How to Post Jobs to LinkedIn for Free
The lure of 150 million candidates is making LinkedIn’s paid job advertising feature increasingly popular with recruiters - but not all of us have £125+ to spend on each vacancy. Here’s the good news: you’ve still got 3 ways to post your job ads to LinkedIn at no cost.
While none of these methods will get your jobs into LinkedIn’s search results along with the paid ads, they will get your ads noticed.
To Your Company Page
Not got a company page yet? No problem – they’re quick and easy to set up.
Who will see my ads?
Anyone who follows your company updates. Don’t be discouraged if you’ve just created your page and don’t have any followers yet: go ahead and start posting jobs anyway. The only way to get candidates following your page is to post some content there.
Once you’ve got a few jobs and other updates you can start sharing the link to your company page in your email signatures, on your website, and so on. It’s the perfect place to refer candidates you may want to hire in future: they may not be checking in on your website regularly, but they are logging into LinkedIn.
When should I post ads to my company page?
Always! The people who are already following your company are the most likely to be interested in your jobs – and the more often you post them, the more likely they are to keep coming back.
How do I do it?
Ready to go? Okay, here’s how to do it:
1. First, make sure you have admin access to your company page on LinkedIn. If you do, you'll see the Admin Tools menu at the top right of the Overview tab.
If you don't, one of the current administrators will need to give you access. They can do this by going to Admin Tools > Edit, then entering your name into the Manage Admins box.
2. Copy the URL of your live ad.
3. Go back to your LinkedIn company page, press Attach a link and paste your URL.
4. If you want to, add a brief description in the Share an update box and then Share. Now everyone who is following your company will see this on their home page.
To a Group
Who will see my ads?
These will be visible to everyone who visits the group and clicks the Jobs tab then Job Discussions.
When should I post ads to a group?
Groups are a great place to find candidates with specific skills. IT Professionals, Copywriters, .NET Developers – you name it, there’s a group for it. Be careful though: storming into a group and filling the discussions page with your job ads will not spark a positive response.
How do I do it?
Follow these steps to make sure you’re posting them to the right place:
1. If you don’t own the group you intend to post to, be sure to read the group rules carefully to ensure that you’re allowed to post ads there. Some groups may not have specified rules - if in doubt, contact the group owners.
Go to More then Group Profile and you’ll see their names on the right.
2. Once you’ve established that job posts are okay, go to the Jobs tab on the group you’d like to post to.
3. Click Post a job discussion.
4. Enter your heading, the body of your ad, then press Attach link and paste the URL for you ad.
5. Press Share and your ad will appear on that group for 14 days before being automatically removed.
To Your Individual Profile
Who will see my ads?
Anyone you’re connected with on LinkedIn, or anyone who views your profile.
When should I post ads to my individual profile?
This one is good in two situations: a) when you think there may be people in your own network interested in the job or b) to ask your connections to share the ad as a favour, helping you reach new networks. As with all favours, this is most effective when called upon sparingly!
How do I do it?
Posting an ad to your own connections is really simple:
1. Copy the URL for your live job advert.
2. Go to your LinkedIn home page, press Attach a link and paste your URL.
3. If you’d like to add a message, type it in the Share an update speech bubble. Then press Share. Easy!
For more social recruiting tips, check out these posts:
4 Foolish Mistakes Recruiters Make on LinkedIn
Why Twitter Isn't Working for You
Quick Tips for Recruiters Creating Google+ Pages