Choosing the Best LinkedIn Recruiter

The most crucial hiring decision your Organisation might make 

A successful business is only as good as the talent that it hires, but finding the best for your company can be time-consuming and tricky. According to the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP), businesses can spend from R25,000 to R75,000 on a single hire. This number could be even higher depending on the individual's seniority or level of specialisation. Making the wrong hiring choice could result in even more costs over a long period through lost clients, lost productivity and a ruined reputation. Francois de Wet details in his white paper titled “What is the staggering cost of a bad hire in South Africa? "It is estimated that it can cost as much as one-quarter of an employee's annual salary to get rid of a bad hire and replace them". Platforms like LinkedIn can help reduce the likelihood of this loss by streamlining the process and allowing you access to a pool of talented potential hires to fill your business needs. By choosing the right LinkedIn Recruiter tool, you can potentially save a significant amount of money in the long run, making it a valuable investment for your business. 

TLDR; This article will compare LinkedIn Recruiter Lite and LinkedIn Recruiter, helping you understand their key differences and decide which is best for your business.  

•  LinkedIn Recruiter Lite is a budget-friendly option for small businesses. It allows you to search for, connect with, and manage candidates and provides network access visibility for up to third-degree connections. 

• LinkedIn Recruiter outdoes Lite with more advanced capabilities, including using more search filters, sending more InMail messages, accessing candidate and company insights, and integrating with other LinkedIn recruiting solutions.  

• LinkedIn Recruiter, the most powerful and comprehensive tool, is designed for organisations that need robust recruiting capabilities. It outshines Recruiter Lite, making it the go-to choice for hiring managers who want to be thoroughly equipped for their recruiting needs. Its comprehensive features reassure you that you have all the tools you need, instilling confidence in your recruiting process. 

LinkedIn Recruiter Lite

LinkedIn Recruiter is a tool designed for hiring managers and recruiters, with solutions for different business needs and budgets. LinkedIn Recruiter Lite, a flexible and economical choice, is tailored for small businesses with a limited budget. It allows you to find, connect, and manage candidates and gets network access visibility to up to 3rd-degree connections. This flexibility empowers you to make the best choice for your business needs. 

You can add more than 20 search filters and reach out to 30 candidates monthly via InMail. (This premium LinkedIn feature allows you to message another LinkedIn member you are not connected to directly). You will also be able to access reports about the performance of your job posts and InMails.  As tempting as this package may seem, it still has numerous downsides that could make your talent search harder like:  

• Not being able to use the open-to-contract work filter. 

• You will not be able to use Spotlights. 

• You will not be able to access the Candidate and Company Insights. 

• No access to Search Insights for company trends by talent pool. 

• You will not be able to see any candidate search alerts. 

• You will not be able to tag candidates. 

• You will not be able to send bulk InMail messages. 

• You will not get access to free collaborator licenses for Hiring Managers. 

• You will not get any Applicant Tracking System Integration. 

• You can also integrate Recruiter Lite with Linkedin Talent Insights, LinkedIn Talent Hub, or LinkedIn Recruitment Marketing Solutions, making it harder for you to make smart hiring choices.  

For all the shortfalls of LinkedIn Lite, LinkedIn Recruiter makes up.  

LinkedIn Recruiter Professional

It is the perfect option if you are looking to fill your pipeline quickly or constantly hiring new employees. The tool allows you to access over 1 billion members on LinkedIn. It lets you sit multiple candidates, meaning you can assess your candidate selection simultaneously for your role based on their skills and potential. It also makes collaboration more accessible for you and other teammates responsible for hiring new talent.  

With LinkedIn Recruiter, you can send over 150 InMail messages every month and message up to 25 candidates simultaneously using a personalised template. With the choice of adding over 40 search filters, including candidates more likely to engage and people with attributes like your company's top performers, you can communicate with the best of the best.  

Outside of all these features, you will also have access to all the ones not available on LinkedIn Recruiter Lite, like: 

• Being able to add an Open-to-Contract work filter. 

• Add Spotlights. 

• View reports on the performance of your job posts, InMails, and data on your recruiter pipeline, usage, and performance. 

• View any Candidate and Company Insights. 

• Access to Candidate Search Alerts and see a maximum of 50 alerts weekly or daily. 

• Add tags to candidates to help filter your pipeline. 

• Send over 100 InMail messages per month. 

• Send up to 25 bulk InMail messages at once, with an option to purchase even more InMail if you want. 

• Have access to an Applicant Tracking System.  

• Integrate your LinkedIn Recruiter with LinkedIn Talent Insights, LinkedIn Talent Hub and LinkedIn Recruitment Marketing Solutions. 

• Lastly, the data that your company collects will belong to you, and you could use it as you continue your headhunt. 

Given budget constraints and an urgent need to fill a post, LinkedIn Recruiter Lite would be ideal for your business. It has features like finding, connecting, managing candidates, and viewing 3rd-degree connections. Along with this, you can also add search filters and reach out to candidates monthly via InMail. Unfortunately, the tools it does not give you access to could result in talent that does not fit into your organisation, affecting your company's bottom line, culture and reputation if you're forced to let your employees go and they're disgruntled.  

By paying more for LinkedIn Recruiter, you could prevent these shortfalls and provide yourself with the talent to achieve your goals as a company. Applying filters and narrowing your search could speed up the whole process with additional tools like sending bulk InMails, tracking your applicants and combining your solution with LinkedIn Talent Insights, LinkedIn Talent Hub, and LinkedIn Marketing solutions. You could scout the best of the best and make data-driven choices that will benefit you and the interests of your business.