Significant investment in LinkedIn has boosted the profits, brand awareness and the ability to reach those hard to find candidates who are both actively and passively in the jobs market for leading specialist IT and Oil & Gas recruiter, Opus Recruitment Solutions.
The sustained period of limited proactive candidate activity in the immediate post-recession aftermath prompted Opus Recruitment Solutions to take the decision to invest heavily in LinkedIn in a bid to build up their passive candidate network.
In addition to building their LinkedIn followers and maintaining a steady flow of fresh content, which has seen follower numbers grow to almost 10,000, Opus Recruitment Solutions provides a LinkedIn Recruiter Licence and Job Slot for all its consultants – a significant cost. But this investment, according to the company, has since yielded strong returns.
Sam Jenkinson, Head of UK Business Development and Marketing at Opus Recruitment Solutions, commented: “LinkedIn has enabled us to better search and find the top talent that our clients so desperately need for their organisations. Whilst the cost of an individual license may at first seem high, the return we get on that investment is significantly higher.
“Firstly, because we have invested in LinkedIn's Gold Branding Package, we have found that candidates are more receptive to our InMails as they now recognise and have an affinity with the Opus brand. Secondly, we have been able to better pinpoint those candidates who best meet our clients' specific requirements – this not only ensures we provide a superior service to clients but it also saves time and accelerates the overall time-to-hire process.
“More important is the financial return we get from using LinkedIn. Although we continue to invest in online job boards and other recruitment advertising formats, LinkedIn certainly generates the lion’s share of our revenue and we estimate that LinkedIn is responsible for billings exceeding £60,000 a month.”
Dan Dackombe, Search and Staffing Director, LinkedIn Talent Solutions EMEA commented, 'LinkedIn’s mission is to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. Our relationships with leading recruitment businesses such as Opus are helping us to realise that mission. Opus has particularly benefited by working hard to build their brand among key audiences on LinkedIn. Their resulting follower base of 10,000 LinkedIn members increases brand recognition among potential candidates, helping them find the best talent for their clients. '
Sam Jenkinson added: “LinkedIn is not the only source of potential candidates that we use, but it is the most effective. It enables us to build what is perhaps one of the strongest database of top talent for the IT and Oil & Gas sectors and we have found that we can better manage these relationships. Indeed, we've found that although some of the candidates we speak with may not be looking to switch jobs any time soon, they can sometimes be a great referral source too.”
Such is the company's extensive use of LinkedIn, Darren Ryemill, CEO of Opus Recruitment Solutions, was asked to speak at LinkedIn's annual Social RecruitIn event in London. Sharing the stage with a number of recruitment industry leaders, including James Caan, Google's Dave Hazlehurst, Daniel Dackombe from LinkedIn, and Jeff Grout – recognised in the list of '100 Best Business Speakers in Britain'.
Mr Ryemill addressed the delegation, made up of industry representatives from throughout the EMEA, with a presentation focused on how to build and scale your recruitment business and brand in today's ultra-competitive business environment.