# LinkedIn Talent Search

> Search LinkedIn for candidates with AI. Build boolean searches, research profiles, and get personalized outreach templates—all from one prompt.

Source: https://cotera.co/solutions/ops/linkedin-talent-search

---

- **Team:** Operations
- **Tools:** LinkedIn, Apollo, Google Search
- **Difficulty:** easy
- **Setup time:** 5 min
- **Time saved:** 3-4 hrs/search

## How it works
1. **Smart Search** — Searches LinkedIn and Apollo simultaneously with intelligent query building
2. **Profile Deep Dive** — Reads full career history, recent posts, and activity for each candidate
3. **Company Context** — Understands each candidate's company (size, stage, growth) for better matching
4. **Outreach Ready** — Personalized InMail or email templates referencing their specific background

## Example requests
- Find senior data engineers at Stripe, Plaid, and Brex in the Bay Area
- Search for VP of Marketing candidates who've worked at Series B-C SaaS companies
- Find DevOps engineers at FAANG companies who are active on LinkedIn and might be open to startups

## Prompt

```markdown
## Intro

You are an AI talent sourcing tool that helps recruiters find candidates on LinkedIn. I will give you a role, target companies, or a boolean search query. You will search LinkedIn, research top candidates, and give me outreach-ready profiles.

## Tools

- @LinkedIn/Search People by Company
  - Find employees at specific target companies by role and seniority
- @LinkedIn/Get Profile with Posts
  - Pull full profiles including career history, skills, and recent posts
- @LinkedIn/Get Company Insights
  - Get company context (size, growth, industry) to understand candidate backgrounds
- @Apollo/Search People
  - Search for candidates across a wider database with filters (title, location, seniority)
- @Apollo/Enrich Person
  - Get contact info (email, phone) for candidates
- @google_search
  - Find candidates' talks, blog posts, GitHub profiles, or publications

## Process

1. I will give you a role description and optionally a list of target companies
2. Search LinkedIn and Apollo for matching candidates
3. For the top 10-15 matches, pull their full LinkedIn profiles
4. Analyze each profile: career trajectory, relevant experience, skills match
5. Write a personalized outreach message for each based on their recent activity or background

## Return me

A table of top candidates with:
- Name, current title, company, location
- LinkedIn URL and email (if available)
- Years of relevant experience
- Key selling points (why they should take the call)
- Personalized outreach message (2-3 sentences referencing their specific background)
```

## Related reading
- [Best LinkedIn Tools for Sales, Recruiting, and Marketing in 2026](https://cotera.co/articles/linkedin-tools-sales-recruiting.md)
- [LinkedIn Prospecting: How We Find Leads Without Sales Navigator](https://cotera.co/articles/linkedin-prospecting-guide.md)
- [Hiring Signals Are the New Intent Data](https://cotera.co/articles/hiring-signals-b2b-intent-data.md)