A Recruiters' Hack: InMail

Though it may seem challenging to budget for, LinkedIn Recruiter's InMail feature is a game-changer for recruiters once activated. Let's dive in.

Many HR departments and recruiting firms believe the annual contract with LinkedIn Recruiter is too expensive, leading them to be scared off by the large annual commitments.

Yet, the minute you take that leap of faith into the world of LinkedIn Recruiter, the potential to hire exponentially grows.

Professionals from various sectors (excluding many in healthcare and blue-collar industries) are actively on LinkedIn, perfectly indexed and ready for you to search through to then (bulk/individually) message.

Messaging is all about balancing transparency, conciseness, and creating content that sells the unique opportunity to encourage a response.

Send out 50-100+ messages for every new role you get.

It may feel expensive, but sending out 50 to even 150+ messages in many cases is quite worth the spend.

The message:

1. Keep it short and do not explain the role in too much detail beyond a sentence (maybe two if needed).
2. Keep the InMail short and sweet, with just enough information.
3. Focus on selling the company, the opportunity, and the growth/career path potential
4. Sell – the company, the incredible opportunity, and the fantastic career growth waiting for them. And here's a tip: Instead of asking if they're interested, which can be a hit or miss, tell them you’d be honored to discuss the role further and ask for their availability. It shows respect for their time and makes them feel valued.
5. If you are creating an InMail & keeping your client name confidential, your chances of success go down a lot. A transparent InMail about which company you are partnered with and hiring for can get you a lot more replies.
6. Before hitting 'send', get a couple of colleagues to give your message a once-over.
7. Want to up your content game? Test out different versions of your message, tailor them to your audience, and keep an eye on those InMail stats.
8. Save the template, and once you dive into the stats on LinkedIn, turn the best one into a foundation for InMails moving forward.

For agencies, especially in RPO, exclusive, or retained setups, disclosing the client name in your messaging will increase reply rates. Just ensure your contract covers you for the recruiting efforts – direct or indirect. If your outreach brings a candidate into the fold, you deserve to be compensated.

LinkedIn Recruiter's search is a powerhouse tool.

Even when you start with the basics like combining keywords, titles, and targeted companies - you get a very strong list of targets. Build a list of alternative titles and keywords for every title and keyword you are searching for to expand your funnel of potential candidates.

For Example, if you need to hire sales professional that knows how to work with an ERP software... this would be some filters and Boolean strings you'd add into LinkedIn Recruiter's Search:

Titles: Sales OR "account executive" OR SDR OR "business development"

Keywords: NetSuite OR SAP OR ERP OR "Microsoft dynamics 365" OR Acumatica OR Syspro

The combined title and keyword filters bring in candidates that have had a sales role and ERP platform experience.

Do you have too many candidates in a search? Narrow it down with the 'Open to Work' or 'Active Talent' filters for a more responsive pool.

Once you've got your list of target candidates, start sending those InMails and stay on top of your inbox.

Quick responses are key.

This article just scratches the surface of LinkedIn Recruiter – there's much more to unpack in future newsletters very soon where I'll dive deeper into crafting compelling content, analytics & targeting strategies.

Hopefully this article starts your year off in the right direction as LinkedIn is one of the most valuable vendors for the HR and Recruiter community.

Cheers to 2024 — may it bring us all a year of great success!