How to use LinkedIn Advertising for life sciences recruitment
Do you remember when LinkedIn was just about recruitment? Here’s a secret…
…it’s still one of the most effective recruitment tools available. Yet many organisations, including those in the life sciences sector, continue to rely heavily on expensive recruitment agencies to find candidates—often overlooking the potential of LinkedIn’s own sophisticated search and advertising capabilities.
With the right approach, LinkedIn advertising can help you connect with highly skilled professionals at a fraction of the cost.
Case Study: Filling a specialist life sciences role with LinkedIn Ads
One life sciences company approached me with a challenge: they needed to recruit for a specialist scientific role, but their usual recruitment agency had been searching for several months without success. The role required a combination of niche technical expertise and industry experience, and the pool of suitable candidates was small.
Instead of widening the search through traditional job boards, we designed a LinkedIn campaign targeting professionals who met the criteria. This included filtering by qualifications, years of experience, and current job titles, alongside crafting messaging that spoke directly to the motivations of life sciences professionals—career development, contribution to scientific progress, and opportunities to work with cutting-edge technologies.
Within two months, the campaign generated multiple strong applicants. Several candidates were interviewed, and the position was filled. Beyond the immediate success, the company saw the value in being able to directly access the talent market. They decided to incorporate LinkedIn advertising into their broader recruitment strategy, using it alongside (and in some cases instead of) their agency partners.
Why LinkedIn is effective for recruiting life sciences professionals
Recruitment in life sciences often involves finding professionals with highly specific skill sets, from regulatory experts to specialist engineers and scientists. LinkedIn is uniquely suited to this because:
- Reach passive candidates – many of the best-suited professionals aren’t actively job-hunting but will respond to the right opportunity.
- Use advanced targeting filters – qualifications, skills, years of experience and job titles can all be used to pinpoint the exact audience you need.
- Job search trait – LinkedIn’s job search trait uniquely finds those users whose search intent and LinkedIn activity indicates that they are looking for work opportunities.
- Recruit in a professional setting – candidates showcase their expertise and achievements on the platform, making it easier to assess fit early.
- Scale campaigns to need – from one specialist hire to building a future pipeline, campaigns can be adjusted to suit your goals.
Best practices for running LinkedIn recruitment campaigns
Simply posting a job advert doesn’t guarantee success. The results come from how well the campaign is designed and managed:
- Craft tailored messaging that reflects what motivates your audience.
- Balance reach and relevance by applying targeting filters carefully.
- Continuously optimise by monitoring campaign performance and refining the approach.
When done correctly, this method can be significantly more cost-effective than agency recruitment, while also giving organisations more control over their employer brand and outreach.
LinkedIn as a strategic recruitment tool
LinkedIn may have evolved into a broad professional networking platform, but it remains a powerful way to recruit life sciences talent. For companies where the right expertise can be difficult to find, LinkedIn advertising offers a targeted, flexible, and cost-effective alternative to traditional recruitment channels.
Learn how to recruit on LinkedIn
If you’d like to make LinkedIn a core part of your recruitment strategy, there are two ways I can help:
- Practical training sessions – learn step-by-step how to design, target, and run effective LinkedIn recruitment campaigns for life sciences roles.
- One-to-one support – get tailored guidance and hands-on help setting up and managing campaigns for your specific hiring needs.
📩 Sign up today to start building a more cost-effective, targeted approach to recruitment.
