How To Post A Job On LinkedIn To Attract Top Talent

With over 740 million members, LinkedIn has become the go-to platform for connecting professionals and companies. One of LinkedIn‘s most valuable features for employers is the ability to post jobs and hire talent right from the platform.

Posting a job on LinkedIn provides unmatched access to qualified candidates across industries and locations. But simply posting a job isn‘t enough. To fully capitalize on LinkedIn‘s hiring potential, you need to create an attractive, optimized job posting.

In this complete guide, you‘ll learn how to craft compelling LinkedIn job posts to capture the attention of your ideal job seekers.

LinkedIn By the Numbers: Key Job Posting Statistics

Before we dig into exactly how to create LinkedIn job postings, let’s look at some key statistics that underscore why LinkedIn should be part of your talent acquisition strategy:

40 million job seekers visit LinkedIn every week
71% of total users are outside the U.S., giving access to talent across the globe
59% of users are between the ages of 25 and 54, within peak earning and job searching years

LinkedIn has also quantified results from over 6 million job posts to date:

On average, each sponsored job post gets over 700 APPLICANTS
Roughly 40% of LinkedIn job views come from MOBILE DEVICES highlighting importance of mobile optimization
InMAIL MESSAGES through LinkedIn have response rates around 25% compared to just 3-5% from general email
MEMBERS WHO VIEW VIDEO are 40x more likely to APPLY for jobs

This data spotlights the sheer volume and engagement available through the LinkedIn jobs platform.

The Benefits of Posting Jobs on LinkedIn

Before diving into the specifics of creating LinkedIn job posts, let‘s review some of the unique benefits LinkedIn offers for talent acquisition:

Reach a highly engaged, professional audience: With over 740 million members, LinkedIn gives you access to the world‘s largest professional network. And these members are actively searching for new job opportunities.
Target specific criteria: LinkedIn‘s powerful search algorithm and filtering options let you target job seekers based on location, education, skills, industry experience and more.
Promote your employer brand: Company Pages and job posts allow you to highlight your employer value proposition to build your brand among top talent.
Leverage data insights: LinkedIn provides data on job post performance as well as profiles of who is viewing and applying to your post.
Specialized hiring tools: Products like LinkedIn Recruiter and LinkedIn Jobs provide extra capabilities for managing candidates and collaborating with your hiring team.

Where is LinkedIn Posting Jobs Today?

To optimize your own job targeting, it’s helpful to understand where most current opportunities reside on LinkedIn.

The top locations currently hiring on LinkedIn include:

San Francisco Bay Area
New York City
London
Los Angeles
Chicago

And the top industries utilizing LinkedIn to source talent are:

Computer Software
Higher Education
Staffing & Recruiting
Information Technology & Services
Oil & Energy

When crafting your job post, consider how your opportunity fits within the hottest markets to capture attention.

Step-by-Step: Posting a Job on LinkedIn

Posting a job on LinkedIn only takes a few minutes. Here is the process:

From your LinkedIn homepage, click "Post a Job" in the Jobs section along the top.
Choose if you want to post a job for free or use a LinkedIn paid Job Posting option. Free posts expire after 30 days while paid postings last up to 90 days.
Enter all the details for the job posting, including:
- Job title
- Location
- Job type (full-time, part-time, etc.)
- Description
- Salary range
- Qualifications and experience required
Target the right candidates by setting filters like industry, seniority level, years of experience and more.
Review all details then click "Post Job."

Your job will now be live and visible to LinkedIn members searching open positions related to your targeted categories.

Here is a preview of LinkedIn’s job post creation screen:

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Note that in addition to job details, you can specify images, contact info, company descriptions, and videos to make your post more engaging.

Weighing Job Posting Options: Free vs. Paid

Here is an overview of the differences between free and paid job posting options on LinkedIn:

Free Job Posts

Last 30 days
Limited visibility to followers and some job browser traffic
Appear in basics search results

Paid Job Posts

Last up to 90 days
Promoted to wider relevant audience
Appear at top of search results within criteria
Packages start around $195 per 30 days

While free posts are a good starting point, research shows paid job listings on LinkedIn on average receive:

4-10x more APPLICATIONS
30% HIGHER INMAIL RESPONSE RATE
More C-SUITE and EXECUTIVE candidates

If budget allows, paid targeted promotion is proven to increase candidate quality and quantity.

Writing an Effective LinkedIn Job Post

Simply posting a job on LinkedIn won‘t guarantee you find qualified candidates. Just like any other platform, you need to write an engaging, optimized job post.

Follow these best practices when crafting LinkedIn job posts:

Use Relevant Keywords

Optimizing your job description for keywords job seekers use to search for openings is vital. Include terminology from similar job titles and LinkedIn’s library of 20,000+ standardized skills.

Highlight Company Culture

Show off your employer brand by featuring details like your mission, values, benefits and perks. Use images, multimedia and links to provide depth and credibility.

Break Up Long Blocks of Text

Headers, bullet points, short paragraphs, captions and white space make job posts infinitely more readable while allowing vital details to stand out.

Close with a Strong Call to Action

End each job post with instructions for applying and contact information. Actively encourage your ideal candidates to apply.

Here’s an example of an effective LinkedIn job post applying these best practices:

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Notice the use of subheadings, bullets, captions, images, and links to keep the reader engaged while conveying necessary information.

Advanced Targeting: Reach Relevant Candidates

One of LinkedIn‘s greatest advantages is unparalleled targeting to only reach qualified candidates.

The most effective marketers layer 4-6 targeting dimensions.

Here are examples of advanced targeting stacks:

Location + Industry + Past Company

Recruit developers who have worked at tech companies and live in Silicon Valley

School + Degree + Years Experience

Target MBAs with 8+ years in leadership roles

Skills + Certifications + Company Size

Find cloud engineers with Azure/AWS certs at mid-sized businesses

Layer targeting to laser focus your opportunities to candidates with aligning backgrounds. Test different criteria stacks to optimize applications.

Managing the Hiring Process from End-to-End

Once you’ve posted your job, qualified candidates will start applying. Manage and advance applicants using LinkedIn and integrated tools.

1. Initial Application Review

Collect and review incoming resumes and LinkedIn profiles. Send additional questions or screening assessments if needed.

2. Phone Interviews

Coordinate call times using LinkedIn’s scheduler integration with your calendar. Take notes and share feedback with your hiring team after.

3. Technical Assessments

For developer roles, conduct code tests integrated through HackerRank or CodeSignal to deeply vet capabilities.

4. Leader Interviews

Arrange panel interviews with the candidate, key leaders and line managers through coordination messaging.

5. References & Background Checks

Request references and initiate background checks through integrations with Checkr or Sterling Talent Solutions.

6. Final Offers

Track offer status in your ATS system. Use LinkedIn messaging for quick candidate communication as offers progress.

Leverage LinkedIn alongside specialized HR tech stack integrations to enable comprehensive, end-to-end hiring at scale.

Promoting Your LinkedIn Job Post

While some applicants will stumble upon your job post through search, you can multiply visibility by promoting your listing.

LinkedIn offers robust paid options to dramatically expand your reach beyond existing connections.

Sponsored Jobs

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The most popular option, Sponsored Jobs allows granular targeting of the right candidates based on dimensions like location, education, age and more. SB rates start around $25 per day.

Job Wrappers

Job Wrappers place your listing directly in the LinkedIn feed of members who fit your target profile. They appear native to the platform instead of explicitly ads to capture their attention.

Job Wrappers require a minimum budget of $300 per month but deliver average INCREASES in:

Link Clicks: +64%
Job View Rates: +100%
Applications: +55%

Job Slots

For recruiters with continual hiring needs across multiple functions, Job Slots provide bulk discounts upfront instead of paying per posting.

Slots start at $375 per month for about a dozen sponsored job ads. Extra tools help track views, engagement, applicants and more per slot.

Compare your one-time vs. recurring hiring needs with projected budgets to select the optimal LinkedIn paid job promotion combination. Test a short list of target dimensions for each at minimum investment levels before scaling budgets.

Key Takeaways: Recap

Posting roles on LinkedIn should absolutely be part of your talent acquisition toolbox.

To hire successfully on LinkedIn:

Craft an attractive job post: Highlight details that showcase your employer brand, culture and requirements to capture attention.
Strategically target ideal candidates: Granularly layer location, skills, titles and more to pinpoint candidates perfectly matching your needs.
Promote your post through ads: Invest in products like Sponsored Jobs and Job Wrappers to reach 10x more relevant candidates.
Manage hiring end-to-end: Use tools like schedulers, assessments, and background checks integrated with LinkedIn messaging to advance candidates.

Optimizing core elements like targeting and creative when posting jobs on LinkedIn significantly expands your talent pool. Combine with workflow automation and all-in-one candidate management for complete, streamlined recruitment.