How to reach out to a recruiter on LinkedIn?

We all talk about how important networking is but no one really explains how to do it. And as a newcomer to Canada, we are left hanging with this question in our mind. But today let me simplify that for you.

Hey guys, my name is Nishant and I am a Recruitment Specialist, a Certified Career Coach, and a YouTuber. Today we are going to talk about one of the key elements of a job search i.e. How to connect with a recruiter?

But before we start, if you are more fond of watching a video then you can find the video above. But if you are more of a reader then keep reading this article.

Though all of us want to get in touch with the hiring manager directly, believe it or not, it is difficult to find who the hiring manager could be for a particular position. But it is very easy to identify a recruiter on Linkedin just by their job title or their LinkedIn headline. Like my LinkedIn profile says “Recruitment Specialist”.

And now once you have identified the recruiter, what to do next?

The first step should be to check out the recruiter’s profile. See all of his recent posts. This will help in two ways:

1) You will get some talking points to discuss with the recruiter.

2) You would get to know if this recruiter is relevant to you or not. Because more often than not, recruiters hire for specific roles. Like there would be a recruiter who only hires for technical roles, known as Technical Recruiter. Then there will be a recruiter who is only hiring for industrial roles and so on.

So for example, you are a finance professional and you come across a recruiter on Linkedin Nishant and his LinkedIn headline says “Technical Recruiter”. Then as a Finance professional, this Nishant guy may not be relevant to you. So before you even think about connecting with a recruiter make sure they are relevant to the kind of roles you are looking for. Else it would be a waste of your time and the recruiter’s time.

Now once that is done, the next step would be to send them a connection request. But always remember this rule of thumb: Never send a connection request without a personalized note. You have to give the other person a reason to connect with you. So always add a note. And if you are already connected to this recruiter then you would want to send them a message. And this message should be either:

1. Relatable
2. Or should include some compliment
3. Or should provide some value to the other person

So let's take an example.

“Hey Raj,

Just saw your LinkedIn Post about "Networking for International Students". Being an international student myself in the past, I really appreciate the insights you have been providing to these people.

I noticed that we share similar interests in helping the newcomer community by sharing our knowledge. Would love to connect if possible.”

Now did you notice, I didn't even bring the position that I want to apply for at all? The entire motive of sending this message was to get my connection request accepted and start engaging with this person. And why this message could work is because it was relatable as I told him that we share similar interests in helping the newcomer community and I also complimented him for his recent post.

Now suppose Raj has accepted the connection request. I would still not jump directly to the position. I would want to have at least some conversation with him just to build a rapport. Why? Because once you have built a rapport, that would give you leverage to send a longer and detailed message explaining what exactly you are looking for.

So now once you have built this quick rapport, you’ll message him saying,

"Hey Raj,

I saw the posting for an e-commerce coordinator in your company a few days ago. I was wondering if you could help me connect with someone working in a similar position in your org. I would love to understand the position better as to what a typical day looks"

I could have asked if I can directly share my resume with you. But I didn’t. Because more often than not, the recruiter would have asked me to apply online and we’ll get in touch with you. But what I did here is that I demonstrated my interest in learning more about this position before I bother him. In a way, I am also showing consideration for his time as well because believe it or not, recruitment is a very fast-paced industry and recruiters are busy.

Now obviously you don’t have to do this just for a show-off. You would actually want to connect with someone from the team and learn more about the position. And once you have done that then you will follow up with the recruiter because you don’t want to lose that touch, that rapport you had built.

So our follow up message would look something like this:

"Hey Raj,

Thanks for connecting me with Gloria. My conversation went really well. I had no idea that your org has recently raised $23 million dollar funding and is working with some of the biggest fortune 500 companies. Getting to learn about the position, the team culture, and how well the org is doing has solidified my interest to work with your org and I would love to forward my resume for your consideration."

Now for this recruiter, you are not just any other candidate. You are someone with whom the recruiter has already had a conversation, you are someone with whom the internal team member has already had a conversation. You are someone who has already built some familiarity for himself/herself in that org. And that will help improve your chances of landing an interview and eventually the job.

But a small disclaimer: Not everyone is going to accept your connection request. No matter how well-drafted your messages are. So please don’t get disheartened. Just be persistent with your efforts. More often, success is determined by consistency.

P.S. Apart from being a professional, I am also a human who enjoys entertainment. If you are also a human just like me, I am sure you would love watching some content from my YouTube channel where we discuss Jobs, Job search, Life in Canada, travel, and much more. So please subscribe and share.