You’ve written the job spec, hit publish on LinkedIn, and started watching the applications roll in. So far, so good. Right?
Well, not always.
Posting a job on LinkedIn might seem like a simple first step in hiring, and to be fair, it is easy. That’s part of the problem. For many busy hiring managers, it creates the illusion that recruitment is handled. But what happens next can have a lasting impact, not just on the quality of hire, but on your employer brand and future success in attracting talent.
The silent brand killer: candidate experience
A poor hiring process doesn’t just frustrate job seekers. It speaks volumes about your business. According to a Glassdoor and LinkedIn study, 72% of job seekers share negative application experiences with others, either privately or publicly. In industries like marketing and creative, where reputation and word-of-mouth matter, that is not something to overlook.
Ghosting candidates or leaving them in the dark is unfortunately common. But every unanswered application can chip away at your brand, making you less attractive to future talent, including the very people you’d love to hire one day.
The Easy Apply effect
LinkedIn’s Easy Apply feature is brilliant for candidates. A couple of clicks and they’ve applied to multiple roles. But from a hiring perspective, it often creates more noise than value.
We’ve seen clients receive hundreds of applications, but only a tiny percentage are genuinely aligned to what is needed. And because the job ad is public, it often attracts a wide pool of applicants who are either not qualified, not in the right location, or simply not a cultural fit.
Then there is the time spent reviewing CVs, responding (or not responding), and trying to separate the standouts from the rest — all while juggling your day job.
Long-term consequences
Even if you do eventually find someone through LinkedIn, what was the cost? If the process damaged your brand, missed the best candidates, or took far longer than it needed to, was it really worth it?
Many great candidates don’t apply via LinkedIn anymore because they have been burned by poor experiences. They are passive, discerning, and more likely to respond to a recruiter who understands their world and can engage them properly.
A better approach
We work with hiring managers who have tried LinkedIn and often come to us when they are feeling overwhelmed, or underwhelmed, by the results.
At Beyond The Book, we take time to understand what you are looking for and put a campaign together that speaks straight to the heart of your next hire. We launch a multi-channel campaign that includes tailored searches and well-targeted advertising. Every step is considered to deliver a low volume of the right people, not a high volume of maybes.
Then we use our many years of experience to impartially qualify the best candidates and unearth a genuine match. That level of detail and rigour is a game-changer for retention.
Our hard work rewards our clients with the right people and helps mitigate risk across time, cost, and brand reputation.
If you are rethinking how you hire, we would love to support you.
