and they typically like one side much better thanthe other. We see LinkedIn as a way to help buildthe other side of the fence and to complementwhat we do.“Splits are somewhat of a dangerous business attimes if you don’t know who you’re doing thesplit with. There’s a lot of money involved;there’s contracts. There could be fall-offs, etcetera. So when working with a company likeHireAbility, agreements are in place and a nextlevel of qualifications and reference checks. Andthat’s similar to you being in the same companyalmost and that allows a closer relationship witha higher level of trust. We don’t have any issueswith any of our splits.”

Craig added that HireAbility is really for experiencedrecruiters, with a minimum five years in the business.

Many recruiters are using LinkedIn to facilitatecollaboration and splits directly. It is fair to assumethat, for the average recruiter member, being able tofind split opportunities could be the second mostattractive feature of LinkedIn, after the ability tosearch for candidates.


Josh Arnold “LinkedIn is one tool that I use to build networksfor splits. There are other tools. I belong to anumber of formal and informal networks, not theorganized networks where they do splits througha corporate setting. Some are just informal thingslike newsgroups. “I write and introduce myself. I say, ‘Hi, I’m JoshArnold from Arnold Career Services and I wantto share with you one of the tools that I use that’sof tremendous value, the LinkedIn network. Asyou load in your information, your profile, youare going to be instantly linked to people. Thiscould be a source for you and for people you’relinked with from former positions you’ve had inthe professional world. It could be your college,it could be your military service, or it could beyour interests. But you’re going to link up withpeople.’ And since networking is such a strongcomponent of how we do business in a globaleconomy, this is a win-win for everybody.”

Jon Williamson is moving into a stage of lookingactively for split partnerships, by developing aninformal network of domestic and internationalrecruiters. Right now, very little of Jon’s business isthrough splits, but that is about to change. In hisexplanation below he illustrates the point made aboveby Craig Silverman: that most recruiters have astrength on one side of the placement equation andprefer to work in their area of strength.

Jon Williamson “When I get back into it I expect at least 75 percent of my business to be splits, because I’drather put the time into developing a relationshipwith someone who likes business developmentand lets me work to provide the candidates andwe’re both doing what makes us happy.


“I’m in the process of putting my LinkedInconnections into email groups and I’m trying toget to know these people.“I think the biggest mistake people are makingwith LinkedIn as a recruiter - I know because Imade the same mistake - is they’re treating it likea résumé database. It is not a résumé database butprofiles of users, individuals who are interestedin working with other individuals. Well, maybe60 per cent - the other 40 per cent are people whohave one or two connections and you cannot findthem.”

A Key Element of Collaboration and Splits is Building Trust and Rapport

Josh Arnold “One of the things I’ve been trying to do is tobring more and more recruiters into the LinkedInnetwork. I do that from the perspective of sharingwhat LinkedIn offers me, by way of an invitation.So I’m going to reach out to recruiters - and whenI say recruiters I really mean independents,people who do it not from a corporation’sstandpoint but like you and I do. I say, ‘These aresome of the tools that I use as a recruiter that helpme along the way’. “I will also send that, or a similar message, out toclient companies and say, ‘I may not have yourbusiness right now. You may not be in a positionto use agencies. But here’s an effective tool thatyou can use to draw on talent.’ And I find thatthat good deed is a foot in the door.”


A Challenge for LinkedInAccording to Scott Allen of the About.comEntrepreneurs Guide and co-author of The VirtualHandshake: Opening Doors and Closing DealsOnline, splits are a big issue for LinkedIn:

Scott Allen,Managing Director,Link to Your World

“With so many recruiters on LinkedIn, andrecruiters knowing each other through whateverchannels - there are certainly recruitersconnected to other recruiters - but even, let’s say,if someone is three degrees away and you have adirect contact, and their next contact is arecruiter, and that recruiter's next contact is theperson at the end, LinkedIn’s premise is builtentirely on openness. LinkedIn is built on theidea that anyone is willing to pass leads throughfor anyone else. The recruiter’s business model isbuilt around making money by brokeringrelationships. That’s fundamentally what arecruiter gets paid for, to broker a relationship.“So that’s a conflict of interest between someonewho has a need and making connections throughvarious people who know each other to someonewho can fill that need. There’s a conflict ofinterest for a recruiter along the line to pass theconnection request through to the person theyknow, especially if the person they know is aclient.“One of the biggest things LinkedIn could do isto figure out a way that would accommodate thatand would allow recruiters to continue tomonetize that relationship.”


Finding Split Partners Through LinkedInOne of the main advantages of LinkedIn for recruitersinterested in collaboration and splits is that theLinkedIn tools facilitate splits by allowing a recruiterto search on some key variables, including theindustry area or discipline, focus and geographicallocation. Having done a search and narrowed thefield, the recruiter can then view the others’ profilesand get a much better idea of who they are, their areasof specialization, and how they operate. Otherinformation, such as the number of contacts they haveand especially the endorsements others may havegiven them, can help build a picture of what it mightbe like to do business with them.

It can also be very helpful to see the list of sharedconnections. This can help to establish whether thereis likely to be appropriate synergy.

By the time the recruiter seeks to establish contact,whether through an introduction or by the LinkedInInMail system, he or she is able to have a quitedetailed picture of the person they are interested incollaborating with.


Step-by-Step Illustration of a Search for a Split PartnerAssume you are a recruiter with a U.S.-basedsoftware company client that has a branch in theUnited Kingdom, and they are looking for a VicePresident of Sales for that branch.

First, at the Find People page on LinkedIn, constructa search to identify possible split partners as follows.

1. Industry. In the Industry box scroll down to“Corporate Services” and then select thesub-category “Staffing and Recruiting.” Notethat you would use the CTRL key or CMD key(Apple) on your keyboard for multipleselections.

2. Keywords. You want to find possible partnerswho worked with sales executives at the VicePresident level in the software industry. In the“Keywords” box type <software (“vp sales” OR“vice president sales”> (without the <>brackets).

3. Location. You go to the Location box and select“Located in or near” and then from thescroll-down menu alongside the word“Country” select “United Kingdom.” There isno zip or postal code option for countriesoutside the United States.

4. Sort method. Since you are interested inpossible collaboration, you will want to knowwho is endorsing the people the searchproduces, so for “Sort by” you select “Degreesand endorsers.”


There are a couple of other optional boxes to refinethe search further, but these details are enough toillustrate the process. The search is now set up to find:

• other staffing and recruiting firms • in the United Kingdom • who worked in the software industry • with Vice President level candidates

These are the results as on the day of running this test:

As regular users of LinkedIn know, the rest of theresults page then provides summaries, with names, ofthe profiles of the people discovered by the search.You can then click through to get the full profile ofeach.


Checklist for ActionUse LinkedIn’s search capabilities to find splitpartners in the geographical location, industrysector, specialization fields related to your business.Look through each profile, their history andendorsementsEvaluate each of the contacts as far as you can inrelation to your criteria for a split partnerInitiate contact to set up a meeting and verify yourpotential relationship and working methodology.


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About LinkedIn fo

LinkedIn—a Superior Networking Tool

LinkedIn—More Than a DatabaseAs mentioned previously, recruiters new to LinkedInusually see it first as an excellent database, wherethey can find candidates. It is that and more. In fact,LinkedIn was established primarily to be a businessnetworking tool for professionals, enabling membersto find the businesspeople they need, through friendsand colleagues—people already known and trusted.

As Vincent Wright says, “It’s a product to help us dobusiness.” Vincent likens the connections madethrough LinkedIn to being introduced to someone bya friend, as compared to someone coming to youroffice without any evident connection to you. “If as arecruiter I find someone,” he observes “I’m morelikely to start a relationship if I’m introduced.”

r Recruiting 67

And Shally Steckerl comments:

Shally Steckerl “I would actually disagree that the primary thingwith LinkedIn is to find candidates. That’s notreally the strength of the network. Networking,whether you do it via e-mail, in person or goingto conferences or social events, is not really theart of finding the person that you want to recruit.Networking is getting the word out about whatyou do and building trust in relationships. So tome, the biggest value that LinkedIn has is as aconduit for me to be able to build trust inrelationships.”

LinkedIn enables Shally to demonstrate that he ishighly connected and “associated with the peopleeverybody else wants to connect with.”

LinkedIn provides unprecedented support for thenetworking requirements of recruiters:

Jerry Bernhart “I’ve actually just started using LinkedIn forrecruiting. I’m kind of in the early stages, so Ican’t give you a lot of hard and fast results - justyet. But I’m noticing people are starting to e-mailme, asking me to link into their network. Howvaluable is that? That’s fantastic!”

This is consistent with the recurring message frompower user recruiters, that networking, which is whatLinkedIn was built for, is not so much about going outand finding people to fill job vacancies, but aboutbuilding trusted relationships.

68 Chapter 6: LinkedIn—a Superior Networking Tool

Recruiters typically have three key objectives fortheir LinkedIn networking:

• to help find candidates• to identify new business possibilities• to connect with other recruiters

For each of these objectives, recruiters need anextended, high quality network.

Several recruiters made the point that it is neithernecessary nor efficient to rely solely on LinkedIn forbuilding and maintaining your network. ShallySteckerl makes the point that even the 3.8 millionLinkedIn members he is connected to are still an“insignificant proportion of the global population.”He sees LinkedIn as a “magnifier” of his network.

The trust basis on which LinkedIn is built, and thereferral system, provides credibility for contactingothers.

Al Siano,Owner andPresident,

Business SystemTechnologies

Corporation

“I see LinkedIn in the context of socialnetworking as a method of building rapport moreefficiently with a candidate and with others. Inour business you have to rely heavily on theInternet and the telephone, and by getting areferral from someone else you can oftenimprove your ability to have credibility a little bitmore rapidly than might be possible by justdialling the phone or sending an e-mail.”

A number of recruiters told of using LinkedIn to helpothers in their network. Susan Hand, Senior TechnicalRecruiter at TheMathWorks, told of being able to helpa member of her network, a former employer, achievesignificant business growth through connectionsmade on LinkedIn.


Susan Hand “I’ve created business leads, for myself,departments and contacts. If I see a message or aneed I’m happy to connect people with eachother. Because of that, the camaraderie thatcomes with LinkedIn has broadened my networkto reach to each of the coasts, plus India andSingapore. I recently saw a need, with a formeremployer, of business in Brazil and Mexico. Iknew that I had some contacts who were expertsin that field and I was able to connect theorganizations. My former employer has nowincreased their market share in Brazil and Israelby 20 per cent.”

Developing Trust Relationships VirtuallyPart of the good business sense, as distinct fromaltruism, in helping others through networks is thatthis is an essential part of building the trust on whicheffective networks rely.

John Zwieg,Director of

Staffing, Logitech

“LinkedIn has been a referral product for us that’sactually successful, almost to the same extent asan employee referral program. Just today I’vereceived three candidates that were referred byLinkedIn members who read a posting. Andthat’s how it’s been working consistently over thelast five months. The system works. And thesystem’s working because it’s a trusted source.People are trusting other people who arenetworking, on a business kind of level.“I wrote to the LinkedIn people the other day: I’djust made my twenty first placement, as a resultof LinkedIn. I don’t use anything else.”


Scott Allen spoke of the challenges being faced in thenew era of virtual networking for businessdevelopment:

Scott Allen “I think that we’re still in the early stages ofunderstanding how to build businessrelationships virtually, how to communicateeffectively, and how to build trust andfriendships. And all of these things are movingbeyond just the mechanical aspects of businesscommunications tools, really understanding thedifferences of how we build relationships, withthese tools being the fundamental form ofcommunication, instead of eye contact and ahandshake.”

Using the LinkedIn Network To Find A Passive CandidateCraig Silverman explained how a recruiter can usenetworking via LinkedIn to surface passivecandidates, effortlessly:

CraigSilverman

“There are a lot of people on LinkedIn. Theyhave profiles and networks. They could be sittingat their desks and be very happy in their currentpositions. Many people are. They go day-to-dayand enjoy the people that they work with, theircompanies, and their jobs. If one of those peoplehappens to be a friend of yours, let’s say, and Iwas to come to you and say ‘Hey, Bill, I’d reallylike to meet your friend Steve. There might besome things we could talk about in the future and


potentially partner together,’ and you know meand are comfortable with me, you mightintroduce me to Steve.“Again, he might not be looking for work todaybut the fact that he knows me, that now I focus inhis marketplace, I might call him for a referraland say ‘Steve, I know that you’re a specialist inthe bio-tech arena and I’m looking for somebodyfor one of my bio-tech clients and could youmaybe introduce me to somebody that you mightknow that has this type of skill set?’ Andsometimes a guy like Steve steps up and says,‘You know what, Craig, that sounds likesomething that I’d be interested in.’ And they justmade that move, from passive to active. You cando that in a very indirect fashion, without makingsomebody uncomfortable, and have anopportunity to build a relationship with them.”

Networking: A Key to Accessing Difficult-to-Find Candidates and ClientsNetworking is extremely important for Ron Bates,whose Stratford Group identifies 80 per cent of itscandidate flow coming from networking, the other 20per cent coming from direct calling and reaching outvia e-mail to candidates they have been able toidentify. Ron notes that some candidates can only bereached, in practice, through networking:

Ron Bates “The reason why we rely so heavily onnetworking is that it’s one thing if you’re doingthe replacement search for Lou Gerstner as CEOof IBM, where there might be thirteen candidatesin the world qualified for that role. It’s another


thing if you’re doing a position that reports intothat role, let alone a Vice President search for apre-IPO start-up nobody’s ever heard of, wherethere could be literally thousands of qualifiedcandidates. And the only way to get to a lot ofthese people is through networking. “Because there’s no way to identify them unlessyou have the most amazing database in the world,with all the great search capability in it to identifythat somebody had a twenty year career at Kodakthree jobs ago but the last job they were at, or thepresent job, wasn’t necessarily applicable, so youwould never be able to target or identify thatperson. And how you get to them is throughnetworking, to get to that person.”

Jason Lesher,Senior Recruiter,CDI Corporation

“Typically people change jobs fifteen times in alifetime. You need a network of people you cancall.”

No More Cold-CallingBecause LinkedIn provides access to detailedinformation about members, through the members’profiles, and is constructed on the basis of trustedconnections, recruiters who do not relish the idea ofcold-calling enjoy the fact that every contact madethrough LinkedIn is effectively a warm contact.

StuartThompson

“Once I have an idea of what it is we’re lookingfor I start to throw the net out and start to dosearches within LinkedIn, to try to find thosepeople we’d like to talk to. Sometimes I knowtheir names already, but it’s a matter of getting aneasier introduction than a cold call. And that’swhere I’ve seen some of the really great value of


LinkedIn is that it’s an unobtrusive, easy way toget in front of people without people feeling likethey’re being harassed. “And if they don’t respond positively to you,because they may not be interested in the job,they previously wouldn’t respond to a cold call orsomething that’s very recruiting-intensive, butthrough LinkedIn they may think ‘Well, I’m justbuilding my network and this may come tobenefit me down the road’. And they seem muchmore apt to respond and start the conversation.”

Being FindableThe importance of the LinkedIn member’s profilecame up so often in the interviews that it is worthrepeating here in the context of networking.Recruiters wanting to take full advantage of thenetworking potential of LinkedIn as a networking toolmake sure their profiles are complete and up to date.

Several recruiters commented that they alsorecommend to their candidates that they keep theirprofiles up to date. Joe Pelayo says: “The mostimportant thing people neglect is their LinkedInprofile.”


Case Study: Using the LinkedIn Network to Help a Client With a ChallengeDoug Beabout says LinkedIn is “tremendous” interms of helping him maintain and build his recruitingbusiness, building on his knowledge of his clients andcustomers and mutual referrals between them. Hegave an example of networking through LinkedIn tohelp a client with a challenge for which he had not atthat point had an assignment:

Doug Beabout “I had a company that I was working with in theconsumer products industry and they werehaving a great deal of trouble with the conversionof one type of packaging material to another, andthey had no idea how to do that. They didn’t wantto necessarily fill a search assignment at thatpoint or issue one for me to go out and find asolution provider. They were just on theburgeoning point of worrying about this concept,this notion of making money and saving money,and doing many creative things with this new,very new, under-the-radar-screen packagingmaterial.“By looking through LinkedIn I was able to reacha few people, then in turn reach a few more.Eventually I got a guy was in fact the author of atechnical journal on that subject and hadhands-on development experience with this newmaterial. And they got to know one another.Which I might add, in turn, ended up bringingthem to a proposal for a solution to implement thematerial, but it brought Doug Beabout a searchassignment for a senior packaging developmentengineer, which I subsequently filled. “Everybody in that circle was a winner, and Iknow if LinkedIn had not been available, thelikelihood - I can’t say it would have been


impossible - but the likelihood of us being able tohave connected as expediently as we did wouldhave been greatly diminished.”

The Power of GroupsAs we discussed in Chapter 2, effective networkingwith LinkedIn requires an understanding of the role ofLinkedIn groups.

There are two kinds of LinkedIn groups: the affinitygroups officially approved as part of the LinkedInnetwork, and those which are not formally part ofLinkedIn but where LinkedIn members network andexchange information and views.

On the official LinkedIn Groups level, there is a widevariety of groups, including alumni organizations,conference groups, corporate groups, networkinggroups, philanthropic non-profits, and professionalorganizations. LinkedIn Groups offer: search - accessto the profiles of group members; communication -ability to contact members of your group for free;option to display your group's logo. These need to beofficially approved by LinkedIn.13

LinkedIn has recently advised that it is setting a limiton the number of user-generated groups a LinkedInuser can belong to and that it is setting the limitcurrently at fifty groups. So it will pay to be carefulabout which groups to join and which to pass on.

Other online groups are constituted separately fromLinkedIn and can be found on various socialnetworking sites (see Appendix A for someexamples). There are several notable groups such as

13. There is an online form for applying to establish a LinkedIn Group, at http://www.linkedin.com/createGroup?displayCreate=


My LinkedIn Power Forum and LinkedInnovators,seeking to leverage their LinkedIn membership.These are independent of LinkedIn and not affiliatedwith LinkedIn, but provide forums for exchange ofinformation and often-vigorous discussion about suchsubjects as how best to utilize LinkedIn andsuggestions for improvements to LinkedIn, as well asopportunities for LinkedIn members in specificprofessional, industry or interest sub-groups todiscuss matters of common interest.

Several interviewees commented that membership ofthe discussion-focused groups has been very helpfulfor their understanding and utilization of LinkedIn:

BethBanger-Meehan,

HR Sourcing andRecruitment

ServiceArea Manager,

ProvidenceHealth System

“You get a tremendous amount of information.People are very willing to share all of theirexperience out of those groups if you are linkedin to them. I’ve found in the past probably six toeight months just a fountain of information thatI’ve been able to use with my staff and myself.And I think the best part about that network, isthat someone can ask a question and peoplerespond immediately. You get things that arereal-time, things that you can use immediately,research that you can use immediately. I thinkthat’s a real plus for those groups.”


TIP For Networking Events—Carl Kutsmode finds thatmembership of LinkedIn provides him with an excellentice-breaker at networking events and a very efficient meansof follow-up after these events:

“You start talking to somebody you are networking with andyou say, ‘By the way, are you on LinkedIn?’ And I’mfinding about five to six of every ten people are onLinkedIn. So what I end up doing, I’ve got into the habit ofinviting everybody I meet to my LinkedIn network. And theones that are already on have really enhanced my networktremendously. I think it goes back to that branding thing.I’m getting the word out much better through thoseconnections than I could do just on my own.”

A Core Competency

Peter Weddle “Networking is a core competency of the bestrecruiters online, as well as offline. And if you’regoing to use advanced technology like LinkedInto facilitate your networking, make sure you useit as an expert would use it and not as someonewho’s simply trying to build a great bigRolodex™ in the sky.”

Ronda Woodcox spoke about the importance ofcontributing something to the network.

RondaWoodcox

“Be open and use your network and givesomething back. I think that as recruiters we’reall about what’s going on in the immediatemoment but I think you have to give somethingback, and provide expertise, or offer opinions, orbe willing to do more than just say, ‘Hey, Joe, Ihave this great position. Let’s talk about it!’


“There’s a really good analogy that I heard awhile ago - it’s a bank account and you have tomake some deposits into that account before youcan make a withdrawal.”

Checklist for ActionInvite new contacts to join LinkedInKeep in touch with your network to surface passivecandidatesTap your network for hard-to-find candidatesCheck your profile regularly to ensure you are readilyfindable Help others in your network connect with oneanotherExpand your membership of groups



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About LinkedIn fo

Conclusion

This chapter provides a quick overview of the pointscovered in this book and lessons that have emerged.For those who want to put those lessons into actionimmediately there is a seven-point checklist foraction.

Recruiting is a great industry, where a recruiter, in hisor her daily work, can have a profound influence onthe lives of many people. When making theconnection between the client who is looking for thebest person for a key position and the candidatelooking for a new opportunity, a role that can enablethe candidate to perform at his or her best, getting itright makes all the hard work worthwhile.

It has been a great privilege to gain access to theknowledge, experience, “tricks of the trade”, successstories and case studies shared so generously by themany experts interviewed.

r Recruiting 81

Sondra Fuller,Vice Presidentand co-owner,

Pure BioscienceRecruiting, LLC

“I’m beginning to hear of others’ success stories.I’m beginning to hear people say, you know, thisis just the best tool I’ve ever had. It really hassupplanted just about everything else. I don’t usejob boards. I very sparingly ever used thembefore. I’ve always relied on who did I know orwho knew someone whom I knew, et cetera, andnetworked that way. And LinkedIn is a giantnetwork, just multiplied many times over. It’sideal.”

Recruiters are a significant group on LinkedIn andthis is fully recognized by LinkedIn’s owners andmanagement. In the interviews for this book theopportunity has been taken to solicit comments andsuggestions from recruiters about ways in whichLinkedIn’s already excellent product could be furtherenhanced and although these comments are notfeatured in the book they are available on the recordedinterviews and have been drawn to the attention ofLinkedIn.

Hans Gieskes,Chief Executive

Officer andco-founder,

H3.com

“LinkedIn has built an incredibly usefuldatabase. My personal impression is that lately italmost seems easier for people to get intoLinkedIn than it was in the past and they have toreally watch quality control from that point ofview. But I think being able to map networks andfind people the way they do is a market thatMonster never solved. Monster has from thebeginning very diligently built the résumédatabase, but has always said, and I agreed, thatit’s only accessible by search professionals andthey have to pay for access. “LinkedIn has built a network by making itavailable to everybody, in the first instance forfree, and now they have started chargingrecruiters. I think they can charge recruitersanything they like; recruiters will pay. At the end

82 Chapter 7: Conclusion

of the day, if you think that’s where you can findthe right talent, you will pay and it will still be apittance compared to the fees that you can earnwith those candidates.”

Overview1. Technology, especially the Internet/World Wide

Web, has:– changed forever the way the recruiting business

is done– extended the recruiter’s reach– increased the speed of the process– opened up access to organized information

about candidates, companies and competitors– provided new tools for business development

and business continuity– opened a new era for splits and other direct,

unbrokered collaboration between recruiters

2. The basics of the business remain and are onlyenhanced, not replaced, by technology.Recruiting is still at core a people business and notechnology can replace the need to work directlyand effectively with people in:– finding candidates– finding businesses with positions to be filled – establishing and building trusted relationships – managing and steering the process of helping a

company, made up of specific real people– deciding that an individual person whom you

have presented is a great fit for the position – building relationships with clients who are happy

to pay you for your work, and who know thatthey and your candidate will still be happy withtheir choices months and even years later andwill recommend you to others

– finding and building trust relationships andcollaborations with other recruiters to achievewin-win business.


Ronni Marks,Director of Human

Resources,The Peak

Organization

“A person I know works in the technology field.She shared with me that she has made aplacement because she was specifically able toput in the LinkedIn search the technology skillsetthat was needed, and it’s working really well forher.”

Key Lessons1. LinkedIn is an excellent online tool for

recruiters, for– finding candidates– finding business– getting endorsements from clients and

colleagues –even competitors!– getting introduced– third party splits– marketing yourself– networking

2. The premium Business and Business Plusaccounts offer far more accessibility to thenetwork than the free Personal or Personal Plusaccounts

3. LinkedIn Groups and other LinkedIn-relatedgroups are an excellent networking resource

4. LinkedIn is a must-use database for seekingcandidates in top-paying executive andtechnical specialist roles

5. Recruiters working in the “mid-range”, withpositions paying $50,000 to 100,000, need towork on adding value to their services,recognizing that in-house Human Resourcespeople in companies can also utilize LinkedInand other online tools and by-pass externalrecruiters


6. Savvy recruiter users of LinkedIn realize that:– it is not just a database but a highly organized

one with unique search features, providingaccess to information not readily availablepublicly elsewhere

– it is also, and much more, a superb marketingtool

– it is a trust-based network

7. Many users simply do not realize what powerfultools exist “under the hood,” waiting to be used

8. LinkedIn is a powerful resource for recruiters toenable their candidates to present themselves attheir best—coaching them with their profiles,endorsements, network building—and tomaintain a trust relationship with a range ofpotential candidates for future positions.

Donato Diorio,Founder and ChiefExecutive Officer,

BroadLookTechnologies

“I’ve got some very specific rules on leveragingLinkedIn. Number one is I tell it to everybody.Whether I can help somebody or not, ifsomebody can buy our product and make use ofit, great. Not everybody can. But I still have aconnection out there and if they’re a goodconnection I tell them ‘Hey, there’s this great toolcalled LinkedIn! Let me tell you about it.’“Where I personally use LinkedIn is this: we allget to the end of a sales cycle and people ask forreferences. And I like to tell people the reality isanybody can provide a reference. Anybody canhave one person out there that they can use timeafter time that’s going to say ‘Bill is great’ or‘Donato is great’ or something along those lines.I would prefer to give them an open access to mynetwork and say: ‘Here’s thirty publictestimonials, from Fortune 10 companies downto a mom-and-pop shop. Feel free to call any ofthem.’ It’s a much stronger reference.”


Bill Vick “I’ve been blessed with the opportunity ofinterfacing and talking with leaders in theemployment industry. The process has re-shapedmy view of how I network personally and how Ithink recruiters could network to increase theirproductivity.“As an example, before conducting theseinterviews, my view of LinkedIn was somewhatmyopic. I only saw it as a candidate database.After talking to experts in the field, I realize it’smuch broader, much more flexible and almost arecruiting platform for success. Myrecommendation for anybody who is seriousabout their business and the bottom line is to getinvolved with LinkedIn today, not tomorrow.”

Checklist for ActionWork on your profile – build it out, make it a truemarketing tool (hint: study what the highvolume-billing recruiters interviewed for this bookhave done with their profiles!)Connect, connect, connect – make LinkedIn thevaluable marketing tool it can be for you by makingand maintaining great connectionsGive and get endorsementsJoin and participate in LinkedIn groups – on LinkedInitself and other LinkedIn related groupsConsider upgrading to a premium account –Business, Business Plus or Pro – to gain greaterreach and efficiency within the LinkedIn network Increase your efficiency in sourcing candidates byposting jobs on LinkedInRemember it still is and always will be a people topeople businessUse LinkedIn to build your position in the profession,learn from others and establish peer-supportnetworks and business-enhancing relationships withother recruiters and companies.


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About LinkedIn fo

References and Resources

LinkedIn Selected Links• Advanced Search

https://www.LinkedIn.com/search

• Business Accounthttps://www.LinkedIn.com/static?key=business_info_more

• Find Peoplehttp://www.LinkedIn.com/ns

• LinkedIn Groupshttp://www.linkedin.com/groupsDirectory

• Search by Keywordshttp://www.linkedin.com/search

• Search by Namehttp://www.linkedin.com/ns

• Search for Referenceshttp://www.linkedin.com/rs

• Search – main pagehttps://www.LinkedIn.com/search

• Special Search Typeshttp://learn.linkedin.com/linkedin-search/

r Recruiting 87

https://www.LinkedIn.com/search

http://www.linkedin.com/ns

https://www.linkedin.com/search

LinkedIn Groups Search ToolThe LinkedIn Groups Search Tool can be accessedeither you using the Groups link in your top leftsidebar on your LinkedIn profile or by using theSearch box in the top right side, selecting Groupsfrom the dropdown menu.

88 Appendix A: References and Resources

Other Groups on LinkedIn TopicsAs well as LinkedIn's own Groups, there are manyLinkedIn-related groups on various social networkingsites. Groups focused on recruiting or other industrysectors can be found by using the search facilities onthose sites. Examples of sites where LinkedIn-relatedgroups can be found are:

Yahoo!® Groups http://groups.yahoo.com

Google™ Groups http://groups.google.com

Ning http://www.ning.com

Facebook http://www.facebook.com


90 Appendix A: References and Resources

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About LinkedIn fo

People and Their LinkedIn Profile Links

David Allen President, Century Associates, 35 year veteran in recruiting, with over 20 years experience in Executive Search for the Information Technology fieldLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/25/81b

Scott Allen Managing Director, Link To Your WorldLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/scottallen

Brian Anderson President, BA Search Group Executive Search ConsultantLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/brianandersonbasearchgroup

Josh Arnold Owner, Arnold Career Services A nationwide Recruiting ServiceLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/3a7/150

BethBanger-Meehan

HR Sourcing and Recruitment Service Area Manager at Providence Health SystemLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/669/360

r Recruiting 91

Ron Bates Managing Principal, Executive Advantage Group Inc., & No 1 linked person on LinkedInLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ronbatesprofile

Doug Beabout Professional Speaker, Training & Coaching Consultant and ContractorLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dougbeabout

Jerry Bernhart Owner, Bernhart Associates Executive SearchLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/192/72

Randy Bogue CEO, Chief PeopleLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/118/409

Tina Boone Branch Manager, Controller's Group, Inc.LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tinaboone

Greg Buechler COO at GolfTraxxFounder & CEO, OffTheHookJobsLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gbuechler

Gerry Crispin Co-founder CareerXroadsLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gerrycrispin

Donato Diorio Founder & CEO BroadLook TechnologiesLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/donatodiorio

92 Appendix B: People and Their LinkedIn Profile Links

Marc Freedman Chief Marketing Officer, WeMeUsCEO and Founder, Dallas Blue Business NetworkLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/marcfreedman

Chris Forman CEO, AIRSLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/16/b2

Sondra Fuller Vice President and Co-Owner at Pure Bioscience Recruiting LLC. LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sondrafuller

KonstantinGuericke

CEO, jaxtrFormer VP Marketing and Co-Founder, LinkedInLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/konstantin

Hans Gieskes CEO and Co-Founder at H3.comLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/hansgieskes

GlennGutmacher

Recruiting Researcher at Microsoft, Founder Recruiting-online.com LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gutmach

Keith Halperin Recruiting Lead, Senior Recruiter, Recruiting Strategist, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) ConsultantLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/275/206

Susan Hand Senior Technical Recruiter at TheMathWorks LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/suehand


Taj Haslani Owner/President NetPixel Inc.LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tajhaslani

Bret Hollander Sr. Recruiter/Talent Acquisition Director, NETRECRUITERLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/netrecruiter

CarmenHudson

Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition at Yahoo! Inc.LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/carmenhudson

Roger King CEO, Chief PeopleLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/25/463

Carl Kutsmode Human Capital Management Consultant - Expertise in Recruitment Process Optimization and OutsourcingLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/carlkutsmode

Jason Lesher Senior Recruiter at CDI CorporationLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonlesher

Ronni Marks Director of Human Resources at The Peak OrganizationLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/46b/588

Eric Misch District Sales Manager, ADP - Small Business ServicesLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/903/5a4


Joe Pelayo CEO Joseph Michaels Inc.LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/joepelayo

David Perry Managing Partner at Perry-Martel International Inc.LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidperry

SandySanderson

Founding Partner, Meridian Executive ResourcesLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/meridianer

Maureen Sharib HR Researcher - Names Sourcer/Sourcing Methods Trainer - Names Generator at techtrak.comLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/350/1a

Rick Shull President, RGS Research PartnersLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rickshull

Al Siano Owner, President at Business System Technologies CorporationLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/alsiano

CraigSilverman

Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing at HireAbility LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/craigsilverman

Shally Steckerl Leading Recruitment Speaker and ConsultantLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/shally


Jim Stroud Social Media Development Manager, EnglishCafe.comLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jimstroud

Conrad Taylor President & Past Chairman of the National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS)LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/694/94

David Teten Co-Managing Director, Evalueserve Circle of ExpertsLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/teten

StuartThompson

Director of Talent Development, The McGraw-Hill CompaniesLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartthompson

Suzanne Tonini Manager, Internet Research (Center of Excellence) at DeloitteLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/infosourcer

Bill Vick Senior Partner at Ternosky & Vick Executive SearchLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/billvick

Des Walsh Social Media Strategist and Business Coach,Des Walsh dot ComLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/deswalsh

Peter Weddle Owner, WEDDLE’s LLCLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/357/640


Kevin Wheeler President/Founder, Global Learning Resources, IncLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kwheeler

Jon Williamson President, Southron DreamsLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonwilliamson

RondaWoodcox

Partner, Talent Scout RecruitingLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rondawoodcox

Vincent Wright Founder and President, Wright EnterprisesAuthor, 42 Rules for Starting Over

Arthur Young Founder, Delta Resources International & Recruiter.comLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/arthuryoungdeltaresources

John Zwieg Director of Staffing, LogitechLinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/345/8a8



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Leadership Thoughts on LinkedIn

Ron Bates,ManagingPrincipal,Executive

Advantage Group,Inc. and #1 most

connected personon LinkedIn.

"LinkedIn is a phenomenal tool for businessnetworkers, job seekers, and recruiters alike.Everyone has different objectives behind thenetworking they do. Bill Vick’s book is afantastic resource for any recruiter who wants tounderstand how to get the most out of LinkedIn.The book’s value isn’t limited to recruitershowever. The book is also a great resource for jobseekers desiring to maximize their exposure toopportunity by understanding how recruitersutilize LinkedIn to identify great candidates, inaddition to having obvious applicability tobusiness networkers in general."

Conrad G.Taylor, CPC/CTS,

President, PastChairman, NAPS

"You can be sure that in my role as President ofthe National Association of Personnel Services(NAPS) I will be recommending our members toget LinkedIn and to read and listen to this book."

David Perry,Managing Partner

at Perry-MartelInternational Inc.,

and Author ofGuerrilla Marketing

for Job Hunters,with Jay Levinson

“LinkedIn is a great tool! Whenever you start asearch, the hardest part is, you know, starting.Where do you find them? Who are the people youneed to talk to? LinkedIn is a great tool forprimary sourcing. It’s a great tool for trying tobreak into a company to find out who to talk to.

r Recruiting 99

Because even if the perfect prospect is notdirectly in LinkedIn, one of their co-workersprobably are."

CraigSilverman,

Executive VicePresident,

HireAbility - TheRecruiting

Network

“What I’ve learned since becoming an avidLinkedIn user is that there are a large amount ofrecruitment functions and services that it aids.LinkedIn has been a great way for our recruiters,for example, to locate new business opportunitiesand build relationships with hiring managers thatwant to take advantage of recruitment services,and at the same time a great way to findcandidates that might be passively or activelylooking for work.

Shally Steckerl,Leading

RecruitmentSpeaker and

Consultant

"There’s always going to be information on theInternet that can’t be found using search engines.When you look at LinkedIn, you have a highlystructured database, or Rolodex®, of informationwhich can be used in a much more organizedway. A lot of times the privileges of membershipallows you access to information that wouldn’tnormally be publicly available."

Jerry Bernhart,Owner, Bernhart

AssociatesExecutive Search,

Member of thePinnacle Society

“I’ve actually just started using LinkedIn forrecruiting. I’m kind of in the early stages, so Ican’t give you a lot of hard and fast results – justyet. But I’m noticing people are starting to emailme, asking me to link into their network. Howvaluable is that? That’s fantastic!”

100 Appendix C: Leadership Thoughts on LinkedIn

Brice Benefiel,Sr. Recruiter -

InformationTechnology,

Omnikron SystemsInc.

"It is a great read, I am actually on my second goaround."

Vincent Wright,Founder and

President, WrightEnterprises

"Bill Vick and Desmond Walsh have written avery good book, one that every recruiter usingLinkedIn should have. (I also thinknon-Recruiters may also benefit from insights in'Happy About LinkedIn for Recruiting'.) From its inception, I knew that if Bill Vick wereto get involved, 'Happy About LinkedIn forRecruiting' would be a successful book project.Bill pulled out all the stops to interview toprecruiters and sourcing professionals in thestaffing industry to get their take on best practicesfor Recruiters who are looking to maximize thevalue of LinkedIn in their daily business lives. I haven't really added up the numbers for the 7bonuses that come with the book but, it appearsthat if an astute Recruiter purchased the book andused all 7 bonuses, they could make at least 10times the cost of the book from the bonuses,alone. Of course, they could make MANY timesthat were they to put the book into practice. Because there are many Recruiters on MLPF anda number of others who might benefit from aclose reading of 'Happy About LinkedIn forRecruiting', I'm happy about recommending it toyou, your staff, and all members of My LinkedInPower Forum. Kudos to Bill and Des for a job well done!"


102 Appendix C: Leadership Thoughts on LinkedIn

H

A u t h o r s

About the Authors, Bill Vick and Des WalshBill Vick (LinkedIn profile:http://www.linkedin.com/in/billvick)spent his early career in executive sales and marketingmanagement with F500 companies focusing on theconsumer products industry, computer retail andsoftware industries. He joined Management RecruitersInternational in 1986 as a recruiter where he was theirNational Rookie of the year. Subsequent to that, Bill ranhis own retained search firm, Vick & Associates whichhe still maintains.

• In 1991, Bill formed Solo System, which producedsoftware for the staffing industry

• In 1996, he sold his recruiting business and softwarecompany to focus exclusively on the Internet where hefounded Ad-Cast, a collection of internet companieswhich included Recruiters OnLine Network (RON), a top100 site, HR.Net, and TheTalentBank.net

• In 2002, he sold the Ad-Cast collection of companiesand launched three not for profit Web sites focusing onrecruitment and employment issues:XtremeRecruiting.org, ThePhoenixLink.com, andEmploymentDigest.net

He was a founder and board member of the PinnacleSociety recognizing achievement in the staffingindustry, a national speaker for National Association ofPersonnel Consultants (NAPS), served on the Board ofDirectors of The Texas Association of PersonnelServices (TAPS), was an officer with the MetroplexAssociation of Personnel Services (MAPS) and afounder of the local Dallas Independent RecruitersGroup (IRG). He is an active speaker, and writer oncareer issues, recruiting trends and employmenttechnology.

appy About LinkedIn for Recruiting 103

http://www.linkedin.com/in/billvick

Des Walsh (LinkedIn profile:http://www.linkedin.com/in/deswalsh) is a social media strategist and business coach, withlengthy experience as an executive and consultant inboth the public and private sectors. He has authored orco-authored reports and manuals, in diverse fields fromgovernment policy in education and the arts, to trainingmanuals for executives in the transport industry.

Des specializes in supporting business owners wantingto make effective use of blogging and other social media.He is a member of the Board of Governors of theInternational Association of Coaching, a member of theAdvisory Board of the International Blogger and NewMedia Association. A member of several LinkedIngroups, Des is founding Moderator of LinkedInBloggers.

104 Authors

H

Y o u r B o o k

Create Thought Leadership for your CompanyBooks deliver instant credibility to the author. Havingan MBA or Ph.D. is great; however, putting the word“author” in front of your name is similar to using theletters Ph.D. or MBA. You are no long MichaelGreen, you are “Author Michael Green.”

Books give you a platform to stand on. They help you to:

• Demonstrate your thought leadership • Generate leads

Books deliver increased revenue, particularly indirect revenue:

• A typical consultant will make 3x in indirect revenuefor every dollar they make on book sales

Books are better than a business card. They are:

• More powerful than white papers• An item that makes it to the book shelf vs. the circular

file• The best tschocke you can give at a conference


Why Wait to Write Your Book?Check out other companies that have built credibilityby writing and publishing a book through HappyAbout.

Contact Happy About at 408-257-3000 or go tohttp://happyabout.info.

106 Your Book

H

B o o k s

Other Happy About® BooksPurchase these books at Happy About http://happyabout.info or at other online and physical bookstores.

Networking Online—Making LinkedIn

Work for you!

This book explains the benefits ofusing LinkedIn and recommends

best practices so that you can getthe most out of it.

Paperback: $19.95eBook: $11.95

The Successful Introvert

This book is intended to bothenlighten and empower readerswith specific strategies to use in

everyday personal andprofessional activities so that

they can achieve greatersuccess in their lives.

Paperback: $19.95eBook: $11.95


Twitter Means Business

For companies unfamiliar withTwitter, this book serves as a fieldguide. They will get a Twitterversetour, and learn about the dozensof firms big and small that have

harnessed Twitter as a powerful,flexible business tool.

Paperback $19.95eBook $11.95

Tales From The NetworkingCommunity

Is it who or what one knows thatmakes the difference? Both!‘Tales From The Networking

Community’ gives you tips,techniques and shares anecdotalstories that will help you succeed

with your networking goals.

Paperback $19.95eBook $11.95

108 Books

Documents

Happy About LinkedIn for Recruiting · 20660 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite 210 Cupertino, CA 95014 Happy About® LinkedIn for Recruiting By Bill Vick and Des Walsh Foreword by Conrad