How to use LinkedIn for Hiring.

It is right that LinkedIn for searching talent takes time and effort. Here's how your business can tap into the world’s largest professional network and find the right person for the right job.

Let’s Start with some basic stuff.

LinkedIn claims that most companies see great results from job listings.

1.   It all starts with you. LinkedIn is built around connections. The more people you and your HR staff know, the larger your extended network becomes, opening up the ability to see the names your connections' connections, and even people you have three degrees. In other words, make more and more connections to make your field wider and search broader.

2. Don't forget the social aspect. If you only use your LinkedIn connections to gain access to someone’s network, your recruiting attempts will basically end up being like cold calls. After you identify a potential job candidate, ask your mutual friends to arrange an introduction.

3. Use your status updates wisely. Share that you're looking to fill an open position in the "Share an update" section of the LinkedIn homepage and see if your contacts can refer somebody your way. People often advertise there when they or their friends are available for hiring.

Establish your company on LinkedIn.

4. Create a company page. Adding a company page helps job seekers easily find your contact information and allows people to follow updates from your business.

Be sure to announce when you're hiring.

5. Post a job listing. Listing a job opening costs a few hundred dollars a month, depending on your company's location.

6. Serve up targeted ads. LinkedIn Recruitment Ads have fine, granular targeting capabilities that can spotlight your company for the types of candidates you pinpoint. The ads even list personal contacts that can introduce the potential recruit to your business.

That's the easy part. Now for some more advanced headhunting tips.

LinkedIn Recruitment ads: Picture yourself at this company?

7. Use LinkedIn's advanced search features. The advanced search functions (found to the right of the Search box at the top of the screen) include granular search criteria similar to the targeting capabilities of LinkedIn Ads, which allows you to search for profiles that include very specific elements. Anyone can search by postal code, job title and even schools attended, but you'll need to upgrade to a premium account for access to even finer search capabilities, such as filters for seniority levels and years of experience.

8. Don't forget keyword searches. The advanced search function includes a "keyword" field that looks for specific terms in people's profiles.

9. Recruiters use additional advanced search operators. searches work decently well, but if you want to really start drilling down to find ideal job candidates, use specially worded advanced search operators. Social Talent has excellent overviews of advanced LinkedIn search terms and how to get great results from advanced keyword searches, while Boolean offers a tutorial on how to use advanced searches to limit your LinkedIn searches to people who are actively looking for jobs.

10. Try searching on Google, instead. While LinkedIn's built-in search engine offers the most accurate profile search results, it has a drawback: You can't see full names of qualified candidates outside your personal network unless you pay at least $400/month. Sounds Bad L but it’s a part of LinkedIn business strategy for a LinkedIn Recruiter account. Clicking on a candidate's profile from Google brings up their full name. Once you've identified a promising candidate, you can send him an InMail or contact him outside of the social network. RecruiterFiles features a basic primer on mining LinkedIn with Google.

Even a small number of direct contacts can create a large extended network.

11. Convince hesitant prospects. If you're actively mining LinkedIn for talent, many of the potential hires you reach out to will probably be "passive" candidates who aren't actually looking for a job. LinkedIn's recruiting blog has a handy interview with a senior recruiting manager for a major digital PR firm that offers insightful tips on how to coax passive prospects out of their shells.