Linkedin Job Discussions & Linkedin Recruiter- any value?

Curious to hear from anyone who may be using Linkedin Job Discussions via Groups to promote opportunities and if you - often - , - have ever - or - never - found viable candidates. I run some ads there to cover my bases (the free ads) and while usually there isn't much value, I found an oustanding candidate the other day that contacted me from a Job Discussion. Any thoughts?

Also curious for an update from others on Linkedin Recruiter - anyone using it? Anyone who was using Talent Finder switch to Linkedin Recruiter? Bottom line benefits?

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Leary on November 7, 2012 at 8:44am

I am on the RPS version and it's a god tool. i think the days of arguing between the free vs. paid are gone. There is a clear value add to paying for the platform however it's not cost effective for everyone. That being said, not everyone is their target either.

Regarding the job descriptions in the groups. I think it's a clock work thing that managers expect their teams to do now, however if you cannot easily measure a significant return than the value is not high. I am not from the school that 1 great candidate makes it valuable source. the time and effort you spend doing that is easily related to money lost. Add that $$ amount together and use the funds somewhere else to drive serious traffic.

You can have an intern (un paid) for experience post those for you or outsource that part for pennies. Generally work like that is between .10 and .15 per posting

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Permalink Reply by Chuck Klein on November 7, 2012 at 11:22am

Thanks Ryan.

Re: RPS Version (which may not be identical to LI Recruiter - I'm not sure) - I wasn't asking about Free vs Paid. I was asking about Talent Finder which also costs $ - which is what I have - vs. the more expensive version that you have. Did you or anyone reading this ever have a Talent Finder account? Was there a major productivity benefit?

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Leary on November 7, 2012 at 11:54am

I see. I have not used Talent Finder myself but It looks like it's a re-gifted version of the original memberships they offered. It can give you an edge for sure but with a little hands on grinding you can certainly achieve the same or better results with out.

The thing to remember is that it's just a tool and though you have 25 inmails your response time is no faster than a regular user. The average LinkedIn response is approx. 2 1/2 weeks. I run split tests, buy the access for a few months and send inmails through talent finder and emails outside and see the results. Of course use the same techniques and messaging to gauge properly.

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Permalink Reply by Chuck Klein on November 8, 2012 at 5:51am

You can buy RPS for a few months and then cancel? It used to be a 12 month commitment. Do you recall the cost?

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Permalink Reply by Irina Shamaeva on November 9, 2012 at 11:46am

Job discussions are of little value. I'd just skip it unless you have scripts (not people) posting jobs.

LinkedIn Recruiter has a fantastic feature called Talent pipeline You can go for lower than Recruiter plan called RPS or for LI Small business and still have it. We got RPS after a Recruiter pilot. I have kept my Talent Finder as well, actually.

I am giving a (paid) webinar next week where I cover a number of LinkedIn tips and tricks and also compare what's truly behind each of these accounts.

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Leary on November 9, 2012 at 12:53pm

I am not sure of the account commitments but there is a difference between the LinkedIn models as well so you need to take that into consideration. Agency based firms cannot use LinkedIn Recruiter Corporate. RPS is designed for RPO's and agency. The vast majority of features are available in both.

Also, LinkedIn holds weekly demos and walk through sessions you can join.