As the horticulture and landscape industry staff shortage continues in Australia, it’s becoming increasingly important for employers to look afield to attract the best talent in the field. One of the ways to do this is through professional networking and sharing open positions on LinkedIn.
Why LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking site, with millions of users from all industries and backgrounds. This makes it an ideal platform for sourcing horticulture and landscape staff who are dedicated to their careers and looking for opportunities in the field.
The platform provides a wealth of information about each user, including their work history, education, and skill sets. This makes it easier for employers to assess a candidate’s suitability for a role, without having to rely solely on their resume.
Some professionals create text, photo and video content on the platform as well, which can give you further insights into their personality, skills and understanding.
Unlike job boards like Hort People and recruitment platforms, LinkedIn is not just a place to post job listings and receive applications. Instead, it’s a platform for building professional relationships and connecting with others in the industry.
As a result, the horticulture and landscape professionals who use LinkedIn are typically highly motivated and dedicated to their careers. They are active users of the site and engage regularly with others in the industry, making it easier for employers to find and connect with the best talent.
Imagine a world without a horticultural staff shortage crisis. Image source
Understanding LinkedIn’s User Base
As of October 2022, LinkedIn has 875 million users worldwide, with millions of employers and employees from a wide range of industries and backgrounds. In Australia, there were 12.75 million users on LinkedIn in January 2022, making it one of the largest professional networking sites in the country.
Horticulture and landscape professionals who are on LinkedIn are generally dedicated to their careers and looking to connect with others in the field.
LinkedIn vs Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook
Each social media platform has its own strengths and weaknesses for sourcing candidates for horticulture and landscape roles.
LinkedIn is a professional networking platform and is likely to be the best option for finding qualified candidates for horticulture and landscape roles. As mentioned above, LinkedIn allows users to list their work experience, education, and skills, making it easier to evaluate the qualifications of potential candidates. It also has a large user base, with over 875 million users globally.
Twitter isn’t as focused on professional backgrounds and may be less effective for finding qualified candidates. However, it can be useful for following industry influencers and organisations that are relevant to the horticulture and landscape fields, which could lead to discovering potential candidates through social interactions, especially within the replies.
Instagram and TikTok can be used to showcase the work and culture of your company as platforms that are focused on visual content. However, amongst users, they’re more commonly used for recreation than for professional purposes.
Facebook, while primarily a social networking platform and not a professional platform, can still be utilized as a means of sourcing candidates for horticulture and landscape roles. This is because it’s widely used, which means that job postings and company promotions can potentially reach a large number of people if they’re attractive enough, and you have a decent following. Similarly to LinkedIn, Facebook allows companies to create detailed posts and job descriptions, which can provide more information about the role, company, and work culture.
How To Use LinkedIn for Horticulture and Landscape Staff Recruitment
Before you can start using LinkedIn to source horticulture and landscape staff, you need to have a company profile. This will help you establish your brand and presence on the platform, and make it easier for potential candidates to find and learn about your company.
To create a company profile, simply go to LinkedIn and follow the steps to create a new account for your business. Be sure to include all relevant information about your company, including your mission, services, and culture. You can also include images and videos to help bring your profile to life.
Once you have a company profile, you can start using LinkedIn’s search functionality to find horticulture and landscape professionals. Simply type in relevant keywords related to the role you’re looking to fill and LinkedIn will provide a list of relevant profiles.
If you pay for a premium account, you can also use LinkedIn’s advanced search filters to narrow down your results. For example, you can search for professionals with a specific job title, location, or educational background. This makes it easier for you to find the right candidates for your specific needs.
It’s not cheap, but you can learn more about premium LinkedIn memberships here.
Once you’ve found potential candidates, you can start engaging with them through messaging and connection requests. This will help you build a relationship with the candidate and learn more about their experience and qualifications.
Be respectful when cold-contacting people, and remember that they don’t owe you a response. Prioritise candidates who display they’re “open to work” in their display picture.
When sending a message, be sure to personalise it and include information about why you’re interested in connecting with them. You can also request an introduction through a shared connection to help build a stronger connection with the candidate.
Posting Job Listings to Reach Horticulture and Landscape Professionals
As well as searching for candidates, you can also post job listings on LinkedIn to reach a wider audience of horticulture and landscape professionals. This will allow you to reach a larger pool of candidates, and help you find the right talent for your specific needs.
When posting a job listing, it’s best practice to include information about the role, including the job title, location, salary, and qualifications. You can also include images and videos to help bring the job listing to life.
Creating LinkedIn Content
Unless you have a following (or you magically “go viral”), nobody is going to see your job post. The best way to build a following is to create engaging LinkedIn content.
Regularly publish posts, articles, and videos that showcase your work and the expertise of your employees.
Share the company’s unique culture and values, provide behind-the-scenes looks at projects, highlight the company’s impact on the environment and the community, share testimonials from clients and employees, and emphasise the growth opportunities and professional development programs offered.
This will give potential candidates a better understanding of what it’s like to work for the company and why it’s a great place to start or continue their career.
Prioritise creating content that your audience want to interact with, and avoid spamming your followers with advertisements.
Best Practices for Using LinkedIn for Horticulture and Landscape Staffing
Use LinkedIn’s “Company Page Insights” to track and analyse the engagement with your company profile, such as page views, follower growth, and post engagement, and make adjustments to your strategy as needed.
Endorse and recommend the skills of your employees and other contacts within the horticulture and landscape industry to further strengthen your company’s brand and increase your visibility within the LinkedIn community.
Join relevant LinkedIn groups related to horticulture and landscape that have a large and active membership. This will give you access to a wide network of individuals and organisations in the industry and allow you to engage with them, share your knowledge, and build brand awareness with professionals working in the industry.
Make sure to regularly check your LinkedIn account and engage with your network by commenting on posts, responding to messages, and connecting with new contacts.
Hort People
If you’re looking for horticulture and landscaping staff, you’ve probably tried using the large, non-specific job boards.
Hort People is a new online job board that’s specifically targeted towards the horticulture industry and makes it easy for job seekers to find your job with 60+ intuitive job categories like design, construction maintenance, production, etc.
Click here to view employer packages.
Conclusion
LinkedIn is a powerful tool for sourcing horticulture and landscape staff, as it provides access to a large network of professionals who are dedicated to their careers in the industry.
LinkedIn’s user base is particularly well-suited to sourcing elite candidates within the horticulture and landscape industry, as it’s focused on professional networking and other social media platforms aren’t.
It’s important to invest time and effort into your LinkedIn presence, regularly updating your profile and engaging with your network, in order to get the most out of the platform. By taking advantage of the unique features and tools offered by LinkedIn, horticulture and landscape employers can find the right candidates, expand their reach, and build lasting relationships within the industry.