As a recruiter like yourself, I thought you may be interested in some feedback on some recent canvassing I have been doing for Rocket Software, although I may not have been able to speak to you all! The information gained should be of interest to everyone, in particular those that are not using LinkedIn .
What did become blatantly obvious is that very few of us have a LinkedIn profile, in fact just 32% of the REC driving members do, of which there are well over 100. This is also reflected in the industrial division.
What is interesting is that those few companies who do have a company profile with more than 20 connections are probably the more successful companies in your industry!
For me this is a huge surprise, but one which I can understand particulary as there are very few drivers or labourers on LinkedIn and therefore many of us cannot see the benefit.
But it is the next set of figures where you can see why you should be taking more of an interest, because it is your clients who are:
Back in May I did a quick search within the logistics marketplace and found that there were 2,296 logistics/transport/warehouse managers on LinkedIn, a fairly decent group to canvas from. But what is more interesting is that in just over 3 months that figure increased to 3,125 and many of them are connected to more than 500 people – and this is just the UK.
It is important to understand here why should so many of your clients have a LinkedIn profile?
The answer is not straightforward as many will not have a specific strategy, but one thing is for sure: like me they will undoubtedly check you out on LinkedIn before they do business.
It could also be argued that LinkedIn is more important than having a website and although a website is more like a brochure, it doesn’t really tell you whether the employees of that company have the calibre or the ability to handle their recruitment requirements.
Obviously if you have no experience or success in your industry, you’re not really going to want that exposed, but having spoken to so many of you, the majority have so much experience that it should be shouted from the roof tops.
As I say just imagine if one of your potential clients checked you out on LinkedIn, what would they find? Well they will be disappointed that is for sure with 92% not even having a company profile – not a good start!
But it is more than this. Imagine if you have a profile showing superb experience – but also recommendations such as the one below from your clients. (The one below is in fact from one of my connections in the Recruitment Industry). Don’t you think the client is more likely to want to do business with you?
“… is a true recruitment professional with extensive knowledge and understanding of position deliverables within the security industry. His dedication and commitment to assignments that ensure the right fit for employer and employee are highly commendable and I have no hesitation in recommending him and his team.”
On top of this I am a great believer that LinkedIn gives you the ability to stand out from your competition and for the first time it is a way you can actually win business over the bigger corporates.
On a final note, if you want to know how to get more out of LinkedIn then please give me a shout. I am more than happy to help.