How to Search for Candidates on LinkedIn—A Complete Guide

As the world’s biggest professional network with over 900 million members, LinkedIn offers an incredible opportunity for businesses to find the ideal candidates for their open positions. But the real challenge is knowing how to search through this huge talent pool to find and connect with the right talent.

Not knowing how to look for candidates on LinkedIn can slow down your hiring process, as you might miss out on highly skilled professionals who could help your company grow and succeed. Not being able to make the most of LinkedIn’s potential can lead to longer hiring cycles, higher costs, and a negative impact on your business.

In this article, we’ll explore some of the best practices on how to search for candidates on LinkedIn, helping you find top talent faster and improve your recruitment process. We will also show you how to complement your LinkedIn search with Workello, a powerful but budget-friendly skills assessment and ATS software. Keep reading to learn how to unlock the power of LinkedIn and find the best talent out there.

Defining Your Ideal Candidate

Before diving into the vast talent pool on LinkedIn, you should know exactly what you’re looking for. This will streamline your search and help you find the right person more efficiently. Follow these 4 steps to create a clear picture of your ideal candidate:

1. Identify key selection criteria
2. Create a candidate persona
3. Identify key skills, qualifications, and experience
4. Consider location preferences and remote work options

Source: Twitter

Start by prioritizing the most important attributes you want to focus on during your LinkedIn search. These may include:

• Years of experience
• Specific technical skills
• Educational background

Knowing your priorities will help you filter search results more effectively and narrow down the pool of potential candidates.

Next, reflect on past successful hires and identify the qualities that made them a great fit for your company. Look for candidates whose LinkedIn profiles convey similar characteristics. While it might be difficult to assess soft skills and personality traits through LinkedIn profiles alone, you can still get a sense of someone’s professional demeanor and communication style.

In addition to the soft skills, be specific about the technical skills or industry knowledge you’re looking for and make a list of necessary or desirable professional credentials, such as:

• Certifications
• Licenses
• Memberships

Location can be an important factor when searching for candidates on LinkedIn. Decide if you prefer local candidates, are open to those willing to relocate, or are considering remote work options. Tailor your LinkedIn search accordingly to find candidates who meet your location requirements. This will save time and help you connect with the right talent faster.

Here is a table summarizing the 4-step process to define your ideal candidate on LinkedIn:

How to Find Candidates on LinkedIn for Free 

To effectively use LinkedIn’s search bar, enter relevant keywords, job titles, and other search terms related to your ideal candidate. This simple step will help you find profiles that match your requirements. Next, apply basic filters like location or industry to narrow down your search results. 

Source: LinkedIn

Here are some search options that are available for free:

• Enhance your search queries by using Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) to combine or exclude keywords. This technique allows you to create more targeted searches
• If you’re searching for someone you’ve met at an event but can only remember their name and a few other details, the First/Last name filter is useful. Combine it with other filters, such as company or location, to find the specific candidate you’re looking for
• Use LinkedIn’s hashtags search feature to explore content and conversations related to your industry or job function. By searching for relevant hashtags, you can discover potential candidates who are actively engaged in discussions, demonstrating their expertise and interest in your field. This method not only helps you find talent but also offers insights into their knowledge and involvement in the industry

How to Search for Candidates on LinkedIn Recruiter

LinkedIn Recruiter is a premium recruitment tool that offers numerous features and benefits, such as advanced search filters and InMail messages that allow you to contact LinkedIn members out of your network of connections. It is available in 3 price tiers, which differ in the number of candidate profiles you can fully access, the number of advanced search filters, and the number of InMail messages you can send:

1. Recruiter Lite—$170/month or $1,680/year
2. Recruiter Professional Services (for staffing firms)—price upon contact
3. Recruiter Corporate—price upon contact

Source: LinkedIn

Here are some of the search filters available with this tool:

• Spotlights filters (not available with Recruiter Lite) help prioritize candidates who are more likely to engage with your organization based on relationship and activity insights
• Recently joined LinkedIn filter lets you find candidates who have joined the platform in the past three months
• Postal code / Zip code filter allows you to focus on candidates within a specific area
• My groups filter helps you find people who are members of the same LinkedIn groups as you
• Military veterans filter allows you to identify candidates with a background in the U.S. military, a group with over 2.2 million LinkedIn members known for their strong networking skills
• Hide previously viewed filter helps you focus on new results by hiding profiles you’ve previously viewed so that you can efficiently explore fresh talent without revisiting the same profiles
• Further refine your search by using advanced filters like years of experience, year of graduation, skills, and languages spoken

Candidate Signals and Profile Features

Although 70% of candidates on LinkedIn are passive candidates, there are ways to find active jobseekers as well. LinkedIn offers the “Open to Work” filter as one of the Spotlights filters in its Recruiter platform, but you can also conduct free searches for candidates signaling their availability. There are 3 ways to do that:

1. Use the search bar to type phrases such as “Open to work” or “looking for job opportunities” to find profiles of individuals actively seeking new positions. There will be false positives, but it’s a good starting point
2. Use the Group filter to find LinkedIn groups created specifically for jobseekers. Enter the same key phrases in the search bar, but choose the Group filter instead of the People filter
3. If instead of groups you search for companies, you can find unofficial company pages dedicated to gathering jobseekers

Source: LinkedIn

When browsing someone’s LinkedIn profile, you may notice the “People Also Viewed” box, which showcases other profiles that have been viewed by those who visited the initial profile. This feature can help you find candidates with similar qualities, as users who found one candidate interesting likely viewed others with comparable skills and experiences.

Additionally, you can search for company pages within your industry to discover people connected to those organizations. By reviewing the profiles of professionals associated with relevant companies, you can identify potential candidates who possess the desired skills and background for your open positions.

Networking and Community Engagement

LinkedIn groups are a treasure trove for finding potential candidates. By joining groups related to your industry or job function, you can engage in conversations and discussions with like-minded professionals. Building relationships within these groups can lead to discovering top talent, as you’ll be more likely to come across individuals with the skills and experience your company needs.

Another useful feature is the alumni search on LinkedIn, which allows you to find candidates who graduated from specific schools or programs. By using this feature, you can identify potential candidates who share a common educational background, making them more likely to possess the required skills and qualifications for your open positions.

Source: LinkedIn

To further boost your ability to find suitable candidates, focus on building a robust network of professionals on LinkedIn. Connect with professionals in your industry, attend virtual events, and engage with content to create a strong presence on the platform. 

Lastly, don’t forget to tap into the power of employee referrals. Encourage your current employees to refer potential candidates from their own LinkedIn networks. Employee referrals can be an invaluable source of talent, as your employees likely have a good understanding of your company culture and the skills needed for success.

Here is a table that summarizes the pros and cons of these 4 methods:

Combine LinkedIn With Workello to Maximize Your Recruitment Success

Leveraging LinkedIn as a recruitment tool requires a comprehensive approach that includes defining your ideal candidate, mastering various search techniques, using premium tools like LinkedIn Recruiter, and engaging in networking and community activities. By combining these strategies, you’ll be better positioned to find candidates who meet your specific requirements, helping your organization grow and thrive. 

Workello is an affordable, easy-to-use ATS and skills assessment platform that pairs perfectly with your LinkedIn candidate search. It simplifies the hiring process, helps you keep track of candidates, and evaluates their skills to find the best fit for your team. Choose from over 900 expert-written, SEO-friendly job description templates and the platform will generate job ad links for easy posting on job boards or social media, including LinkedIn. 

Workello also offers a wide range of pre-employment tests, created by experts, to accurately assess job-related skills. It ensures a seamless candidate experience by automating the recruitment funnel, allowing you to send assessments, reject or invite candidates for interviews, and extend job offers with just a single click. 

Sign up for a free trial and experience the difference Workello can make in your hiring journey.