CTO Group is a strategic information and communications technology (ICT) consultancy founded in Canberra, Australia. The company provides trusted advice and resources to assist major organisations further their journey towards service excellence.

Since its formation in 2010, CTO Group has grown to more than 100 employees while maintaining a reputation for quality service to large clients in the public and private sectors.

Rather than operating with a centralized recruitment team, CTO Group relies on key staff members throughout the organization to find great hires and bring them on board. The company has 1 employee dedicated to driving direct recruitment via LinkedIn.

The company’s clients expect top-quality consultants staffed on their projects, so recruitment and retention are top priority. In order to compete for talent in competitive markets across Australia and Asia, CTO Group empowers hiring managers to own recruitment at every stage — from reviewing CVs to extending offers and onboarding. The firm typically recruits for 8 roles at a given time, but occasionally must scale resources to meet hiring demands for a specific engagement.

While CTO Group has employed external staffing agencies to deliver quality talent in the past, the company turned to LinkedIn to fuel long-term organic growth without agency reliance.

Using LinkedIn Recruiter has enabled CTO Group to reach more top talent and passive candidates. The Smart Suggestions feature helps the company find hidden potential candidates to save time and yield better results. The Spotlights feature helps the firm identify warm leads such as candidates who have previously engaged with the firm’s brand or are connected to current employees. As a result, the team finds better-fit candidates, faster.

To track feedback throughout the recruitment lifecycle, the team uses Recruiter’s project folders, manager reviews for pipelining and short-listing, and the status, notes and tags features.

When it comes time to engage sourced talent, CTO Group has seen tremendous success with InMail. Due to tailoring messages and prioritizing warm leads found via Recruiter, CTO Group’s average InMail response rate is ~40%, and the team surpassed 60% earlier this year (more than double the global average). In fact, one InMail drove an immediate job application.

Today, around 70% of all CTO hires are sourced through LinkedIn, with employee referrals driving the remainder of recruitment activity.

LinkedIn helps us build our talent pipeline, access passive candidates, reach individuals outside our immediate networks, and trace all our activity throughout the recruitment lifecycle.
Marcelle Newbound
Marcelle Newbound
Employee Experience & Engagement Manager

Using LinkedIn Recruiter, CTO Group has successfully recruited talent for their most crucial open roles, enabling them to save over $45,000 in staffing agency costs.

Within the first 2 weeks using LinkedIn Recruiter, the firm made its first hire. In the following 3 months, the team made an additional 4 hires with the help of LinkedIn.

  • Take the time to read LinkedIn profile before you send an InMail. Tailor your message to highlight why their experience suits the position.

  • Get certified on LinkedIn Recruiter. If you’re investing in the tools, it helps to be familiar with the features and functions.

  • Reach out to your LinkedIn Relationship Manager to help you build your business case for continued investment with LinkedIn.