Tracking candidates from LinkedIn®: spreadsheet, ATS or CRM?
Where you keep the people you find on LinkedIn decides whether you remember to get back to them. Here is where the three common methods work, and where they fall short.
Most recruiters keep the candidates they find on LinkedIn in a spreadsheet, in the company ATS, or in their notes. All three work up to a point. The trouble usually starts when the number of candidates grows and follow-ups start to overlap.
The common methods, compared
Spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets)
Works well
- ▸Free, and everyone knows how to use it
- ▸You can shape the columns however you like
- ▸Easy to share with your team
Falls short
- ▸You copy each candidate's name, title and profile link by hand
- ▸It does not remind you who to get back to, or when
- ▸The same person can be added twice, and rows get messy over time
ATS (applicant tracking system)
Works well
- ▸Keeps job posts, applications and interviews in one place
- ▸It is the company's official record, with strong reporting
Falls short
- ▸Most ATS tools are built around people who applied; they feel heavy for people you found on LinkedIn who have not applied yet
- ▸Bringing a LinkedIn profile in is often manual
- ▸Usually bought company-wide, so one recruiter cannot simply start using it
Notes and memory
Works well
- ▸No setup at all
- ▸Enough for a handful of candidates
Falls short
- ▸As the list grows, people get mixed up
- ▸Follow-up dates get forgotten
- ▸A teammate cannot take over
A CRM for LinkedIn (such as LinkTrack)
Works well
- ▸Saves a profile without leaving LinkedIn; name, title, company and experience are filled in for you
- ▸Sets follow-up reminders and shows who to get back to
- ▸You can start on a free plan
Falls short
- ▸It does not replace an ATS: it does not post jobs or collect applications
- ▸It needs the Chrome extension, which runs on desktop Chrome
Which one when?
- ▸If you follow a few candidates a month, a spreadsheet may be all you need.
- ▸If your company runs job posts and applications in an ATS, keep it. A CRM can sit next to it for the people you find on LinkedIn who have not applied yet; when they are ready, you export them as CSV or Excel (Individual and Team plans) and bring them into your ATS.
- ▸If you search LinkedIn regularly and run follow-ups that last for weeks, copying profiles by hand and forgotten follow-ups are where most of the time goes. Those are the two things a CRM for LinkedIn is built to solve.
How it works in LinkTrack
1. Save the profile
Open the candidate's LinkedIn profile, click "Get details" in the Chrome extension, then "Save to LinkTrack".
2. Put them in your pipeline
Pick a category and a stage. Every candidate shows up on a board, so you can see who is where.
3. Get reminded to follow up
Set a reminder for the candidate, and Smart Follow lists the people who have gone quiet.
Read more
Frequently asked questions
Is LinkTrack an ATS?
No. LinkTrack is a CRM for keeping track of the people you find on LinkedIn; it does not post jobs or collect applications. You can use it next to your ATS: on the Individual and Team plans you can export candidates to CSV or Excel.
Can I bring in my existing spreadsheet of candidates?
Yes. You can import a CSV or Excel file, and the same LinkedIn profile is not added twice. Bulk import is available on the Individual and Team plans.
Does LinkTrack do anything on my LinkedIn account?
LinkTrack does not automate anything on LinkedIn: it sends no messages or connection requests and does not browse pages on its own. It saves only the profile you open, when you click.
Is it free?
The free plan includes 25 candidates and 5 active reminders, with no credit card required.
Keep your LinkedIn candidates in one place
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