Attracting top talent starts before a job is posted: define what the role needs, explain the opportunity clearly, reach qualified people through relevant channels, and make selection consistent and respectful. These 12 strategies give recruiters, hiring managers, and business leaders a practical process to build stronger candidate pools and improve hiring decisions.
1. Plan the role with the hiring manager
Start with the business need, not a draft job ad. Agree with the hiring manager on the role’s expected outcomes, essential skills, and how candidates will be evaluated. Workforce planning and a staffing plan help connect recruiting priorities to the organization’s needs, as outlined by SHRM’s talent acquisition strategy training outline and LinkedIn’s overview of talent acquisition.
- What work must this person deliver, and by when?
- Which skills are essential on day one, and which can be learned?
- What evidence will demonstrate that a candidate can do the work?
2. Write a clear, skills-focused job description
Describe the work, likely outcomes, and required competencies in plain language. Separate must-have skills from preferences, and question degree or years-of-experience requirements that are not necessary to perform the job. LinkedIn recommends skills-focused descriptions and reviewing unnecessary qualifications in its guide to getting started with skills-based hiring.
Specificity helps applicants assess whether the role fits and helps recruiters evaluate candidates against relevant criteria rather than vague impressions. For example, describe the decisions the person will make or the deliverables they will own instead of relying on broad terms such as “rock star” or “self-starter.”
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3. Present a credible employer brand
Keep the careers site and job materials current, and explain the work, culture, and employee value proposition with concrete details. An employer brand can help attract skilled candidates, but it should represent the organization accurately; generic promises that do not match the candidate’s experience can undermine trust. LinkedIn discusses employer branding as part of its talent acquisition overview.
4. Use multiple sourcing channels
Potential channels include job boards, professional sourcing platforms, employee referrals, internal talent, and alumni. No single channel is established as best for every role. Choose based on where qualified candidates for the specific skills are likely to be found, then compare performance using your own recruiting outcomes.
When assessing a channel, consider:
- How closely its candidates’ skills match the role.
- Whether it reaches the intended talent pool.
- The effort required of candidates and the experience it creates.
- The time and cost to operate.
- Accessibility and fairness.
- Whether it produces measurable quality-of-hire outcomes.
LinkedIn identifies several of these channels, including referrals, internal talent, and company alumni, in its talent acquisition overview.
5. Make employee referrals specific and fair
Invite employees to share why a referral fits the role: what relevant skills, experience, or strengths they have seen. A name without context is less useful for evaluating a match. Referrals can widen sourcing, but referred candidates should go through the same job-related selection process as other applicants.
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6. Look at internal talent and alumni
Current employees may be qualified for new roles or ready to develop into them. Make internal opportunities visible and consider skills employees can transfer from their current work. Former employees may also be part of an appropriate talent network. LinkedIn includes internal talent and alumni among sourcing options in its overview of talent acquisition.
7. Make the candidate experience respectful
Explain the steps, expected timing, and who candidates will meet. Provide useful context for interviews and avoid unnecessary rounds that consume candidate and interviewer time. A clear process helps candidates understand what is expected and decide whether the opportunity suits them. LinkedIn’s candidate experience guide emphasizes making the process understandable and respecting candidates’ time.
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8. Structure interviews around the role
Prepare role-specific questions and evaluation criteria before interviews begin. Ask each candidate the same core questions, then compare the evidence against the requirements agreed with the hiring manager. Consistency makes it easier to distinguish job-related evidence from interviewer preference. LinkedIn’s guidance on effective skills-based interviews recommends aligning interviews with required competencies.
9. Use relevant, proportionate work samples
A focused work sample can help assess an important skill when it resembles real work and measures a capability the role genuinely requires. Keep the task proportionate to the time and effort requested, and explain how it will be evaluated. Assessments can provide useful evidence, but LinkedIn cautions that they are not foolproof in its guide to skills-based hiring. Use them alongside other relevant evidence rather than as an automatic proxy for job performance.
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Set expectations for timing, follow up after interviews, and send an update when plans change. If a decision is delayed, tell candidates what has changed and when they can expect another update. Clear communication supports engagement through the decision stage, a central point in LinkedIn’s candidate experience guidance.
11. Review accessibility and selection effects
Check whether requirements or procedures—such as education criteria, tests, background checks, or physical requirements—are necessary for the job and whether they screen out groups disproportionately. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says that practices with negative effects are not automatically illegal, but employers should assess job necessity and possible alternatives in its guidance on selection procedures and hiring practices with negative effects.
The EEOC’s interpretation of the Uniform Guidelines states: “A selection process which has an adverse impact on the employment opportunities of members of a race, color, religion, sex, or national origin group (referred to as ‘race, sex, and ethnic group,’ as defined in Section 16P) and thus disproportionately screens them out is unlawfully discriminatory unless the process or its component procedures have been validated in accord with the Guidelines, or the user otherwise justifies them in accord with Federal law.” This is U.S. federal guidance, not a complete account of every federal, state, or non-U.S. rule. The EEOC describes the 80% (four-fifths) rule as a rule of thumb for identifying substantially different selection rates, not a legal definition or a guarantee of compliance.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.12. Measure results and improve the process
Track measures that connect recruiting activity to hiring needs. Useful operational measures include:
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- Qualified applicants by sourcing channel.
- Candidate conversion from one stage to the next.
- Time to fill.
- Offer acceptance.
- Candidate feedback.
- Quality of hire, using a definition relevant to the role and organization.
These are suggested measures, not a validated universal scorecard. SHRM’s talent acquisition strategy training outline calls for measuring strategy impact, while LinkedIn’s talent acquisition overview discusses talent analytics and candidate feedback. Review outcomes by channel and selection stage, then adjust practices where results do not support the hiring goals.
What the available recruiting data can—and cannot—tell you
LinkedIn’s 2025 Future of Recruiting report, based on responses from more than 1,000 talent professionals and LinkedIn platform data, reported that 93% of surveyed talent acquisition professionals said accurately assessing candidates’ skills is crucial to improving quality of hire. LinkedIn’s platform analysis also found that companies with the most skills-based searches were 12% more likely to make a quality hire. The latter is an association, not proof that skills-based search alone caused the difference; neither figure guarantees that a particular strategy will improve every organization’s results. See LinkedIn’s 2025 recruiting report.
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