Talent Acquisition: Your LinkedIn Company Page Is Absolutely Key
January 25, 2013
Think you can get away with a generic or shoddy LinkedIn Company Page? If you want to recruit better candidates, think again.
As Lisa Jones, Director at Barclay Jones, writes in a post for the Undercover Recruiter, as far as talent acquisition goes, your LinkedIn company and careers page is even more important than your company website. I recently read this article. Here’s why: As of earlier this month, LinkedIn reported more than 200 million registered users. If we are being honest it is the top sourcing and networking site for generalist recruiters to target potential candidates, and for candidates to target potential employers, as well. In recruiting, the first thing I do when I hear/see a new company, or a new contact/candidate is Google “COMPANY XYZ LinkedIn” OR “John Smith LinkedIn.” Why don’t I go directly to the company website in my initial research? Because the LinkedIn Company site can give me a quick snapshot of information that I would most likely have to dig for on the company’s website. And let’s be honest, how many times have you gone to a company’s website directly and after looking around said to yourself “I still don’t understand what they do”? So, think about it — as recruiters, we use LinkedIn as one of our top recruiting tools. We source for candidates and often engage them directly through the LinkedIn portal via InMails. From there, the candidate checks out the recruiter’s profile (you should make sure yours is specialized and detailed, as well), and then checks out the LinkedIn Company Page next. If your LinkedIn Company Page is not filled out or engaging, candidates will simply pass on by without even taking the time to go to your direct website that you most likely paid big bucks to have fancied up. So, what should you include on your LinkedIn Company Page? The standard pages list the following:
- Industry
- Size (number of employees)
- Location (Headquarters)
- Specialties
- About (overview)
- Recent Updates (activity such as postings, blogs, etc.)
- Careers/Job Postings
- People
- Products and Services
- Link to website
- Popularity (# followers)
And it’s all easy to find. Ex: To better help your talent acquisition function, be sure your LinkedIn Company Page is active, detailed, and attractive to prospective candidates. And update it often! In order to be successful with your LinkedIn Company Page you need to have the company page active and up-to-date.
Is your LinkedIn page really more important than your company website? Which one do engage with recruiting candidates through more?