Did you know that over 150 million professionals are using LinkedIn? With such a huge network, LinkedIn has become one of the best platforms to discover, engage, contact and hire the best candidates. Here are a few ways you can use LinkedIn to gain real insights about your candidates and understand if they are the ‘one’:
Profiles
A LinkedIn profile can say a lot about the candidate. Carefully browse through the current responsibilities and skills on the profile. Check the content and keywords that are used. Is it one of those fake profiles that is stuffed with keywords? Or is it a genuine one with real competence and expertise? Spelling or grammatical errors on the profile point out the carelessness of the candidate.
Contacts
Browse through the connections of the candidates. Does the contact list include just friends and classmates? Or does it include people with domain expertise, with relevant professional experience? Being connected to key professionals, experts from various companies and industries, shows how well the candidate has developed his network.
Groups
Observe what groups the candidate has joined and if the groups are relevant to the candidate’s domain. Find out if the candidate is active on the discussion forums. Check if the contributions made were informative and were accepted. Find out if the candidate was able to influence the audience. This is ample demonstration of communication skills, and how well the candidate can express his or her views.
Recommendations
Analyze the recommendations listed on the candidate’s profile. Do they come from colleagues or friends? Are they from clients? If the candidate is in a lead role, recommendations from team members would help you gauge his leadership skills. Appreciations from supervisors or higher would indicate that the candidate was indeed a great performer.
Activities
Go through the recent activities of the candidate, highlighted on the profile home page. What links were shared, what ideas were voted, what new groups were joined or connections made, etc. If the candidate has answered any questions, you can get insights on mentoring, knowledge sharing and managerial skills. This could be the window to peep into the real personality of the candidates.