LinkedIn is the original social networking platform for working professionals. Since it’s humble beginnings, it’s grown into a thriving environment where people create profiles, post updates, share information and network with each other. Creating a LinkedIn Business Page is a best practice, especially since it’s free and also a great way to showcase company culture and news to potential hires.

Over the course of the past 12 months or so, HR managers, recruiters, and business owners have started turning to LinkedIn to hire remote workers and freelancers, since its network recommendations system is more reliable than most rating systems on other crowdsourcing platforms.

In keeping with this trend, LinkedIn also rolled out its ProFinder service, which enables businesses to hire freelancers and remote workers from local pools of talent, based on zip codes. It’s ideal for businesses that are looking to hire quickly for short-term projects and one-off jobs.

While reaching out to local talent on LinkedIn itself is free, businesses are required to upgrade to a ProFinder plan to take advantage of creating job posts for local professionals in a wide variety of different categories.

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LinkedIn ProFinder pricing

At $60 per month, LinkedIn ProFinder is a concierge service that helps business owners find talent within their zip code in various categories like software development, IT, graphic design, copywriting, marketing, and business consulting.

LinkedIn ProFinder customer support

ProFinder customer support is tricky to get a hold of, and the chat option isn’t always available. Currently, the ‘Contact Us’ page is the fastest way to get in touch with their team. Otherwise, users must click through the Help Center for troubleshooting, which is cumbersome and downright overwhelming at times. When support can actually be reached, however, representatives are cooperative and reliable.

LinkedIn ProFinder usability

LinkedIn ProFinder does a commendable job of sourcing local talent for both remote and on-site opportunities. It was intuitively designed and makes the process of posting a job quick and painless.

Once a job posting has gone live, the LinkedIn in-house team responds to the request with 5+ local resumes within 24 business hours.

When a match is found, freelancers are also sent a request on behalf of the client to respond to the job posting. Businesses can then initiate an interview with qualified professionals who have responded to the hiring request after reviewing their applications.

Pros

• Unlimited networking opportunities
• Industry-specific keyword searches streamline the hiring process by lining up specific resumes that match specific search criteria
• A LinkedIn Business Page is good for SEO and brand awareness
• LinkedIn ProFinder has a 24-hour turn around time, which considerably shortens the hiring process

Cons

• The LinkedIn ProFinder service is only available to businesses and freelancers in the United States
• Growing a network and building connections is a lengthy process
• Pricing is expensive, especially considering the limited scope of hiring features available

Rating breakdown

• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Features: 3.5
• Price: 3
• Ease of Use: 4.5
• Customer Service: 3