Strategic networking is critical to any job search and strategic networking with recruiters should be at the top of your list! Whether you love or hate working with recruiters, you can’t deny their power as gatekeepers for un-posted job openings. If you don’t believe me, you’ll want to spend some time getting clear on the hidden job market and how recruiters can make or break your career.
If your recruiter network is feeling small, one of the best places to find more is Linkedin. Linkedin is one of the most valuable tools there is for your job search, networking, career path research and ability to be found for life-changing opportunities by hiring managers and recruiters. If you’re not optimized and active on Linkedin, you’re likely missing out on some easy career wins! One incredibly easy way to become active is by joining strategic Linkedin Groups. Linkedin Groups are virtual networking rooms that put you in the right circles with your industry peers.
Career Benefits of Being in Linkedin Groups
A few benefits of being in Linked Groups: they’re great places to find mentors, learn about current trends, conduct career path research, contribute expertise, establish your presence, and find jobs. The Groups feature is also important for your Linkedin SEO & overall profile optimization strategy because your Linkedin search ranking partially depends on the number of common groups you share with other Linkedin members. If you’re hoping to be found by hiring managers and recruiters when they do industry searches for talent, you’ll want to be in those target industry groups. Linkedin allows you to join up to 50 groups and it’s to your benefit to do so.
The Benefits of Joining Linkedin Recruiter Groups
You’ll also want to join Linkedin Recruiter Groups. 100% of recruiters are on Linkedin because recruiters search for people. There are over 300 million members on Linkedin, making it an ideal hunting ground for recruiters in search of their next candidate. While recruiters typically work in a “Don’t call me – I’ll call you,” approach, there are several recruiter groups that welcome job seekers. These are the types of groups you’ll want to target after you’ve joined your industry groups. When you’re in these recruiter groups, you’ll want to go one step beyond joining and actually take some time to review the recruiter member profiles. You want to target outreach and connection initiatives to those recruiters within your target industry or company. Targeting with recruiters is KEY!
How to Select Your Groups
The group search feature is fairly simple to maneuver. Just enter your keywords into the search bar up top and select “Groups” from the drop-down to the left of the search box. A simple keyword search on “Recruiters” or “Recruiters Job Search” will do, but don’t be afraid to take it one step further. Try searching on “recruiters” as well as the industry or role keywords relevant to you. The more specialized the better for ensuring that you are finding recruiters that have openings for people like you! The value of the Linkedin group often depends on the number of members and level of engagement, so I was careful to select groups with no less than 10,000 members in selecting my recruiter groups. Here’s the list of groups I created for you to join:
Recruiter & Job Seeker Groups
The Recruiter.com Network – Network with recruiters, find a job or headhunter (808k members)
The Job Seeker Networking Group – Find a Recruiter – Find recruiters and real jobs through this networking group (35K Members)
Top Candidates: Jobs, Job Postings & Job Recruiters – Top Candidates: Jobs, Job Postings & Job Recruiters. Managers, HR & Technology – Job Seekers can post their profile/resume. Employers can find/contact potential employees (26k members)
Specialty Recruiter and Job Seeker Groups
Nonprofit & Philanthropy Jobs, Powered by ImpactFlow – The Nonprofit & Philanthropy Jobs group offers a community for nonprofit and philanthropic job seekers and recruiters to connect, network, and share ideas and employment opportunities.
US Veteran Recruiters – Candidate Connection – The sole purpose of the group is to help US Veterans connect with recruiters.
Financial Executive Way Forward – Leaders in Banking, Consulting, IT and Recruiting – This group brings together professionals in the financial industries or related services. Senior managers are welcome to join from all over the world (120k Members)
College Grad Recruiting – This group’s main focus is to locate college graduate talent for entry-level jobs and internships. Members can network, provide advice and post jobs (23k Members)
Ivy League Jobs and Recruiting: Brown Columbia Cornell Dartmouth Harvard Princeton Penn Yale Wharton – A group for finding Ivy League graduates for Job openings. Recruiters focusing on Ivy alumni are welcome to join this group (41K members)
Lean Six Sigma and Continuous Improvement Recruiting – The purpose of this group is to provide a career networking hub for all individuals involved with Lean Six Sigma (LSS), Continuous Improvement, Process Excellence, Quality Improvement, etc. across all industries.
CORP-CORP Recruiting Made Easy – IT professional industry group with recruiters.
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