4 Reasons Why LinkedIn Is Insufficient For Your Employee Search

There is no doubting the power of using social media for business. Every day, millions of professionals connect with key contacts to grow their networks, and this is true of entrepreneurs, employees, and the businesses looking to hire them.

LinkedIn is arguably one of the most well-known professional networking arenas online, and it certainly commands an impressive ability to bring parties from all industries together in one convenient platform.

Though it’s significant that LinkedIn attracts people from nearly every sector, this generalist approach is also its biggest drawback. It’s certainly a useful resource for a sizable part of the professional population, but it is not the ideal tool for companies that are looking to hire people with certain specialized skills. Here are a few reasons why you should keep a few alternatives in mind before you start advertising your next open position.

The Trials and Tribulations of Finding Employees on LinkedIn

1. Generalization – LinkedIn’s primary focus is to connect target groups, but the lack of specialization in particular industries means employers and employees might not be able to find one another. As a hiring manager, you want to find the best of the best, without having to sift through an excess number of unqualified applicants.
2. Private vs. Public – private companies are typically unknown to the market, and here again is why specialized employee search is absolutely essential. You want to find prospective applicants with highly targeted skillsets, and you won’t often find this on a website like LinkedIn that tailors to a vast number of public businesses.
3. Beware of hackers – it’s an unfortunate reality, but LinkedIn is just one of the many mainstream social media sites that has been subjected to database intrusion. Hackers have been known to implement highly intelligent social engineering tactics in attempts to access confidential information. This is one notable risk worth recognizing if you intend to use LinkedIn for your marketing efforts. The likelihood of such an event occurring on a private, specialized employee search site is much less likely. The more visible a business is, the higher the threat of a potential intrusion.
4. Efficiency in numbers – you can significantly reduce the length of your hiring process by reaching out to candidates that already meet your qualifications. If you have a position that needs to be filled ASAP, LinkedIn might not be the best course of action, as again you are bound to receive more cover letters and resumes than you know what to do with.

It is always better to specialize, especially for private businesses that aren’t on the job market’s radar. Don’t miss valuable talent by relying solely on LinkedIn for your hiring endeavors.