The Neglected Recruiting Tool on Your Company's LinkedIn Page

When candidates research a potential employer, LinkedIn is often one of their first stops. They look at the company page, scan the employees who list the company on their profiles, check how long people stay and look for signs of activity. A page that has not been updated in two years, with an old logo and a description that no longer matches the business, sends a message.

What candidates look for

Candidates use LinkedIn to answer practical questions. How big is the company? Who would I work with? What backgrounds do people in this role have? Do employees seem to stay and grow, or does everyone leave after a year? Is the company doing anything interesting?

The employees list is especially revealing. Candidates can see titles, tenure and career paths. Employees who have been promoted internally signal growth opportunities. A long list of short tenures can signal problems.

Candidates also look at the people they would work with directly. A team page with current employees, clear titles and a mix of experience levels helps a candidate picture the job. Missing or outdated profiles leave gaps that candidates fill with assumptions.

Build a complete page

Start with the basics. Use a current logo and cover image, write a clear description of what the company does and where it operates, and list the industry, size and website accurately. Add a link to the careers page.

Describe the company in plain language. Candidates want to know what the business actually does and what working there is like, not a list of corporate values. Specific details, such as the types of customers served, the number of locations or the main products, are more useful than slogans.

Keep job postings current. Postings on LinkedIn should match those on the careers page, including pay ranges where required by law, as explained in our pay transparency guide. Remove filled jobs promptly.

Add a short section on what it is like to work there, if the page format allows. Benefits, schedules, locations and the hiring process are all useful. So are photos of the actual workplace rather than stock images.

Post real updates

Activity signals that a company is real and growing. Regular posts do not need to be elaborate. Photos of a new piece of equipment, a short note about a promotion, a team volunteering at a local event or a milestone anniversary all show what the workplace is like.

Mix content types. Company news, employee spotlights, behind-the-scenes photos and job openings each serve a purpose. Too many job postings alone can make the page feel like an advertisement.

Consistency matters more than volume. A post every week or two, sustained over months, builds a more credible picture than a burst of activity followed by silence.

Employees shape the brand

Employees' personal profiles often influence candidates more than the official page. When employees list the company accurately, describe their roles clearly and occasionally share company updates, the company appears larger, more active and more credible.

Encourage employees to keep profiles current, but do not require participation or script their posts. If employees promote the company, clear identification of the relationship matters, as discussed in our report on employee testimonials.

Managers and recruiters should keep their own profiles professional and complete. Candidates often look up the person who will interview them or the manager they would report to.

Use it for outreach carefully

Recruiters use LinkedIn to find and contact candidates who are not actively looking. Personalized messages that explain why the candidate's background fits the role get far better responses than generic templates. Respect people who decline, and do not send repeated messages.

Targeting rules for paid job ads on social platforms deserve attention, since employment ads may face restrictions on targeting by age, gender or location, as covered in our report on social media job ads.

Connect it to the rest of the brand

LinkedIn is one piece of a candidate's research. Reviews, the careers page, search results and conversations with current employees fill in the rest. Messages across those channels should be consistent. Our guide to building an employer value proposition explains how to define what the company offers.

Keep it manageable

For most small and midsize employers, a few hours a month is enough to keep a company page current and active. Assign someone to own it, set a simple posting schedule and review the page every quarter.

A well-maintained page will not fill jobs on its own. It does make every other recruiting effort more credible by showing candidates that the company is real, active and worth considering.