Everything you wanted to know about utilising LinkedIn — part 2

I am back with the second part of this article series. This time, I would like to talk about some behavioral aspects of LinkedIn presence. I am also giving you hints so you can better understand the recruiter’s point of view.

(Thoroughly) reading job advertisements. An active job seeker most probably applies for different job opportunities daily. It is a great initiative to find your new work environment as quickly as possible. Looking at it from a different perspective, I identified specific job seeker types. Some applicants apply for very few opportunities as they are looking for the best-fitting role. Others have comfortable jobs but still are open to better opportunities. Some active seekers are picky, while others are desperate. No matter whether you belong to any of these, I advise you to read the job description carefully and apply only in case you fit at least 80% of the requirements. Hint: before any job gets posted, there is a previous meeting with the hiring manager. We discuss the needed professional and cultural profile and all the details. Once we start advertising a role, we fill the requirement part with minimum needs. It means that all the bullet points you see there are a must-have. If something is desired or nice to have, we will let you know by marking it. When you read the requirements, please take it seriously and apply for the opening only if you meet the criteria.

Recruiter bullying. It is my own description of candidates who constantly apply for all open positions at a company regardless of the fact, they are relevant or not. Once they were rejected, they tried again the following day. The only way I can explain this behavior is 1. maybe these people are desperate; 2. a passive-aggressive action led by frustration caused by different reasons. Please stop doing this. It is OK to try your luck and sometimes apply for a role that does not perfectly match your profile — maybe you would like to leave your current sector. But I guarantee you won’t achieve your goal if you keep applying forever and to everything. Hint: If your reason is raising awareness, it will definitely happen, but not in a good way. I understand that these people only want attention and an interview where they can show off their skills. They might hope to get hired for a different role within the company, but if you apply for a small business, you can be sure that a maximum of 2 recruiters manage all positions. Even if you are not suitable for role 1, we can forward your resume to the other recruiter who might consider you for role 2. At the end of the day, we would like to fill all roles as soon as possible.

Comments and posts. People are active on LinkedIn. I mentioned the fact that recruiters might have a look at your online presence. The same applies to LinkedIn activities such as posts, comments, and recommendations. I often see rude or passive-aggressive comments, which are obviously not the best way to convince your future employer that you are a great cultural fit. Hint: recruiters check your professional experiences, years served, and other things, but also guess whether you are a cultural fit. We know the company values, vibes in the office, and employees. Most importantly, we know your future leader and their work method and leadership style. Even if you are a great talent, you can get rejected. It does not mean you need one more online training. It is just sometimes the fact, that we think you cannot work well in our environment. It’s not necessarily a bad environment but simply different than your hypothetical personality. The decision is even faster if we see that you often hurt people with aggressive comments or post articles that profess extreme political/religious views or even worse things. I must mention that we care not only about the business but you too! In case of a cultural mismatch, the business is not going smoothly, and more importantly, the new joiner won’t feel good. Both parties lose if you feel cheated or that something was oversold during the interview process. We always try to avoid this.

Assessment questions. LinkedIn has a great assessment feature. Before submitting your resume, you must answer a couple of questions. These can be related to your language knowledge, VISA status, or used technologies. I suggest answering these honestly. It is frustrating when both parties invest a great amount of time in the process, but in the end, we must say goodbye. Hint: just as requirements in JDs, we set these questions to cover the minimal expectations. If you notice a question about your VISA status, it can mean that the company decided not to assist you with such matters. Even if you are an exceptional specialist and a lovely cultural fit, we cannot help you with VISA so you will get rejected in the end. It is nothing personal and doesn’t mean the organization is a horrible workplace.

What else? In my opinion, the whole thing is about finding the balance between showing yourself and not being too pushy or extreme. For instance, you can DM job posters asking for details but do not spam anyone. Be ready and informed about the role you applied for. When I call a candidate the same day of application, sometimes they don’t even know they submitted their resume, even telling me they applied for at least 50 roles that day. Such unpreparedness won’t really sell you as a mature professional — and I experience this at least twice a week. If you don’t know anything about the position you applied for, try to earn time. Ask the recruiter to call you back so you have enough time to prepare.

I hope I was able to provide insights into recruitment and empower candidates to navigate more efficiently on LinkedIn. Let me know in a DM/comment if you have further questions or topics you are interested in.