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Hiring Assistant

Hiring Assistant is best used for roles with well-defined qualifications. Hiring Assistant handles sourcing, evaluation, outreach, and applicant review end-to-end.

View video tutorials & tip sheets Register: Staffing Qualifications Clinic Ask a question

Step 1 of 7

Start your project in Hiring Assistant

Create a new project or add Hiring Assistant to an existing one with no disruption.
Click the Hiring Assistant icon in Recruiter and select Start hiring for a new role.
Describe your ideal candidate using qualifications, a job description, or an active job post.

Pro tip: Think of qualifications as a checklist - a set of instructions for Hiring Assistant to follow. Consider what you look for on a profile to determine fit, and use that to instruct Hiring Assistant on what it should evaluate.

Video tutorial Help article

Step 2 of 7

How to write effective qualifications

Use the CREATE framework to structure your prompt: set the Context, make a specific Request, include Examples of what good looks like, note that Adjustment is expected, write in conversational Tone, and add any Extras like location or work type.
Reference the qualifications best practices library to guide your writing.
Consider using an AI tool with your job description to draft a strong starting set of qualifications quickly.
For contract roles: Hiring Assistant is especially effective at identifying contract workers because it interprets intent signals rather than relying solely on self-reported labels. Look for short or repeated engagements, project-based language, and open-to-work preferences. Try this qualification: "Has recent experience working as a contractor, consultant, or freelance professional, including multiple short-term engagements across different companies or client projects within the past 2 years."

Pro tip: Write to Hiring Assistant like you would to a junior sourcer. Be direct on what qualifications you do want vs. what to exclude.

Qualifications tip sheet Watch video tutorials Share best practices Guide: Using AI to write qualifications

Step 3 of 7

Review sourced candidates and provide feedback

You must calibrate with Hiring Assistant. Review at least 3 candidate profiles during intake and provide thumbs-up or thumbs-down feedback.
Adjust qualifications if profiles are not relevant.
Pay attention to the Qualification summaries on each profile to confirm Hiring Assistant understands what you want it to evaluate.
Chat with Hiring Assistant to source more or reevaluate at any time.

Pro tip: Archiving and highlighting are not optional. They reinforce what is working. Iteration is expected, especially early in the workflow - qualifications, iteration, and outcomes go hand in hand.

Video tutorial Help article

Step 4 of 7

Adjust qualification thresholds

If Hiring Assistant is not surfacing the right candidates, triple-check your Qualification Thresholds.
These control how strict or flexible matching is.
Set required qualifications to 100% on Top or All candidates for profile traits that are must-haves.

Pro tip: If full Hiring Assistant sourcing is not a fit, you can switch to Advanced AI-Assisted Search within the same project.

Step 5 of 7

Send outreach to candidates

Hiring Assistant can help you message up to 25 candidates at once.
Create and add custom content to an AI-Assisted message from the Draft Settings menu.
Optionally, add Automated Prescreening to save time.

Pro tip: Toggle off Same for all candidates to use different prescreening questions per candidate.

Video tutorial Help article Prescreening help article

Step 6 of 7

Evaluate applicants using Hiring Assistant

To use Applicant Evaluation, a job must be linked to the Hiring Assistant project.
In the dashboard, click Review applicants to open your Applicants page.
Save, reject, or message applicants from that page.

Pro tip: Rejecting or highlighting with feedback helps Hiring Assistant learn and source closer matches.

Video tutorial Help article

Step 7 of 7

Take the Hiring Assistant assessment

Demonstrate your proficiency using Hiring Assistant.
Receive a shareable certificate of completion.
Establish credibility as a Hiring Assistant power user.

Take the assessment

Advanced AI-Assisted Search

Advanced AI search is great for project-based roles or when you prefer hands-on control over search filters and candidate selection.

On-Demand Course Help article Ask a question

Step 1 of 4

Open Advanced AI-Assisted Search

Navigate to the Talent pool on the left pane of your project or click the search bar and select Search with AI.
Drop a job description or ideal candidate profile into the search input. Advanced AI-Assisted Search converts this into a targeted query and suggested filters, prioritizing critical skills over exact attribute matches.
Or type a natural language request in the AI search pane, such as: "Find a Senior PM in New York with 6 years of experience".

Pro tip: You will not lose any work switching between Advanced AI-Assisted Search and Hiring Assistant. Open Hiring Assistant by selecting Pipeline.

Step 2 of 4

Edit your Qualifications

In the AI Search pane, you will see a list of qualifications and attributes based on your request. Select Edit to make changes and add additional requirements.
Optional: Select AI recommendations to narrow or expand your search. Any inputs or recommendations you select add to the current search filters.

Pro tip: Advanced AI-Assisted Search displays an AI summary on candidate profile cards showing how they are a fit.

Step 3 of 4

Save your candidates to your pipeline

As you find strong fits, save them to your project Pipeline to track, collaborate, and take action later.
Use tags or notes to capture why a candidate fits the project-based need.

Step 4 of 4

Send AI-Assisted InMail and prescreening questions

Draft tailored messages in seconds with AI-Assisted InMail.
Add Automated Prescreening to qualify candidate interest before a call.
AI-Assisted InMail allows you to send up to 25 InMails at a time while keeping messages personalized.

Pro tip: Toggle off Same for all candidates to tailor prescreen questions by persona or segment.

On-Demand Course: AI-Assisted Messages Help article: Prescreening

Learn Business Development Features

Engage prospects, surface actively hiring accounts, and build your client pipeline using RPS+ BD features.

Video Tutorial Register: Business Development Workshop Ask a question

Step 1 of 5

Use Advanced AI Search to find decision makers

Start with Advanced AI-Assisted Search to identify decision-maker level profiles.
Refine by seniority, function, industry, and geography.
Note: Hiring Assistant qualification matching is not designed for BD evaluation. Manual control is recommended.

Pro tip: Save multiple prospect lists by segment such as region, vertical, or ICP tier to speed repeat outreach.

Help article

Step 2 of 5

Switch to Business Development Mode

Toggle to Business Development Mode in RPS+ when prospecting.
This updates Spotlights and defaults your InMail to the Business Development preset.
Return to standard search anytime using the Recruiting toggle.

Help article

Step 3 of 5

Narrow search with Actively Hiring spotlight

Use the Actively Hiring spotlight to focus on organizations with higher intent signals.
Your search results are automatically sorted by this spotlight.
Prioritize accounts expanding in your sector to improve reply and meeting rates.

Help article

Step 4 of 5

Outreach with AI-Assisted InMail

Draft BD outreach in seconds using a clear Unique Selling Point.
Each Unique Selling Point provides the system with your service offering and optional showcase candidates.
Note: Business Development mode supports 1:1 messages only. Bulk messaging is not yet available.

Help article

Step 5 of 5

Follow profiles to stay informed

In BD mode, follow a lead profile to receive in-app notifications when they make a career change or start hiring for a new role.
Track potential clients without sending a connection request.

Pro tip: Eliminate manual feed monitoring and focus your outreach on the right moment.

Help article

Reference library

Qualifications best practices

Browse general guidance, suggested modifiers, examples by qualification type, and role-specific best practices.

Resources: Ask a question Download tip sheet Register: Staffing Qualifications Clinic Share & earn a badge

Do this	Avoid this
✓Use specific years, tools, titles, and outcomes. Write each qualification like an instruction to a sourcer.	✗Vague traits like "strong communicator" or "solid technical background".
✓Use "currently working in" or "in the past 2 years", paired with a year range and seniority level.	✗Open-ended phrasing like "has experience in" with no timeframe or seniority signal.
✓Keep to 4-6 focused qualifications that reflect true requirements for the role.	✗Long lists of skills and boolean keywords that dilute the signal.
✓Use precise exclusions such as not managing a team or not focused solely on front-end.	✗Broad or ambiguous exclusions like "not junior" that can eliminate qualified candidates.
✓Include implicit criteria such as company pedigree, promotion history, tenure signals, or employer type.	✗Only using criteria that appear in the job description.
✓Iterate. Refine based on candidates you see. Tighten if too broad, loosen if too narrow.	✗Treating qualifications as set-and-forget.
✓Always calibrate with Hiring Assistant. Review at least 3 candidate profiles during intake, provide feedback, and adjust qualifications if profiles are not relevant.	✗Skipping calibration and expecting perfect results from the first set of qualifications.
✓Pay attention to Qualification summaries on each profile to confirm Hiring Assistant understands what you want it to evaluate.	✗Ignoring qualification summaries and missing signals that Hiring Assistant is off track.

Layer these recommended modifiers onto any qualification to add precision and strength.

Time and recency

Currently working as a job title - Must have X-Y years of current experience - Within the last X months or years

Tenure and duration

At least X years - Demonstrated continuous career experience - Progressive career experience in function

Seniority and level

Senior - Lead - Principal - Manager-level - Director-level - Individual contributor - Entry-level

Scope and ownership

End-to-end - Owns - Leads - Drives - Accountable for - Hands-on or direct experience

Volume and scale

High-volume - Enterprise-scale - Global - Multi-region - Fortune 500 - SMB

Skill specificity

Expert in - Proficient with - Certified in - Demonstrated experience with

Priority

Must have - Required - Non-negotiable - Preferred - Nice-to-have

Core experience

Years, recency, level

Tools and skills

Tech stack, platforms

Role scope

IC vs. manager, contract

Business impact

Outcomes, behaviors

Company and industry

Type, size, sector

Education and background

Degrees, pedigree

Work environment

Growth stage, tech stack

Location

Geo, commute, timezone

Core experience and seniority

Use present or recent-tense phrasing. Recency improves match quality.
Use a year range such as 5-8 years rather than a hard floor to avoid over-filtering.
Pair years of experience with a title or function so Hiring Assistant knows what counts.

Good

5-8 years of recent experience as a Senior Financial Analyst supporting budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis.

Currently working as an IT Business Analyst, partnering with stakeholders on requirements, process mapping, and UAT.

Avoid

Has experience in finance or IT.

Tools and technical skills

Name specific tools, languages, or platforms rather than broad categories.
Indicate how the tool was used to signal depth. For example: developing reports in Power BI.
Use or to offer equivalent alternatives. Limit to 2-3 tools per qualification.

Good

Currently using advanced Excel such as pivot tables and lookups and systems such as NetSuite, Oracle, or Workday Financials.

3-5 years of experience developing or supporting applications using SQL and Power BI or Tableau for reporting and analytics.

Avoid

Strong technical skills.

Role scope and delivery model

Specify IC vs. manager or full-time vs. contract so Hiring Assistant is not surfacing candidates at the wrong level.
Use exclusion language thoughtfully. Not managing a team is more precise than not a manager.

Good

Individual contributor responsible for end-to-end ownership of deliverables in finance or IT projects.

Recent experience working in contract, contract-to-hire, or project-based roles.

Avoid

Responsible for various finance or IT tasks.

Business impact

Focus on observable behaviors and outcomes rather than personal traits like strong communicator.
Use action-oriented phrasing such as presented insights to, collaborated with, or supported decisions around.

Good

Demonstrated experience presenting financial insights to non-finance stakeholders and supporting data-driven decisions.

Regularly collaborates with cross-functional teams to support projects, reporting, or system implementations.

Avoid

Strong communication and presentation skills.

Company type and industry

Specify industry, company type, or ownership structure rather than leaving it open-ended.
Name sectors explicitly such as financial services or B2B SaaS. Include regulatory signals when they matter.

Good

Must currently work for a publicly traded company in the United States, or a private-equity-backed firm.

Currently supporting clients in the financial services industry (specifically banking, payments, or insurance).

Avoid

Works in a corporate environment.

Education and company background

Specify companies by name, size, or sector. Chase, Wells Fargo, or Citi beats large banking institution.
For education, be specific about field of study. Pair degree requirements with or equivalent experience.

Good

Has recently worked for large banking institutions such as Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, or Bank of America.

Bachelor degree in Accounting, Finance, Information Systems, or a related field.

Avoid

Works for a financial services company.

Work environment and growth stage

Specify company size or growth stage when the operating environment matters to the role.
Call out the technology environment when it signals relevant skills or familiarity.

Good

Currently working for a startup or growth-stage company (Series B-D), or a mid-market company (500-5,000 employees).

Experience supporting cloud-first or cloud-native technology environments, or delivering SaaS-based applications in a B2B context.

Avoid

Has worked at a tech company.

Location

Be specific about geography, commute radius, or time zone alignment when it is a genuine requirement.

Good

Must be located within 30 miles of your target location, or within a commutable distance.

Avoid

Local candidates preferred.

Engineering

Emerging talent

Interns, new grads

Sales and CS

Marketing and comms

Product

General and admin

Finance, legal, biz ops

Leadership

Director level and above

Engineering

Lead with language, years, and recency. Specify backend vs. frontend

5-8 years developing in backend systems using Java or Scala. Currently building distributed or cloud-native architectures.

For ML or AI roles, distinguish between research and production

4-8 years of post-grad experience in machine learning engineering; must have a PhD or equivalent in CS or applied math. Experience deploying ML models in production; not solely focused on research or data science.

Use explicit exclusions to filter for the specific type of engineer you need

3-5 years developing in front-end frameworks like React or Angular; not a full-stack or backend role.

Emerging talent

Anchor to graduation timeline and degree program

Currently pursuing a BS or MS in Computer Science or related field, graduating between Dec 2025 and June 2026.

Look for applied experience signals

Completed internship or significant project involving Python or Java. Actively contributing to open-source or university-level engineering projects.

Include collaboration signals when cross-functional work matters from day one

Demonstrated ability to collaborate on group projects or cross-functional teams.

Sales and customer success

Specify the sales motion and deal type - not just years in sales

3-5 years in B2B SaaS sales, consistently meeting or exceeding quota.

Use promotion history or account size as performance signals

Experience managing Enterprise or Agency clients with $1M+ annual spend. Proven record of promotion within sales organization such as AE1 to AE2 within 2 years.

Include geo or language requirements early if they are genuine constraints

Located in APAC region; fluent in English and Cantonese or Mandarin preferred.

Marketing and communications

Distinguish between demand gen, brand, content, and comms

5-8 years developing and executing multi-channel demand campaigns across digital, social, and email; not a brand or content-only role.

Specify the tools the candidate must have worked with

Experience using marketing automation tools such as Marketo or HubSpot to run and measure demand programs.

For senior comms roles, include company scale or ARR signals

8-10 years managing media relations and executive communications at global companies with $100M+ ARR.

Product

Look for ownership and delivery signals - launched, shipped - not just defined or worked on

5-7 years in product management; launched customer-facing features with measurable adoption in a B2B context.

Specify the stage and type of company

Worked in high-growth B2B SaaS or marketplace environments; not a large enterprise or government context.

Include cross-functional and analytical signals

Experience defining product vision, roadmap, and requirements with engineering and design. Comfortable using data to prioritize and measure outcomes.

General and administrative

For finance roles, distinguish between strategic FP&A, accounting, and operational finance

5-7 years of experience in strategic FP&A within technology companies; not a controller or accounting-focused role.

For legal roles, specify bar membership and type of work early

JD and active bar membership in one jurisdiction; experience drafting and negotiating SaaS and commercial contracts.

Name the systems or tools the candidate should have used

Experience building financial models and forecasting; supporting executive decision-making.

Leadership

Specify team size, scope, and whether the role is a player-coach or pure people manager

10+ years in sales leadership, including 5+ years managing SMB or mid-market AE teams of 8 or more.

Include company stage and scale signals

Experience at B2B SaaS companies with $200M+ ARR; not solely early-stage or pre-revenue experience.

Use outcome-based language rather than just managed a team

Experience driving double-digit revenue growth and scaling teams across multiple regions.

Visit the Hiring Assistant learning path for a detailed prompting workflow.

What's new Product updates The latest RPS+ and Hiring Assistant updates from LinkedIn's May 2026 quarterly product release.

RPS+ - Business Development Actively Hiring spotlight: expanded filters and profiles Now includes profiles publicly associated with job posts, expanding your prospect pool. New Location and Employment Type filters help you pinpoint leads hiring for the specific roles you fill.

Hiring Assistant Hiring Assistant Monthly Report Clear visibility into Hiring Assistant performance with team-level insights for admins and personalized, actionable guidance for recruiters to optimize their workflow.

Hiring Assistant RSC+ for Hiring Assistant LinkedIn's most advanced ATS integration. Hiring Assistant can now perform AI-powered evaluations for all applicants — whether they applied on LinkedIn or elsewhere — using combined data from LinkedIn and your ATS.

Hiring Assistant - Coming soon Hiring Assistant in German and French Source, evaluate, and message candidates faster and in-language with Hiring Assistant now available in German and French.

Hiring Assistant - Coming June 2026 Hiring Assistant for Microsoft Teams Share LinkedIn Recruiter candidates directly in Teams for hiring manager collaboration. Feedback syncs instantly back to Recruiter, streamlining decisions and aligning teams earlier in the process.

View full product update

Customer results Success stories See how other staffing teams have found success with RPS+ and Hiring Assistant.

RPS+ and Hiring Assistant $300K in placement revenue Risus Talent Partners 12 AI-sourced placements and a best-ever quarter using RPS+ and Hiring Assistant together. Read the case study

Hiring Assistant 40% faster hiring Insite Staffing Dramatically cut time-to-fill by streamlining their hiring process with LinkedIn Hiring Assistant. Read the case study

Hiring Assistant 25% more placements NES Fircroft Boosted placement results and expanded their pipeline with LinkedIn Hiring Assistant. Read the case study

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