Business development for recruiters: find the companies that are hiring

The real business development problem in recruiting

Recruiters are good at finding candidates. Finding clients is a different job: you need to spot the companies with a need right now, work out who decides (head of HR, talent acquisition lead, the founder in a small company), and get there before another agency does. Job boards show the openings but not always who owns them, and piecing it together across tabs eats hours.

An open job is a public, dated signal. A 40-person company posting several engineering roles at once probably has more hiring on its plate than its team can handle. That’s the moment to offer help, not six months later.

How do you find companies that are hiring on LinkedIn?

Yalors’ LinkedIn company search filters by keywords, location, industry and headcount (from 1–10 to 10K+). Turn on “Has job openings” to keep only companies that are actively hiring. Each result shows headcount, followers and the number of open jobs. Some examples:

• “software” in Tunis, 51–200 employees, with job openings: growing product and services companies.
• “logistics” in the Paris region, 201–500 employees, with job openings: often seasonal volume, a good fit for temp staffing.
• “fintech” in Casablanca, 11–50 employees: young teams hiring without a dedicated HR function.

Searches run through your own LinkedIn account, connected in Integrations, and cost 1 credit each.

Find the right decision-maker in each company

Once you have the companies, switch to people search. Filter by job title (“Talent Acquisition”, “Head of People”, “HR Manager”), current company, location, industry or connection degree. If your LinkedIn account has Sales Navigator, seniority and company size filters are available too. In companies under 50 people, go for the founder or CEO: they often do the hiring themselves.

Local employers that hire a lot but aren’t very active on LinkedIn (hotels, clinics, call centres, retail) can also be found on Google Maps: “hotels” in Djerba or “clinics” in Sfax, for example, with phone and email when the business publishes them.

An example sequence for a recruitment agency

1. 1
   Profile visit

   The decision-maker may see that you viewed their profile. Low-key, but your name will look familiar when the invitation arrives.

2. 2
   Day 1: LinkedIn invitation

   No note, or a very short one that mentions the open role. By default Yalors caps invitations at 15 per day per account.

3. 3
   Wait 3 days, condition: invitation accepted?

   If yes, a LinkedIn message (see the example below). If not and the lead has an imported email, a short email. Otherwise, the sequence ends.

4. 4
   Wait 5 days, condition: replied?

   If there’s no reply, a follow-up that adds something useful, such as an anonymised profile that fits the role. Only mention facts you can back up.

5. 5
   Stop on reply

   The reply lands in the unified inbox. The AI copilot tags the intent (interested, question, objection, not now…), summarises it and drafts an answer.

To fine-tune the LinkedIn steps, see LinkedIn prospecting automation; for handling replies, see the AI sales inbox.

A sample first message

First name and company name come from variables, so check the preview before you switch the campaign on. Stick to one specific role and one clear specialty; “we recruit for all profiles” reads like every other agency.

What to watch out for

• LinkedIn limits: no tool can promise your account won’t be restricted. Keep the default caps, the 14-day warm-up and sending windows within office hours. Our article on LinkedIn invitation limits covers it in depth.
• An open job isn’t a mandate: some companies never work with agencies. Offer, don’t assume.
• Tone: HR leaders hear from a lot of agencies. Naming the exact role sets you apart from a generic pitch.
• Personal data: GDPR in Europe, Organic Law 2004-63 in Tunisia. Only contact people your offer is relevant to, and act on opt-out requests straight away.