recruiters You’re starting a job search. You have 60 LinkedIn connections. You wantto find you.

Alrighty then. We need to get to work. There are over 1.5 million recruiters on LinkedIn. Here’s how they break out:

Rumor has it that over 40,000 of them buy subscriptions to LinkedIn Recruiter. It gives them unlimited access to LinkedIn’s database. If you’re in the database, they can find you. Another group uses Boolean search to mine LinkedIn via Google. But come on, how many of them do that? I mean, Boo-le-an search, it sounds scary! Boo! The rest of them, and, I submit, the greatest number, are limited to finding their first, second, and third-level and group connections. You want to be one of those connections.

LIONS

LinkedIn open networkers (LIONS), who are also recruiters, are your fastest route to building a recruiter network. Two reasons:

Open networkers usually accept all connection invitations they receive. Recruiters tend to connect with each other.

How to Find Recruiters who are LIONs

Follow these steps:

Join the Recruiter.com Network Group. It has over 800,000 members, including recruiters and people who want to network with recruiters. Upgrade your account to Premium for at least one month. It’s free for the first 30 days. Go to Advanced Search. Type your job function (accounting, engineering, HR, etc.) in the Keywords field. Type “LION” in the Last Name field. LIONs often add that word to their last name on LinkedIn. Type your zip code in the Postal Code field. Select “50 miles” in the Within field. Select “Recruiter.com Network” in the In Groups field on the right-hand side of the page. Click Search.

You should have a list of LIONs who are relevant to your career. If not, play with your search parameters until you do.

How to Connect with LIONS

Using your LinkedIn mobile app:

Search for your LION’s profile. Click on the blue Connect button. Voila, you just invited him/her to connect!

You can also do this on your laptop or desktop, but you’ll need to know the LION’s email address to send the invitation. Many LIONs don’t publish their email addresses. This approach lets you neatly sidestep that problem.

I don’t personalize invitations to LIONs because they’re open networkers. Whether you do or not is up to you. There’s more here on how to personalize invitations on the mobile app.

When I wrote the first version of this post in 2013, I sent out 15 invitations. Seven of them were accepted within six hours. 14 of them were accepted within a week. Just two of those people added over 30,000 second-level connections to my network.

Avoid an Account Restriction

One note, be a little careful about how many incomplete/refused invitations you have. It shouldn’t be a problem with LIONs, but still tread carefully.

Start slowly, like I did in the example above. If your acceptance rate isn’t good, then stop.

If LinkedIn gets complaints that you’re spamming, they will restrict your ability to extend invitations. You can probably get out of jail free once, but I don’t want you ever to have to do that.

Play with Your Search Parameters

You can use this approach with many permutations of the search parameters. Another interesting search would be to use your industry, rather than your function. You might join more groups. You might want to do a national search instead of a local search. Etc.

Before You Start

Before you use this technique, make sure you buff your LinkedIn profile. Two of the first seven recruiters who connected with me checked my profile.

No Stalking

After you build your network, don’t contact the LIONs who connected with you. They’re busy serving their clients. Those are the companies that pay them money to find people.

If they have an opening that’s a fit for you, your profile will come up in their search results, and they will contact you.

Final Thoughts on LIONS

This process is fast and easy. It’s also permission-based. You’re joining a group for its stated purpose. You’re connecting with people who say they want you to do so. It will help you build a network optimized for recruiter connections as quickly as anything I can think to share.

What About Recruiters Who Aren’t LIONS?

Start with LIONS. Then move on to recruiters who:

Are now-second level connections via your LION connections. Would find your background relevant to their clients’ needs.

New survey research (September 2016, see p.17 of the deck) conducted by Kimberly Schneiderman and published by RiseSmart found:

34% of recruiter respondents were “very positive” about potential candidates contacting them. 39% were “positive.”.

Let’s Connect on LinkedIn

Please don’t hesitate to invite me to connect on LinkedIn here: Donna Svei, Executive Resume Writer.

The more I know about my readers, the better I can make my blog.

I write executive resumes and LinkedIn profiles. Save time. Look good. Get hired. Email me here for more information.

Image: Canva/issaronow

UPDATED October 2016

© 2013 – 2019, Donna Svei. All rights reserved.