Recruiting talent: Learn LinkedIn's weird method right away

The social network LinkedIn came up with an idea to recruit talent by hosting a music night. To give candidates the opportunity to show their artistic talents. This proposal was originally devised by Lesley Toche, a strategy officer at LinkedIn. Having experience in recruitment, Toche wishes to organize recruitment events in a different way instead of traditional ones.

The show attracts talent

“The company wanted to target talented black and Latino people, so I thought it would be something lively and fun. In their culture, a highly open musical space is a common and familiar thing,” Toche said.

LinkedIn held its first talent show last November with about 100 people in attendance. The event is divided into two parts. The first 60 minutes are for connecting people and the next 90 minutes for candidates to showcase their talents. “Existing employees say they feel very proud to work at LinkedIn,” said Toche.

Get 3 talents every night

On average, each night of talent recruitment, LinkedIn receives about 3 more talents. Cayman Lowe, who now works for LinkedIn, said she was called by a friend and invited to join the West Coast show.

"I have no intention of changing jobs but I want to know how my friend is doing," Lowe said. His decision to join LinkedIn was further solidified when, after the concert, Lowe had the opportunity to have a drink with LinkedIn employees. “Before and after the event, they all behaved like that. I can talk to them about my direction and hear them share their work. I feel like I fit in here,” Lowe added.

A week after the show, Lowe attended a LinkedIn interview. A month later, he officially joined LinkedIn.

Expand to many objects

Since the first talent night, LinkedIn has organized 3 similar events. The number of participants also doubled, from 200-250 people per event.

Toche strategy staff said the first two events were held only to recruit sales experts. But they have recently expanded to include technical professionals. Thanks to this series of events, LinkedIn has 6 more technical experts in its apparatus. This is a proud number. Because normally, black and Latino people make up only a very small percentage of the technical expert community in Silicon Valley.

Many other companies are following LinkedIn's approach to recruiting talent. For example, Twitter has a poetry night, Lyft (Uber competitor) has a live music night. Or Netflix shows candidates what's happening at their studios. “It is important that you find a way to convey the company culture vividly and effectively. At LinkedIn, we create spaces for people to feel like they really belong here,” concludes Toche.