In 2015, LinkedIn, the world's largest professional network, was experiencing explosive growth, and it needed to hire the very best people quickly to support and fuel that growth. This case discusses LinkedIn's hiring approach and details how the company used its own online recruiting products, such as LinkedIn Talent Solutions, to attract and retain talent. The case explains specific techniques that LinkedIn's recruiting team of over 100 people used to attract talented candidates for positions in engineering, sales, and other departments. LinkedIn made internal hiring a priority. For external hires, the company focused heavily on recruiting passive candidates-people were who already gainfully employed and not necessarily looking for a new job. The case also discusses LinkedIn's employee value proposition, focusing on the extraordinary opportunities employees were given for "transformation" once they joined the LinkedIn team.

Discussion Questions

How does the LinkedIn hiring process fit with its strategy?
What is the recruiter's role in the hiring process and how does it create fit between the candidate and the company?
Why is it important to look at internal candidates first?
What do you think of the external hiring criteria?
What does LinkedIn hope to accomplish with InDays, HackDays, and Tour of Duty?
Will the Linked in hiring process lead to the discovery of high potential candidates?