Any hiring manager will tell you that sourcing talent is no walk in the park. The complications inherent in an increasingly global hiring environment make maintaining a robust talent pipeline more critical than ever before for VC firms. Complexity in finding top talent therefore necessitates the use of every tool at your disposal as a hiring manager. One of the most powerful of these tools is LinkedIn. With over 400 million members in over 200 countries and territories in the world, there is little doubt that LinkedIn is a go-to source for intelligence concerning a huge pool of talent. However, the very scale that makes LinkedIn such a great resource can also make it difficult for hiring managers to narrow down findings to a manageable size. How can LinkedIn be used to best advantage for hiring managers intent on maintaining a solid talent pipeline? Here is a guide to get you started: 1. Create a LinkedIn company page. If you want credibility for your organization, create a LinkedIn company page where candidates can explore your content at their leisure. Modern recruiting, especially on social media platforms like LinkedIn, is about marketing your company to your target audience, the top talent in your industry. Forbes’ “Recruitment Marketing 101: A Talent Pipeline Playbook” notes: “While applicants should still work hard to stand out among available talent, companies must also market themselves to the potential candidates, enticing them to apply. This is part of the reason why 86 percent of HR professionals agree that recruitment is more like marketing than ever before.” Your LinkedIn company page should include a great profile image, a completed profile with a snappy headline, and consistently fresh, relevant information for potential candidates. A great LinkedIn company page indicates to prospective employees your accessibility, your openness to networking, and your progressive company vision. Bonus Tip: Use the Company News Feed feature to keep candidates informed about what is happening with your VC firm. 2. Make your job descriptions sizzle. The Forbes article offers this insight regarding crafting great job descriptions for open positions: “Post job descriptions that strongly align with your company culture … A well-placed job posting on a social media site, backed by engaging workplace-focused content, can reach a significant amount of people, especially when connected career sites are mobile-optimized.” Job descriptions which clearly define objectives rather than merely describe the ideal candidate work best. Jobs can be formally posted for a fee, but you can also use status updates and group discussions to get the word out. 3. Understand the power of networking with passive candidates. It is perhaps in its wealth of passive candidates that LinkedIn most excels as a resource. Undercover Recruiter’s “How to Source Top Talent on LinkedIn” reports that 3 out of 4 LinkedIn users classify themselves as passive candidates. The reality is that VC firms rely heavily on passive candidates to fill mission-critical roles in their eco-systems. Top talent are not actively looking for a position, but may be amenable to the idea if you have something of real value to offer. LinkedIn allows you to reach out to passive candidates, nurturing a relationship which may eventually lead to a successful match. RecruitLoop offers this advice: “LinkedIn Groups attract some of the most influential people in any particular space. If you are focusing on a niche, become part of the discussion, providing career advice where you can or sharing interesting articles. Your name will become synonymous with the members of the group as an authority and someone clearly well versed in the space.” [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/296390268″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] 4. Choose a talent management system which integrates with LinkedIn. LinkedIn’s whitepaper “Best Practices for Developing a Strong Talent Pipeline” notes: “Most recruiters, and hiring managers for that matter, underestimate the time and resources required to develop candidate pipelines. Between identifying, contacting, and maintaining relationships with quality professionals, companies may opt not to do pipelining at all.” This, however, is a short-sighted policy. A more reasonable approach is to use resources like LinkedIn in tandem with a talent management system that integrates with the social media platform. This saves time and money for your VC firm by enabling you to easily create candidate profiles by importing the information directly from LinkedIn. Are you ready to explore how such a solution works? Schedule your demo today.