Knowing how to reach out to a recruiter on LinkedIn allows you to significantly improve the effectiveness of your job-seeking efforts. It also leads to more opportunities and connections, giving you both short-term and long-term career benefits.
In this article, we’ll teach you everything from how to prepare your profile before contacting a recruiter to what to say and what to avoid. We’ll also teach you how to find the right recruiter, and we’ll give you some concrete examples of messages you can send.
Key Takeaways
You need to know how to reach out to a recruiter on LinkedIn to gain access to additional opportunities, find jobs more easily, and improve your career outcome long-term.
Before contacting a recruiter, optimize your LinkedIn profile with a strong headline, summary, skills, and experience.
Avoid generic, copy-paste messages and, instead, write a personalized note with a polite call to action.
If you don’t get a response, you can follow up once or twice, but don’t overdo it and come off as demanding.
Why You Should Connect With Recruiters on LinkedIn
Here are the most important reasons why you should connect with recruiters on LinkedIn:
Gain access to additional opportunities. Many job postings are never posted publicly, or you don’t get to see them before they are filled. By connecting with recruiters, you can gain access to these openings, since you increase the chances of your profile coming up in their search or them contacting you directly.
Personalize your application. When you connect with a recruiter after submitting your resume, you put a face behind a formal document. This can help your application stand out and result in a more favorable outcome by advancing you to further stages in the hiring process.
Gain opportunities in the future. Even if you don’t get the immediate benefit from connecting with recruiters on LinkedIn, you should still have them in your professional network. By leaving a favorable impression on recruiters, you’ll make it more likely for them to think of you first when an opportunity arises down the road.
How to Prepare Your LinkedIn Before Reaching Out
Preparation on LinkedIn is key before reaching out, since an optimized profile boosts your chances of getting an interview by 71%. Let’s explore some LinkedIn profile tips and platform strategies that can help you achieve that.
#1. Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Recruiters
To optimize your LinkedIn profile for recruiters, you want to implement the keywords that they use when searching for candidates. If your profile lacks relevant keywords, it has much lower chances of appearing in their search. Optimizing your LinkedIn profile this way helps them find you more easily, both before and after you’ve contacted them.
For starters, your professional title needs to be accurate and reflect the industry standard. Following that, you should research your field and the position that you’re after to identify common terminology used to describe skills and qualifications. You can then weave in these phrases organically throughout your profile’s various sections to boost its discoverability.
#2. Craft a Strong Headline and Summary
Your LinkedIn headline and summary are the first things recruiters see whenever they visit your profile. That’s why you need to make them professional, accurate, and engaging.
Apart from using established terminology for your job title (avoid vague terms like “Aspiring Professional”), you also want to include a brief line about your key strengths. For example, you can include two of your most valuable skills followed by your unique proposition (e.g., I help [type of client] achieve [result]).
Your summary needs to tell a brief story about your career’s progress. Instead of just listing your duties, use a narrative approach to explain how and why you do what you do while emphasizing your biggest accomplishments.
#3. Highlight Relevant Skills and Experience
Sections about skills and experience are essential for the LinkedIn algorithm. While you can add up to 100 skills to your LinkedIn profile, you should aim for quality over quantity. This means including around 20–30 abilities that are highly valuable in your industry and relevant to the position that you’re applying for.
For your experience section, you want to focus on results and accomplishments over responsibilities. Include the times you reached and exceeded KPIs or overcame significant obstacles, and make sure to use numbers to quantify your efforts and make them more concrete.
How to Find the Right Recruiters to Contact
To find the right recruiters to contact, you should use LinkedIn’s search filters. Connecting with recruiters in your sphere is the first step in ensuring success. Sending a message to someone who doesn’t cover your industry is a waste of time and effort for both parties.
To begin, you can look for recruiters by using industry-specific keywords. For example, you can look up the term “marketing recruiter” or “healthcare recruiter” to get a broad collection of relevant results.
The results page will show you a combination of people, posts, jobs, and companies that fit your query. You can narrow the search down to only people and use additional filters to find closer matches.
With filters, you can discover recruiters based on their location or their current company. That way, you can target a specific person or find someone from the organization you want to join. This is the most direct way to network on LinkedIn and find recruiters who are hiring for a specific company.
Other strategies for identifying the correct recruiters include:
More Recruiter Outreach Strategies
Looking at the company’s LinkedIn page and exploring its employees.
Checking out the person who posted a job opening.
Joining groups relevant to your industry and looking at recruiters in the list of members.
How to Reach Out to a Recruiter on LinkedIn
Now that you know the best LinkedIn practices for optimizing your profile and finding the right professionals, we’ll give you a step-by-step guide on how to reach out to a recruiter on LinkedIn.
#1. Craft a Personalized Message
Your LinkedIn connection message to a recruiter needs to be thoughtful and personalized. Avoid generic messages and introductions that you can copy and paste to every recruiter (e.g., “Hi, I am looking for a job”). These messages show a lack of care and intent, and recruiters will usually ignore them.
Instead, you want to show that you did your research. In addition to using the recruiter’s name, you also want to mention something specific that will resonate with them. This can be the job posting they added, a shared connection that referred you to the recruiter, or even one of the articles they shared.
Here’s an example of how you can start a conversation with a recruiter:
Personalized Message Example
Hi [Name], I saw your post about the recent expansion in your [Company] and your marketing team, and I wanted to connect regarding this opportunity.
#2. Highlight Your Value and Skills
Your message needs to be brief, so you need to be succinct when demonstrating value and emphasizing your unique proposition. Think of this as your elevator pitch, where you need to be brief when stating who you are and what you offer. This maximizes the chances of recruiters reading your message and responding favorably.
If you’re contacting recruiters because of a specific role, tailor your message to it specifically. For example, you can talk about your experience in similar projects or the certifications that you have.
#3. Be Polite but Not Pushy
Being polite and professional without overstepping boundaries is critical when interacting with recruiters and networking in general. Recruiters often receive plenty of messages, especially if they work for sought-after companies. As a result, they can’t always promptly respond to all of them.
That’s why you should give them some time and wait a few days to see if they answer back. If you don’t hear from them after a while, you can send a polite and respectful follow-up message to get back on their radar.
#4. Include a Clear Call to Action
Adding a courteous but clear call to action neatly wraps up your message without leaving it too vague. It should be used to suggest the next steps, increasing the chances that the recruiter responds to your message.
However, you shouldn’t be demanding and asking for job offers or interviews. Instead, you can suggest a call or a meeting by saying something along the lines of, “Let me know if you’re available for a brief chat” or “Would it be okay if I sent over my resume?”
Lastly, research shows that personalized calls to action perform 202% better than basic CTAs, which makes them all the more powerful when used in combination with tailored messages.
5 Examples of LinkedIn Messages to Recruiters
To put into practice everything that we’ve taught you so far, we’ll show you concrete and professional LinkedIn message examples that you can send in various situations.
#1. Reaching Out About a Posted Position
Let’s see how to connect with a recruiter on LinkedIn when you have just applied for a position that they posted:
Good Example
Hi [Recruiter Name],
I just applied for the [Job Position] at [Company] and wanted to introduce myself. With [Number of Years] of experience in the field and [Accomplishment], I believe I can be a great fit for your team. Thanks for your time!
#2. Reaching Out with No Position Posted (Cold Outreach)
Here’s how to contact recruiters on LinkedIn when there’s no active job posting:
Good Example
Hi [Recruiter Name],
I’ve been following the work of [Company] for a while, particularly [Project or Area]. I believe my skills and experiences align with your requirements, so would you be open to connecting regarding a potential future opportunity with your team?
#3. Reaching Out for an Internship
Here’s a professional way to inquire about an internship:
Good Example
Hello [Recruiter Name],
I am majoring in [Major] at [University], and I’ve been following [Company]’s work in [Area]. I have experience in [Skill/Software/Tool], so I was wondering if you had a moment to connect and talk about potential internship positions.
#4. Referring to a Mutual Connection
Let’s see how you can contact a recruiter by mentioning a mutual connection:
Good Example
Hello [Recruiter Name],
Our mutual connection [Name] suggested I contact you regarding an opening at your company. I’ve been following your work for a while, and I believe my expertise in [Area] could benefit your team. Do you have a moment to chat?
#5. Following Up After No Response
Finally, here’s a follow-up message you can send after not receiving a response for a while:
Good Example
Hi [Recruiter Name],
I am writing to follow up on my previous message regarding [Open Position]. I know that you’re busy, so I just want to restate my interest, as I’m confident my [Skill] would add value to your team. I look forward to hearing from you.
5 Crucial Mistakes Not to Make When Reaching Out to Recruiters on LinkedIn
Before we wrap up this comprehensive guide on how to reach out to a recruiter on LinkedIn, let’s review some of the biggest mistakes you can make:
LinkedIn Recruiter Outreach Mistakes
Sending generic messages. Sending a copy-paste message to recruiters to save time and increase your network signals laziness and disinterest.
Writing too long messages. Recruiters usually don’t have time to read long messages from strangers. A short but impactful message is much more likely to grab their attention. Plus, it shows that you have strong communication skills.
Immediately asking for job opportunities. Avoid being demanding. Instead, shift focus from your need for a job to what you can bring to the recruiter’s company.
Being too persistent. It’s fine to send one or two follow-up messages with plenty of time between them. Too frequent messaging with no response can get you blocked or even blacklisted.
Not proofreading. Even a single typo can signal a lack of care or attention to detail.
Closing Thoughts
Knowing how to reach out to a recruiter on LinkedIn includes finding the right person, writing a tailored message, and following up if needed. Over 75% of people who recently changed jobs used LinkedIn to inform their career decision, so with our LinkedIn recruiter outreach tips and strategies, you get a real advantage.
Don’t forget to have your profile and resume ready beforehand. If you need help, use our LinkedIn resource page, a collection of resume examples, and our resume builder. The builder comes with ready-made resume templates and an AI-powered writing assistant, so you can design your document in minutes!
How to Reach Out to a Recruiter on LinkedIn FAQs
#1. What is the best time to message a recruiter on LinkedIn?
The best time to message a recruiter on LinkedIn is typically mid-morning, between 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Avoid messaging them on Mondays and Fridays, as these days are typically much busier for recruiters.
#2. How many follow-ups are appropriate after no response?
It’s usually appropriate to do one or two follow-ups if the recruiter hasn’t responded to you. You should send the first one roughly a week after your first message, and the second one after several weeks or a month. If they still don’t respond, you should move on.
#3. Should I include my resume directly in a LinkedIn message?
You should include your resume directly in a LinkedIn message if it fits the context and is relevant to the conversation. For instance, if the conversation is about a specific job opening, sending a resume can save the recruiter time. Avoid immediately sending your resume in general networking conversations.
#4. Should I connect with recruiters before or after applying to a job?
You can connect with recruiters both before and after applying to a job. If you haven’t connected with them before applying, it’s highly effective to send them a message immediately after applying. It’s LinkedIn etiquette not to be demanding while showcasing enthusiasm and your proactive approach.
