Build a Sourcing Strategy with LinkedIn Hiring Assistant

Not every LinkedIn Recruiter seat has this feature turned on.

1. Log into LinkedIn Recruiter
2. Look for a Hiring Assistant entry point on your homepage or inside an open project. If you don't see one, your seat may not include it
3. If it's missing, check with your TA lead or admin about whether your organization purchased the add-on

What you should see: A Hiring Assistant option either on your Recruiter homepage or inside a project view. Troubleshooting: If nothing shows up after checking with your admin, your company hasn't purchased the add-on yet. You can still run manual Boolean searches while that gets sorted out.

Hiring Assistant works inside a Recruiter project, which is LinkedIn's container for a single search or requisition.

1. From your Recruiter homepage, open an existing project tied to your req, or create a new one
2. Name the project something you'll recognize later, like the req title and location
3. Inside the project, look for a button along the lines of Use Hiring Assistant

What you should see: A project workspace with an option to hand the search off to Hiring Assistant.

1. Paste your full job description into the field Hiring Assistant provides, or upload it if there's an upload option
2. If you only have rough intake notes rather than a polished JD, paste those instead. Hiring Assistant is built to work from role context, not just exact keyword matches
3. Submit and let it process

What you should see: A short confirmation that Hiring Assistant is building a sourcing strategy from your input.

This is the step that replaces manual Boolean construction. Instead of typing AND/OR search logic yourself, Hiring Assistant asks you plain questions about the role.

1. Answer questions about must-have skills, years of experience, and team context as they appear
2. Be specific rather than generic. "5+ years in supply chain analytics with forecasting tool experience" gives it more to work with than "experienced analyst"
3. Note any deal-breakers (visa sponsorship, on-site requirement, licensure) so it doesn't surface candidates who can't actually take the role

What you should see: Hiring Assistant confirming it has enough information and is starting to search. Troubleshooting: If the questions feel too generic for your role, add detail in any free-text field it offers rather than leaving it sparse. The tool's own reviewers have noted its natural-language-to-search translation isn't perfect, so more specific input up front reduces noisy results later.

Hiring Assistant adds matched candidates to your pipeline and drafts outreach automatically, but review both before anything sends.

1. Open the candidate list it surfaces
2. Skim profiles for obvious mismatches. LinkedIn's own review data shows some "open to work" profiles are stale, so a ranked list still needs a human pass
3. Spot-check two or three drafted InMails for accuracy. Reviewers have flagged cases where drafted messages reference outdated job titles or invent details not actually on the candidate's profile

What you should see: A shortlist with draft outreach messages attached to each candidate, awaiting your approval.

1. Open each drafted InMail and check it against the candidate's actual profile
2. Fix anything generic or inaccurate. A message that references their real project or team reads better than a templated one
3. Send individually or in the batch Hiring Assistant supports

What you should see: Sent InMails appearing in your pipeline with tracked open and response status.

Hiring Assistant doesn't stop after the first batch. It continues surfacing new matches as they become available.

1. Check back into the project every few days rather than daily
2. Review and send new candidate matches as they appear
3. Archive candidates who aren't a fit so future ranking improves

What you should see: A steadily growing, curated candidate list instead of one static search result.