Level Up Your Candidate Search with Better Data

Scott Wallask

Scott Wallask

Senior content manager

Many talent acquisition managers turn to LinkedIn Recruiter to begin the process of seeking job candidates. 

However, corporate recruiting has the potential to be more efficient when it comes to sourcing candidates and communicating with them. LinkedIn is a good starting point, but ZoomInfo TalentOS can enhance your searches with data that lets you narrow in on the best job candidates faster.

“Our customers—recruiters and talent acquisition professionals—have found real success using data and proactive outreach methods on LinkedIn,” says Henry Schuck, CEO at ZoomInfo. “They are now realizing that leveraging data on professionals, and marrying it with technology that automates outreach and engagement at scale, can meaningfully drive down cost and time per hire.”

Table: Obstacles that TalentOS solves for LinkedIn users
Fig: Obstacles that TalentOS solves for LinkedIn users.

It’s Difficult to Source Good Candidates Quickly

LinkedIn is a great resource with an impressive network totaling more than 750 million members worldwide. 

But there’s a flip side to those numbers:

“Three quarters (76%) of companies believe 2021 hiring demand will approach, return to, or even exceed pre-pandemic levels,” CareerArc noted.

LinkedIn Recruiter tries to mitigate these challenges by offering search filters. But filters are only as good as the profile of the candidate, who may not update it frequently.

And if you’re looking for candidates from a particular type of company—for example, graphic artists who work in B2B companies that use Adobe InDesign—LinkedIn’s filters may not narrow down a reliable list of top people or find the right organizations to source from. This aspect is particularly important for recruiting passive candidates who aren’t actively looking for a new job.

Even when a good candidate is found, a recruiter’s job may not be over. If it turns out a candidate isn’t the right fit for a job or declines the offer, the talent manager is back to sourcing, which starts the search cycle over again.

Poor Communication with Candidates 

One of LinkedIn Recruiter’s best-known features is the ability to connect with potential job seekers through InMail, even when direct contact info isn’t available for a candidate. A user is notified about the InMail message, which in theory bypasses the need for traditional phone calls and emails about an opening.

However, there’s no guarantee job seekers will open InMail messages, particularly if they don’t check LinkedIn regularly. The Wall Street Journal noted that the average LinkedIn user spends only 17 minutes per month on the site. 

Or they simply ignore InMail. According to the Gem 2020 Recruiting Trends Report, 40% of tech talent has InMail notifications turned off and 90% of talent prefers to be contacted via email. 

Recruiters will hit a dead end unless they have direct contact information for candidates. It’s also difficult to email candidates in bulk on LinkedIn, which makes communication less efficient.

Solutions for Recruiters 

Talent acquisition is a tough business, especially with so many recruiters competing for the same candidates. But it can be easier by augmenting candidate searches with advanced filtering and automated outreach.

ZoomInfo TalentOS serves as an effective add-on to LinkedIn searches, offering data-based options that save time and effort. Here’s an overview of useful data and features in ZoomInfo TalentOS that help talent acquisition professionals conduct their job candidate searches more efficiently:

In-Depth Information About Professionals

ZoomInfo TalentOS offers direct contact information, job titles, and skills for more than 130 million professionals worldwide. Talent acquisition managers can uncover hidden candidates using advanced search capabilities.

You can get as specific as needed by filtering for key skills, tenure, and specific technical expertise. And this information is refreshed frequently using artificial intelligence—it doesn’t rely on professionals to update their own info.

Figure 1: This sampling of candidate filters available in ZoomInfo TalentOS includes tech skills and industries.

Hard-to-Find Details About Companies

We have comprehensive information for more than 95 million firms, with the ability to filter by dozens of data points. Recruiters can target their searches based on specific criteria, such as technologies used by an organization, funding rounds, industries, and department headcounts. Further, the Scoops feature uncovers upcoming company initiatives that recruiters can use to build up intel on candidates.

Information About Similar Candidates at a Company

Our Org Charts feature shows whom a person works with and the reporting structure within the company. If an initial candidate doesn’t pan out, recruiters can sort by department, team, and job function to narrow down a search for other potential candidates within a company.

Figure 2: If a recruited engineer doesn’t move forward with an offer, the Org Charts feature lets you discover other engineers to pursue at the same company.

Automated Follow-up With Candidates

Talent acquisition managers will save time and stay organized with automated follow-up email sequences and call reminders for candidates via ZoomInfo Engage. With this tailored automation, recruiters can better focus on high-value job seekers and related messaging.

Recruit More Effectively 

LinkedIn Recruiter is an effective way to start the recruitment process for an open position. But frustrating roadblocks exist on the network.

ZoomInfo TalentOS can bridge the gap when job sourcing and communication efforts stall on LinkedIn. 
Check out the in-depth, wide-ranging data about job candidates and companies offered by ZoomInfo TalentOS—and augment your existing talent searches with speed and greater efficiency.