Whether you’re a job seeker or a job provider, networking is very essential to find new people. Earlier, there used to be job fairs and networking events. But today, with the strong presence of the internet in our lives, there’s a lot more to networking. Virtual presence and networking tactics are of prime importance. So, you need to have access to the huge online network of talented individuals. In earlier days, Monster, Craigslist, CareerBuilder, were the only options to recruit online. But now, since social media is in the mix, hiring online has become more easy and streamlined. One of the most popular online recruiting platform is LinkedIn. For connecting to and attracting great candidates, you need a great candidate outreach message. So, in this article, we’ve got you covered on how to draft the perfect LinkedIn hiring message to grab the attention of top talents.
Role Of LinkedIn In Recruiting
With the advent of technology, social media has become a major part of our lives. It has transformed the recruitment landscape too. Social media recruitment is not just a trend anymore, but a necessity. There are indeed many social media platforms available. But for recruiting and job searching purposes, LinkedIn is still the best. Did you know that LinkedIn has been around longer than Facebook and Instagram? It has more than 675+ million professional profiles. That means LinkedIn gives you nearly an unlimited supply of network connections and a huge talent pool. According to the hiring statistics by LinkedIn, 87% of active and passive candidates are open to new job opportunities. From sourcing new candidates to building a talent pool, LinkedIn is an important part of the recruitment strategy for 90% of recruiters.
One of the best things about LinkedIn is that it lets you connect one-on-one with anyone in the world. As a recruiter, this is great because it gives you a wider reach. However, this also has a downside to it. How many messages do you think your top prospective employees might be getting in a day? Probably a lot. It’s a cold hard fact that the top talents you’re eyeing on are probably inundated with messages and InMails, most of which they don’t even read. To stand out to these candidates, you need to focus and update your LinkedIn hiring message drafting strategy. Let’s have a look at some tips for drafting the perfect LinkedIn hiring message.
Tips To Draft The Perfect LinkedIn Hiring Message
Have A Strong Opening
How do you decide which emails to open and which not to open? The subject line! The subject line of your message decides whether your candidate will open your message or ignore it. The words you use in your subject lines have an enormous effect on your message open rates. Almost 35% of candidates will open your messages only if they resonate with the subject lines. Start with a perfect subject line for your outreach message. Before drafting a complete message, ask yourself what exactly do you know this person and why you’re reaching out to him or her. According, draft a subject line which tells the candidate directly what you want.
Personalize Your Message
Just a great subject line is not enough for retaining your candidates. You need to add a personalized touch to your message. Your prospective candidates are not going to respond if they feel you’re just going through the motions. Make sure your candidates aren’t feeling that you’re sending them a generic message. You need to make a connection with your candidates. It takes only small tweaks to dispel the feeling of a copy and pasted message. A successful candidate outreach message involves you studying the candidate’s profile, resume, and background thoroughly. Make sure your candidates feel a sense of familiarity in your messages.
Highlight Your Mutual Connections
If you’re into recruiting candidates from the same industry frequently, there’s a good chance you might share some mutual connection. So, first things first, you need to look out for any mutual connections between you and your candidates. If you mention a mutual connection in your first message to a candidate, your chances of getting a response increases by 27%. Mentioning the mutual connections between your candidates and you establish a sense of trust and credibility within your candidates. The connection may be a former employer or one of your current employees. Also, you can see if you share a connection with people who endorsed your candidates for their skills.
Make Their Next Step Clear
The way you sign off from a message is very crucial for your LinkedIn hiring strategy. You must give your candidates a clear next step. This is a very important thing that you must include in your candidate outreach messages. Once your candidates see your message and decide to know more about the opportunity, they should have a clear guideline on how to revert back. It could be anything. You can instruct them to write back an email, or give a call for information on the further process, or maybe reply to the message itself.
Remember To Follow Up
Like in every other thing, in LinkedIn hiring too, you need to track your efforts and plan in case if you don’t hear back from your candidates. There can be a number of legitimate reasons why your candidate hasn’t replied to your LinkedIn hiring message. A further follow-up message will only increase your chances of getting a reply, even if they tell you that they aren’t interested. You need to have a clear follow-up plan for your candidates. It is considered best to follow up 1-2 weeks after you’ve sent your first message. If your first message was absolutely cold, then you need to follow up at least once or twice. You should never stop till you get a response.