While many people think of Facebook, Instagram and the like when they think of social media channels, recruiters are particularly interested in the Xing and LinkedIn networks as part of social recruiting.
In the past, the application process was very similar: a company advertised a position in the newspaper or later online, interested candidates applied with a resume and cover letter, and ideally the position was filled. But this type of employee search brings several problems with it. For one thing, the reach is very limited, as the job is mostly only seen by actively seeking candidates, so companies can only end up selecting new employees from a small pool of candidates. Second, this type of application is often cumbersome. Especially the formulation of a cover letter takes a lot of time, so that applications are often postponed and eventually forgotten altogether.
Job advertisements are still one of the decisive factors in the search for employees, which is why we have already dealt with the question of what a good job advertisement should look like in one of our last blog articles. But in the meantime, career networks such as Xing and LinkedIn are opening up completely new possibilities in the job or employee search, as candidates who are only passively searching can also be approached. Xing and LinkedIn are thus becoming increasingly important for companies and recruiters as well as for potential candidates. So in this blog post, we want to take a closer look at Xing and LinkedIn and their benefits for everyone involved.
What is XING?
Xing is a social network that was founded in Hamburg in 2003. Xing focuses primarily on the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) and is the market leader there with 18 million users (Statista, 2019). In addition to a free membership, members can also take out a premium membership and thus see, for example, who has called up his or her profile. Xing also bought the employer rating portal kununu.
What is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is also a social network, but based in Sunnyvale, California. Just like Xing, the service has been around since 2003. However, instead of focusing on just one targeted region, LinkedIn operates globally, is available in 24 languages, and now unites over 610 million users in 193 countries (Press Portal, 2019). LinkedIn also offers a free version as well as a premium membership that offers more features.
Where are the similarities / differences?
In their basic idea, Xing and LinkedIn are quite similar. Both are career networks with integrated job exchanges that invite users to make contacts and exchange ideas, while also serving as a digital resume. At the same time, they have characteristics of classic social media channels, such as linking with other users, communication and sharing content, but always with a focus on careers.
The biggest difference between Xing and LinkedIn is their local focus. While Xing focuses primarily on the German-speaking region, LinkedIn is internationally oriented. This is also reflected in the figures: In the DACH region, Xing is currently the market leader with 18 million users, because LinkedIn only registers 13 million users. Internationally, however, LinkedIn has more than 610 million members.
Another difference between Xing and LinkedIn is the industries from which members are recruited. Whereas LinkedIn primarily has members from the IT, finance and automotive industries, the marketing and advertising sector, and the startup scene, Xing focuses on IT, finance, commerce and industry.
However, whether Xing or LinkedIn is better cannot be said across the board, but depends on the interests and national or international orientation of each individual.
Why is the platform so relevant for recruiters?
Recruiting without digital platforms is no longer imaginable today. It is therefore hardly surprising that social media platforms – above all Xing and LinkedIn – are now also being used specifically to find potential candidates. This type of recruitment is called social recruiting, but sometimes it is also called social hiring, social recruitment, and social media recruitment. Companies and recruiters can either place advertisements and thus passively reach candidates or write directly to candidates and draw their attention to interesting job advertisements. This also reaches candidates who are not directly looking for a new job but are secretly toying with the idea. This increases the potential pool of applicants.
Since Xing and LinkedIn are also aware of their possibilities, they offer recruiters and entrepreneurs appropriate tools to use the networks even more effectively. Xing, for example, provides recruiters with the paid tool Xing E-Recruiting 360°. For recruiters, the Xing Talent Manager is of particular importance. The Xing Talent Manager independently searches the platform for candidates who meet the company’s requirements. Furthermore, additional search filters, such as salary requirements, can be set and thus the ideas of companies and candidates can be matched in a very uncomplicated way.
LinkedIn also offers a similar tool with LinkedIn Recruiter. For example, LinkedIn Recruiter also allows candidates to be searched for more efficiently and in a more targeted manner using special filters. In addition, promising candidates can then be contacted quite simply by InMail.
With a well-kept profile, candidates can also save themselves the “letter of motivation and resume” application step and, if they are suitable, are immediately invited to a telephone or personal interview. Recruiters can also save promising candidates in a talent pool and forward the candidate profiles to companies as needed.
What do recruiters look for on Xing and LinkedIn?
Since Xing and LinkedIn are primarily used as professional networks, similar rules apply to them as to a normal application. While people like to share vacation pictures or similar on Facebook and Instagram, the profiles on Xing and / or LinkedIn should be one thing above all: serious – because here, too, first impressions count. Besides a flawless spelling and expression, the profile picture should also be professional. Mirror selfies, vacation or party pictures do not belong on the profile, nor do couples or group pictures. Instead, you should invest a little money and have the picture taken by a photographer.
However, not only a likeable, but at the same time professional profile picture is important, but also an up-to-date, complete resume is of immense importance. Therefore, it is advisable to take your time when creating the profile and to compare it with the traditional CV. In addition, when starting a new job, this should be entered into the profile immediately, so it is done right away and the boss will also be happy, because his company is also represented online.
It should also be made as easy as possible for recruiters to identify strengths of potential candidates. Therefore, you should only concentrate on the most important stations and avoid phrases such as team player under the headings “I’m looking / I’m offering” on Xing. Instead, consideration should be given to what added value can be offered to the company. This is how you stand out from the crowd and become interesting for recruiters and companies.
The social networks Xing and LinkedIn thus offer companies as well as recruiters and potential employees a wide range of opportunities in the world of work. While companies can present themselves and offer vacancies, candidates can present themselves and search for jobs both actively and passively. Recruiters, on the other hand, act as the perfect link between companies and candidates: they can easily access a large pool of potential candidates, target the candidates and thus create a larger selection for the companies. However, we at Kooku do not randomly write to candidates. Through our interim recruiting, we deal intensively with the needs of the companies beforehand and can thus deliver a top selection of promising candidates at the end, so that finally the perfect candidate can be hired for the company.
