How to Get Recruiters to Notice You: 15+ Proven Strategies

Once you learn how to get recruiters to notice you, you’ll get access to more and better job opportunities, propelling your professional career. Common strategies include optimizing your resume, improving your LinkedIn profile, and building an online brand and personality, among others.

In this article, we’ll talk about all these tactics, explaining why and how they work, and giving you step-by-step instructions on employing them. We’ll also give you some tips on recruiters, show you how to contact them the right way, and what mistakes to avoid.

How to Optimize Your Resume to Get a Recruiter’s Attention

A resume is the primary tool in every job seeker’s arsenal, so let’s see how you can optimize yours to grab the attention of any recruiter.

#1. Use Established Format and Layout

The most commonly used and established format for your resume is the chronological format. It creates an organized timeline of your career’s progress by listing your past jobs and achievements in reverse-chronological order. Other notable formats include functional format (for entry-level candidates) and combination format (for those with employment gaps).

A layout needs to be clean and professional, making your resume easy to read and scan by applicant tracking systems. To achieve this, use a good font with a size of 10–12 pt, set margins to 1 inch, and ensure ample white space between sections for readability.

Lastly, your resume should be one page, unless you have decades of professional experience.

#2. Implement the Right Keywords

Resume keywords help you grab the recruiter’s attention when they are skimming through your document. Plus, they are essential in ATS resume optimization; you need them to pass the software scanning stage, where company systems look for relevant skills and qualifications.

To know which keywords to include, you should research the company and read the job ad. This will tell you what the recruiters want to see in candidates, and you’ll know what to include and which phrases to use.

It’s important to spread the keywords organically throughout the document. To do this, mention relevant skills when talking about your past accomplishments and the results you obtained.

#3. Quantify Your Accomplishments

The accomplishments you add to your resume (especially those in the resume summary and work experience sections) need to be quantified with numbers. 

Adding exact values, statistics, and percentages to the results you obtained makes them more concrete in the eyes of recruiters. Additionally, quantification turns unverifiable claims into proof of competence and transforms what you did into how well you did it.

#4. Tailor Your Resume for Each Application

Your resume is most effective when it’s tailored to the specific position that you’re applying for. This means it has all the relevant keywords and demonstrates your qualifications in an optimal way to present you as the best person for that exact role.

You only get one chance to leave a good first impression on the recruiter. When you submit a generic resume that isn’t tailored to the application, you risk being skipped over for someone whose skills and experiences better align with the needs of the company.

How to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile to Boost Recruiter Visibility

Let’s go through some effective LinkedIn tips for job seekers that will help you get the most out of this website.

#1. Complete Every Section

LinkedIn is a go-to platform for professionals and recruiters, where 7 new hires happen every minute. Therefore, completing every section of your LinkedIn profile is the first and most important thing to do if you want to get a recruiter’s attention. Meanwhile, an incomplete profile may raise red flags and signal a lack of care or dedication.

If you have every section completed, your profile is more likely to appear in searches of other recruiters, and they will be more inclined to visit it. This means you shouldn’t leave any section or field blank, and you should try to provide as much information about yourself as possible.

That way, you build trust and allow search filters to catch as many keywords from your profile as possible.

#2. Optimize Your Headline and About Sections

Optimizing your LinkedIn headline and “About” section goes beyond just completing a profile. If you want to stand out to recruiters, you need lines that contain more than just your job title and basic details about your qualifications.

Look up the most relevant industry keywords and add them next to your title, so that you appear more often in recruiters’ searches. These are typically your core strengths and essential skills.

In the “About” section, you want to write 3–4 concise and impactful paragraphs that represent your unique proposition. This includes your experience, greatest accomplishments, and career goals. That way, you help recruiters assess both your expertise and whether you’re a good cultural fit for their team.

#3. Use a Professional Photo

While adding a photo to your resume is forbidden in the U.S., adding it to your LinkedIn profile is a must. A comprehensive survey involving managers, HR professionals, and business owners showed that 80% of them believe the photo to be important in ranking.

However, you can’t just add any photo to your LinkedIn profile; your headshot needs to be high-quality and professional. Common red flags include having a photo that doesn’t show a full face, looks inauthentic, is from a vacation, or is low resolution.

That’s why it’s important to photograph yourself with intention. Make sure that the room is well-lit, that you’re dressed appropriately for your industry, and that the background isn’t too busy to draw attention away from your face.

#4. Leverage "Open To” Feature (Correctly)

LinkedIn allows you to announce that you’re open to work. The feature comes with several options to choose from, allowing you to find a job in a way that suits your circumstances.

For instance, you can set that you’re immediately available or flexible. Then, you can choose employment types, which range from full-time to internships and temporary work. You can also choose whether you’re open to working on-site, remotely, or in a hybrid model.

Finally, you can control the visibility. One option is to show all LinkedIn members that you’re open to work, which also adds a unique frame to your profile picture. The other is to limit who gets to see your availability to recruiters only.

#5. Get Skill Endorsements

Endorsements add invaluable social proof to your skills. For example, 70% of people trust recommendations from someone online whom they don’t even know. When someone endorses your skills, they provide validation to your claims, helping your profile convince recruiters of your competence. You should aim to have your most prominent skills endorsed.

Written recommendations can be even more impactful but harder to get. This can only be done by your first-degree connections, but it can significantly improve the odds of a successful outcome with recruiters.

How to Build an Online Personal Brand

Building an online personal brand is a career-long endeavor that can yield incredible results. It involves becoming an active participant in your industry and going beyond just looking for employment. Personal branding for job-seekers ensures they consistently show up in other people’s searches in various places, not just on LinkedIn.

Building a personal brand takes time and consistency. For starters, you should pick a sphere and a couple of topics for which you want to be known. Then, you want to make posts on social media platforms in which you’re most proficient.

Also, the posts need to be engaging and informative; you can share unique insights, industry knowledge, lessons learned, expert tips, and more. Additionally, you can talk about your projects and accomplishments, but you should avoid sounding pretentious.

Apart from creating content, this form of networking for job seekers involves engaging with others. This includes commenting on posts from other professionals, participating in discussions, resharing helpful insights and articles, and so on.

These activities typically take time to pay off, but they can significantly increase your online visibility and pay lucrative dividends for a long time. You will position yourself as an active professional and an expert in your field, which will enhance your credibility and make you more recognizable.

Ultimately, the goal is to stop trying to get recruiters’ attention, as they will likely find you. And even when you contact recruiters first, you will have much higher chances of impressing them once they conduct a social media background check.

How to Contact the Recruiters the Right Way

Here are three of the best LinkedIn practices and tips on how to contact the recruiter appropriately and maximize your chances of success:

Closing Thoughts

Now that you know how to get recruiters to notice you, you can expand your network, gain access to better opportunities, and improve the outcomes of your applications. Remember to complete your LinkedIn profile and resume beforehand.

The LinkedIn hub can help with your profile, as it contains all the resources you need to boost your visibility for a job search. On top of that, we have an AI-powered resume builder that has expert-made resume templates and professional resume examples, which you can use to craft a job-winning document.

How to Get Recruiters to Notice You FAQ

#1. Do recruiters check LinkedIn profiles?

Yes, recruiters often check LinkedIn profiles when searching for talent or evaluating applicants. As many as 95% of recruiters browse LinkedIn in the search for job candidates, making this platform mandatory for any professional serious about their career.

#2. Should I apply directly or wait for recruiters to find me?

You should both apply directly and ensure that recruiters can find you. Applying directly is a proactive approach that can yield fast results. On the other hand, improving your online presence provides long-term passive benefits, as recruiters are more likely to find you with their offers.

#3. Is networking important to attract recruiters?

Yes, networking is very important to attract recruiters. Having a big professional network allows you to have mutual connections with many recruiters. This increases the chances that a recruiter you aren’t connected with visits your profile or responds to your message.