So you’ve created your LinkedIn account, connected to a few people, and maybe have even run searches for contract candidates. Now what?
Well, another way you can extend your reach in LinkedIn is to join some Groups. According to LinkedIn, Groups allow you “to find and join communities of professionals based on common interest, experience, affiliation, and goals. Stay in touch with organizations, schools, and companies that you are and were a part of, network with professionals with similar interests and goals, and collaborate in a professional community online.” The free version of LinkedIn allows you to join up to 50 Groups.
Contract recruiter Melinda Pittman of The Pittman Group, Inc., finds the Groups function in LinkedIn to be one of its most useful. In fact, two of her recent placements through LinkedIn were as a result of her activity in the Groups. Here are some reasons she finds them particularly valuable:
- They allow her to access professionals she may not have through her Connections.
- She receives an email each day from her Groups that she can scan quickly for any useful information.
- They allow her to learn more about other niches where she may be expanding her business.
- She can post a comment or a question and receive feedback.
- To find worthwhile Groups, Pittman says she asks other people which ones they belong to to get ideas, and she also reads the descriptions in the Groups Directory to find Groups that might be interesting to her.
You can even start your own Group, like Heidi Kay of Pediastaff did. She said maintaining her Pediatric Therapy discussion Group doesn’t require a lot of time. She takes a few minutes each morning to check for people requesting to join and spends about another half hour trying to recruit new members to the Group. LinkedIn’s Learning Center provides instructions on how to set up and maintain a Group if you are interested.
So if you are finding that you aren’t getting quite as much value out of using LinkedIn for recruiting as you could be, try joining a few groups. You’ve got nothing to lose by joining and could find your next contract placement as a result!
Check out the Contract Staffing for Recruiters LinkedIn Group
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