A Recruiter’s Life Beyond LinkedIn

With more than 300 million users, LinkedIn is a go-to source for networking, recruiting and communicating with business professionals. The audience, however, is generally limited to the professionals who are at their desks day-in and day-out. What about workers in retail, healthcare and other hands-on fields? We decided to take a look into recruiting beyond LinkedIn - and what we found may surprise you. Here are five methods to reach top talent while also monitoring and influencing your brand's reputation without LinkedIn: 1. Get creative with search While LinkedIn offers a wide range of resources for professionals to network, honing in on more industry-specific sites can help you get creative with your search and find the top talent you're really looking to attract. If you're searching for talent in the tech industry, for example, sites like Stack Overflow and GitHub are great places to start, since their audiences consist of primarily tech professionals. If you are searching for creative types, consider Dribbble, which is essentially a show-and-tell platform for designers. Remember - online job communities aren't one size fits all! Find the one that works best for your recruiting efforts. By utilizing these industry-specific sites, you can develop and manage your search more accurately and efficiently. Getting creative with your search can help to promote your employment brand image and even monitor leads. Going beyond LinkedIn can ultimately support your company in locating better opportunities and more qualified candidates in the right fields. 2. Get involved locally LinkedIn is a great tool for networking, sharing content and enhancing visibility. But face-to-face interaction can provide something that LinkedIn simply cannot - a voice in your local community. There are so many different ways to get involved in local organizations. Gain exposure through posting jobs on professional sites like Glassdoor or even by hosting webinars with professional organizations in your area. Another great option is getting involved with your local Chamber of Commerce, which can help expand your talent pool by promoting job fairs. Think outside of the box - think beyond LinkedIn. 3. Find the next generation of talent  According to a study by UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School and the YEC, those born between 1980 and 1994 - Millennials - are ambitious individuals with a passion to excel at their jobs in hopes of speedy career progression. Millenials tend to go the extra mile for the jobs they are passionate about, and they are persistent self-starters with big dreams for their future careers. It is important to create relationships with career services departments at universities through meetings, guest speaking, social media or on-campus job fairs and recruiting. Showing this younger, emerging generation that you care is a surefire way to win them over. To find the next generation of talent, you must physically develop and promote an internship program or university initiative. At Glassdoor alone, we have witnessed firsthand full-time hires as a result of our internship program. Finding and retaining this next generation of talent will place you ahead of the competition in a big way. 4. Use your resources & optimize It is important to build and maintain a talent community. Start by developing credibility in various online sectors, through social media or in established professional groups. Optimize your careers page on Glassdoor and showcase unique aspects of your brand. For example, to improve your employer brand, add videos and pictures, company benefits, perks and awards to your Glassdoor profile - you have to let job seekers see what it's really like to work at your company. For inspiration, check out our Glassdoor Career Page. 5. Get social If you haven't noticed, social media isn't a "trend" - it's here to stay. According to HubSpot, 83% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business. Use this viral platform to your advantage and join the conversation! Twitter, Instagram and Facebook can help you showcase your company's culture through videos and pictures, in the same way that showcasing them on your Glassdoor profile does. Want to go even further beyond the surface? Live tweet during webinars (both those you host and those hosted by others) and utilize Google+ Hangouts to socially recruit, broadcast jobs and grow your brand awareness. You'll be amazed at the results that social media can bring. The real story LinkedIn is an extremely large professional network tool - and it's one that can be extremely beneficial to any recruiting practice. However, attracting the right types of talent for your employer brand means going beyond LinkedIn and expanding your horizons. Go beyond LinkedIn and attract the right talent for your brand today.