LinkedIn has become one of the top places for companies to post and promote their job openings. With over 740 million members, LinkedIn offers access to a massive pool of potential candidates. As a recruiter or hiring manager, posting your job on LinkedIn is an excellent way to get your opportunity in front of qualified applicants. However, simply creating a job posting and hoping candidates find it is often not enough. To maximize your reach, you need an effective strategy for announcing and promoting new openings on LinkedIn.
Use LinkedIn’s built-in features
LinkedIn provides several built-in options for sharing and promoting job posts that should be part of your announcing strategy:
- Post the job on your Company Page – This makes the job visible to all of your company’s followers.
- Share the post from your personal LinkedIn profile – This broadcasts the opening to your entire network.
- Pay to sponsor the job post – Sponsored ads let you target relevant candidates by location, experience, skills, etc.
- Share the post in relevant LinkedIn Groups – Great for reaching passionate professionals in your industry.
- Send InMail messages – Directly contact qualified candidates who might be passive jobseekers.
Taking advantage of these tools ensures your job post reaches LinkedIn members through multiple channels on the platform.
Craft an engaging job post
While using LinkedIn’s built-in sharing options is a good start, simply blasting a generic job description is unlikely to attract much interest. To get applicants excited about your opportunity, you need an engaging, well-crafted job post. Here are some tips:
- Use an eye-catching title – Get creative to describe the role in a way that stands out.
- Highlight company culture – Give a sense of what it’s like to work at your organization.
- Focus on the ideal candidate – Paint a picture of who would thrive in the role.
- Emphasize growth opportunities – Many seek roles with room for advancement.
- List clear qualifications – But focus on must-haves to avoid discouraging applicants.
- Add multimedia – Photos, videos, charts help bring the post to life.
An exciting, well-written job post grabs attention and encourages suitable candidates to apply.
Leverage employees’ networks
Your own employees can be powerful allies when announcing an opening. Their personal networks often contain great candidates. Encourage employees to:
- Share job posts from their profiles – This exposes openings to new audiences.
- Endorse relevant connections – Proactively identify qualified contacts.
- Make personal outreach – Direct message suitable connections about the role.
- Offer employee referrals – Many companies provide incentives for referrals.
Tapping into the collective networks of your workforce significantly expands your reach.
Partner with influencers
Partnering with LinkedIn influencers related to your industry or location can rapidly expand the visibility of your job posts. Possible partnership opportunities include:
- Sponsored content – Pay influencers to share and endorse your openings.
- Takeovers – Have influencers guest post on your Company Page.
- Giveaways – Run a joint contest giving away your products/services.
- Cross-promotion – Share each other’s content with your audiences.
The built-in audiences and credibility of influencers provides great exposure for your jobs.
Target passive candidates
One of the most valuable aspects of LinkedIn is the ability to reach passive candidates – those not actively searching for a job. To target these hidden talents:
- Search profiles for desired skills/titles – Identify currently employed prospects.
- Connect and build relationships – Nurture leads for future openings.
- Advertise on LinkedIn – Tailor your ads to appear for passive candidates.
- Offer referral bonuses – Motivate connections to refer passive candidates.
- Message prospects when roles open – Timing is key with passive prospects.
Reaching passive candidates provides access to an untapped pool of talent.
Follow up with applicants
Following up with candidates who apply for your job is equally as important as announcing the opening itself. To ensure applicants have a positive experience:
- Send confirmation messages – Let candidates know you received their application.
- Share next steps – Provide clear expectations on hiring timelines.
- Ask for updates – Check-in if the process goes quiet for a while.
- Give status updates – Even if just to say next steps are still being determined.
- Send rejections promptly – Do not leave candidates hanging for weeks.
Following up shows professionalism and keeps applicants engaged.
Analyze results
Tracking your announcing efforts gives insights into what works best. Be sure to analyze:
- Application sources – Which channels drive the most candidates?
- Influencer metrics – Whose partnerships generate the most interest?
- Employee engagement – Who is sharing your jobs the most?
- Applicant feedback – How did candidates hear about the opening?
Use these metrics to refine your strategy and increase effectiveness over time.
Announcing openings requires creativity and persistence, but pays dividends in quality applicants. Follow these tips to get your jobs in front of qualified candidates on LinkedIn.