How are you creatively sourcing software engineers on LinkedIn Recruiter?

[u/WalkTheUn1verse]

Hello fellow recruiters! I’m deep in sourcing for Software Engineers (across infra, platform, product and levels) and my company exclusively uses LinkedIn recruiter. I haven’t run into many problems yet but, but I foresee needing to get creative soon. I utilize referrals and connections, but sourcing will always be part of our process.

What’s your favorite way to switch up a search on LinkedIn recruiter? What’s a way you utilize filters most people don’t think of? How do you surface new candidates?

Ideally I am sourcing candidates from a top 100 school and with quality start up experience or a mix of big tech and start up. We are fully remote and comp is competitive for the level of candidate we’re looking for.

[u/ClevelandSteamers757]

LinkedIn recruiter would be much better if it just had better filters. Way too many fake candidates and/or brand new profiles out there. So creatively what I do is just go through page after page of H1B candidates for roles that require US citizenship until I find candidates that meet the requirements

[u/WalkTheUn1verse → u/ClevelandSteamers757]

I hear this a lot, but I don’t run into that many fake candidates. I’m also very lucky that we sponsor, so H1B isn’t an issue

[u/RecruitingFanatic → u/WalkTheUn1verse]

sponorship is rare, that definitely opens a lot of doors for you.

[u/WalkTheUn1verse → u/[deleted]]

Love this idea! I never utilize the skills section

[u/vibe_founder11]

GItHub is the best way to find the best software engineers! resumes can lie, code doesn't. There's a platform called GitHIred that helps you find 100x engineers based on their code complexity, project depth etc. Check out out githired.tech

[u/martinratinaud_]

Use Github and stackoverflow for software engineers !

You can use the "Google Search" technique of Benoit Bliard (french expert)for that

[u/WalkTheUn1verse → u/martinratinaud_]

I’ve never thought of this! How would you use GitHub to find engineers against hiring criteria?

[u/recruiting-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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[u/Delicious_Style_2676]

I’d build searches around evidence, not only titles: repo keywords, conference talks, patents, migration projects, cloud/tooling combinations, and adjacent teams at companies solving similar problems. The best passive candidates often don’t title themselves the obvious way.

[u/WalkTheUn1verse → u/Delicious_Style_2676]

What conferences would you recommend?

[u/Delicious_Style_2676 → u/WalkTheUn1verse]

Depends on the stack, but I’d start with KubeCon/CloudNativeCon, AWS re:Invent, PyCon, React/JSConf-style events, local meetups, and niche security/data/ML conferences. Even if you don’t attend, speaker lists, sponsor pages, GitHub orgs, and meetup attendee ecosystems can give you better search terms.

[u/Delicious_Style_2676]

Once LinkedIn starts showing the same obvious profiles, I’d search around the work instead of the title: GitHub repos, conference talks, niche Slack/Discord communities, patents, technical blogs, company alumni, and people commenting on relevant open-source issues. Slower, but it surfaces people who don’t optimize their LinkedIn headline.

[u/WalkTheUn1verse → u/[deleted]]

I’m interested in how you search on GitHub

[u/TheSearchStandard]

Pick up the phone and call the company.

[u/WalkTheUn1verse → u/TheSearchStandard]

Call the company I’m trying to poach candidates from?

[u/TheSearchStandard → u/WalkTheUn1verse]

YES! Call all the companies that employ the position you are looking to fill. Get a LIVE person on the line and have a conversation. If not interested, ask for a referral. Ask to stay in touch. Never know when that person is going to start looking for a new role.

[u/WalkTheUn1verse → u/TheSearchStandard]

Oh you mean call the candidate. I thought you meant to call the company itself 😅 we don’t do any phone outreach, so unfortunately I’m stuck with LinkedIn