In 2015, a secret tool was circulating around the recruiting community called Autopilot for LinkedIn. After hearing about this tool from others I downloaded the extension and soon realized the immense power that it could bring to my LinkedIn network. From the beginning, I was hooked and was using this tool on a nightly basis in a TOR browser. The results were insane – the number of views was in the thousands and I was being ranked at the top of my network. I was even ranked above the business celebrities in my network. It was truly a spectacular time: my inmail response rates increased and I was getting more opportunities sent my way.
During the time of this new tool launch, I told the owner of our small recruiting agency about Autopilot. He clearly saw the usefulness of this tool and overnight our entire team of 12 had purchased a license to this extension. We were gaining new clients and other recruiting agencies were taking notice. Our recruiters would auto view different profiles based on our job openings. Then the profiles who viewed you back (the active users) were the ones to whom you would send a message. Because of that quick reaction, our response rates rose dramatically.
Scott Offord launched Autopilot for LinkedIn in the summer of 2015. Within a few months, this extension was rising in popularity. I attended SourceCon in Atlanta that year and it was the tool that everyone was talking about. It was truly the most impactful tool that I was using at the time and I didn’t want anyone else to know about it.
Autopilot for LinkedIn allowed you to automate the viewing process altogether. You would create a string and then set how many views you would like this tool to view. At the time, LinkedIn allowed you to see your rankings and even gave you a number based on your network. A LinkedIn algorithm ranked you based on views. Essentially, this tool really undermined the LinkedIn basic ranking search model. This tool made you a rock star recruiter and just like in life, things rise and fall.
I reached out to Scott and he was kind enough to give his perspective on this tool. Basically, LinkedIn discovered this auto-viewing extension and of course they were not a fan. LinkedIn rolled out some new features that removed the number ranking list and also set stricter guidelines for having users view other profiles. These new features would put users into “LinkedIn Jail” a lot quicker. LinkedIn also kept changing the API features making it more difficult for Autopilot to keep up and thus Autopilot was forced to shut down. Unfortunately, good things sometimes have to come to an end.
Scott thank you for coming up with such a creative extension tool. It’s inspiring to see someone come up with new sourcing tools and innovative ways to reach candidates. The Talent Sourcing community owes you a BIG thank you.
Recommended Reading:
How to Automate LinkedIn Using Phantombuster
Boolean Strings to Source Female Candidates
How to Use Mail Merge to Recruit Candidates
