When you’re looking for a job, chances are, one of the first places you head straight to is LinkedIn. You’re certainly not the only one, as LinkedIn is one of the most popular websites for both candidates and recruiting teams. The thing is, though, finding the right job or the perfect potential employees can be a challenge, and there are some deadly sins employers commit even today in 2022.
It’s a job seeker’s market, and now, perhaps more than ever, employers need to be wary of making the worst mistakes and committing the most severe recruiting sins on LinkedIn if they wish to attract the best of the best. In today’s climate, it’s on the employers to attract candidates, not the other way around, and there’s quite a list of no-no’s they ought to keep in mind.
Here’s a rundown of the handful of the most severe LinkedIn recruiting mistakes employers are guilty of, according to the study conducted by Passport-Photo.Online.
Playing hard to get
Waiting for a perfect candidate instead of reaching out to the promising candidates is a practice that finds little approval from job seekers. Everyone likes it when others express interest in them, and that rule applies to LinkedIn job search as well.
In the study, nearly 4 out of 5 respondents (79%) claimed they’re far more optimistic and eager to consider a job opportunity if the employer reaches out and not them. Putting a job ad on LinkedIn and not following up is thus one of the most severe deadly sins of recruitment on the platform.
Not being upfront about the salary range
Let’s be honest. When you’re looking for a new job and surfing the internet searching for a perfect opportunity, the more information, the better. What’s more, the salary you can count on is one of the most crucial pieces of information that can make or break a job offer.
That is why it comes as no surprise that, according to the study, 95% of job searchers picture a perfect LinkedIn job posting as one containing a salary range.
What follows is a reported 69% of survey takers admitting that should a LinkedIn job ad contain no mention of salary, a candidate will seriously consider not even bothering to enquire about it and look elsewhere.
Using an obvious template for job interview proposals
According to the study, the most significant reason for candidates to automatically ignore a LinkedIn recruiter’s message is if their attempt at reaching out just looks like it’s been generated by an AI.
A generic employment proposal message, almost the same as the last three of four a searcher received, is likely to go straight to their spam folder. If it’s too apparent, a job candidate will likely think the LinkedIn recruiter was looking for anyone, not just them. If they have, they would’ve said so – that’s the logic the job searchers follow.
Not knowing when to stop chasing
We’re all busy people, and sometimes a message on LinkedIn might go unnoticed for whatever reason. A follow-up is a natural move in such a situation, and according to the study, two are quite enough. Any recruitment efforts beyond that will be seen by the job searcher as more of a red flag than a good sign.
When asked about the number of follow-ups that’s considered tolerable, as many as 39% of survey takers claimed two is the magical number. Any higher amount of follow-ups is more likely to result in blocking than actually considering an offer.
Ghosting
Ghosting’s not fun. No one likes to be on the receiving end of such behavior; unfortunately, a whopping 73% of LinkedIn employers still admit to such practices.
Not only do 62% of responders admit to massive attitude changes (for the worse) when ghosted, but a very same percentage of them admit instances of ghosting are something that will disqualify an employer in their eyes entirely.
Not enough information
Sometimes in life, you might say to yourself: “TMI” (too much information), but LinkedIn job ads are the opposite. In general, the more, the better, and thanks to the study, we know exactly what kind of information must find its way to the LinkedIn job ad. The top 10 features of a good job listing are:
- A job title
- The location
- Brief job description
- Type of employment
- Benefits and perks
- Crucial job duties
- Skills and experience required
- Optional abilities and competencies
- The company’s values and culture
- Explanation of the application process
Using the wrong register
Depending on who you talk to, you tend to change your register one way or another. It’s only natural; we’re all doing it.
Thanks to the study, we know that certain words or phrases on LinkedIn job ads like “superstar” or even “Jedi” are met with a smile on a candidate’s face rather than a frown. Nearly half the respondents (48%) would welcome such language.
That, of course, comes from the fact that employers wish to attract younger generations, but the bottom line is that the time has come to embrace a more colloquial, laid-back language.
Tiresome recruitment process
Submitting a resume is one thing, but having to fill in an additional application is another. The more convenient the job application is, the more enthusiastic a job applicant will treat the upcoming interviews and other recruitment stages.
At least that’s what the vast majority of job seekers (64%) believe, calling such practices annoying.
Having to go through an additional interview task after the resume submission can be seen by candidates as an inconvenience. According to the study, most of the respondents (34%) find it quite annoying, whereas almost the same percentage (31%) remain neutral.
Only a minority of survey takers find interview tasks a major inconvenience.
To sum up
There’s no shortage of LinkedIn recruiting deadly sins that employers are guilty of. Hence, there certainly is also room for improvement in order to attract talent efficiently and have your LinkedIn job ads get a good open and response rate.
It’s just a matter of catering to the applicant’s needs and realizing that the ball’s in the recruiters’ court, and it’s them who need to attract talent, not the other way round.
Bio
Michal Laszuk is a Content Writer and Outreach Specialist at PhotoAiD. A Journalism and Media Studies student at the University of Warsaw, Michal has previously also worked as a Content Writer, mixing his great passion for writing with acquiring a deeper understanding of SEO and internet marketing.