Messages to Recruiters that hurt your job search

In order to be effective in your job search, it is important to learn how to communicate with recruiters. They are the ones who facilitate the career transitions for you, they are the agents of change. However, rarely we see resources that are teaching us how to communicate with recruiters effectively.

I remember when I first came to the country, there was no one place to explain it all for me - all the things I needed to know about the Canadian job market, Canadian resumes, cover letters and simply how to talk to people. So I decided to build that resource.

In this article, I want to address all the messages that we (recruiters) receive on a daily basis but do not lead to anything.

Here are some messages that I find ineffective (+ my comments on why I think so).

1. "Hi, how are you?"

This message is not effective because it signals to me that the person hasn't mastered asynchronous communication.

And you don't want to signal that. Basically you are telling your reader that this is how you're going to communicate within the business, and within the business, there's a lot of asynchronous communication that is happening at all times, especially in a large global business where you need to work across several time zones. You will piss a lot of people in the business if your internal communication is like that.

The moment they read ?? "hi, how are you" is the moment they think ?? "what do you want from me?". Not having an answer to the question from the get-go is not going to play in your favour.

Effective communication is resolving the question even before it's being asked.

Simple structure for the message:

• Hi, how are you? (Ok, you can lead with that if you want)
• What is the ask?
• What context do I need to know to answer your question?

2. "Do you have any opportunities for XYZ role?"

As a talent partner within the business, all opportunities I represent are posted on our careers page.

Of course, there could be some exceptions. I can be working on a confidential role that will not be posted. It does make sense to build a relationship with the recruiter first - maybe they will share with you something that is not public knowledge yet ??.

However, normally, most of the open roles are live and posted, so let's focus on those.

When you're asking this question, you're signalling that you are a lazy person.

You are basically saying that you are an individual who didn't take the time of the day to:

• go to the company careers page
• research the business
• research the career opportunities out there
• pick a role that is truly aligned with your profile
• apply for the role and then inform the recruiter that you're super interested and you would like to get a shot and have a conversation to explore further alignment.

You don't want to signal to the business that you're lazy.

And you also don't want to signal that you have no idea how to differentiate yourself from so many people out there who do the same thing every day - ask the same superficial questions.

If your objective is to stand out, ask better questions.

3. "Let me know if you have any opportunities that fit my profile."

This is what you write.

This is how the recruiter on the other end perceives your message: "Drop whatever you're doing and go find me a job".

Please note, finding you a job is not my priority. It is yours.

As a recruiter, my job is to find people for jobs, not jobs for people.

As a coach, I do teach people how to be effective in their career transformations.

As a job developer, it was my job to help you find a job. But even in job development, my role was a mix of coaching and connecting you with people in the industry. Being a job developer I knew I could do nothing if the candidate's approach is passive.

The mentality "I'm going to be just sitting here and I'm going to wait for people to bring me opportunities" will get you nowhere.

4. "Please keep my profile in mind."

This is not an effective message. Why? Because I won't.

The truth is that as a recruiter, I will forget about our interaction 5 minutes after your message.

Think about it for a second.

We meet hundreds and hundreds of people every week. And remembering all our relationships is just physically impossible.

At the moment of writing this, my network number is approaching 20k people. I can't and I don't keep them all in my head (that's what LinkedIn is for).

You've probably heard of a magical number of 150, right? A human can only maintain about 150 deep authentic connections in life. More or less.

That number is fluid. As we progress through life, old connections weaken and the new connections arise and get active maintenance.

150 - keep this notional number in mind because it's probably close to reality for many people.

As a candidate, you don't want to ask, "Please keep my profile in mind". You want to be remembered.

That's the question that you must ask yourself: ?? How do I make sure that our interaction is memorable?

And that means our interaction must be thoughtful and really different from everything else that this person on the other side has experienced before. And I am telling you, what the person experiences all the time, is these kinds of templated thoughtless messages 99% of the time.

5. Here's my resume, can you give me some feedback?

Definitely not here to discourage you. Do reach out to recruiters, there will be people who will be willing to work for free.

I don't. I have been in the coaching game long enough and I learned it very quickly on this journey - Free Doesn't Work.

If there is no skin in the game, the person won't value what you do for them. This is just how strangely humans are wired. If the price is zero, we devalue the product or service in our mind.

So if you're really invested in your career and personal development, you're welcome to get in touch and explore coaching.

If you want free stuff, I'm creating free content that you can leverage.

6. "I'm interested in your role..."

That's great. As a recruiter, here's my guidance to you.

→ Apply first.

By doing so you are making my life as a recruiter easier. The moment you reach out, I will just go into my ATS, check your application right away, and give you instant feedback on your application.

Make sure that your application is great and stands out and that your outreach message is effective, concise, and to the point.

Consider your message a mini cover letter.

So your mini cover letter needs to explain to me what the resume doesn't.

Your resume tells me:

• how much experience you have
• what kind of experience you have
• your skills / impact / accomplishments

Basically, it answers the question - are you qualified to do the job or at least have the potential to be qualified based on the story your resume tells?

What the resume doesn't tell me:

• why are you interested?
• why do you want this role?
• what makes you different / unique?
• what do you think you bring to the table?

So, meditate on this, and you can also find more content on effective outreach here.

7. "I'm outside of Canada, can I get a job first and immigrate after?"

Sorry but no.

Your chances are next to zero. Reason: aggressive immigration programs that the Canadian government runs.

There is a lot of new talent that's being injected every year in Canada, so plenty of great talent here.

So unless you're an absolute unicorn, and by ??, I mean you're a super-niche specialist with a unique skill set that local companies simply cannot find in Canada, chances that you will get sponsored for a visa are minimal.

I have experience facilitating the LMIA sponsorship process for a candidate before. And it has proven to be an expensive, tedious, and very time-consuming process.

From a business perspective, the business would do it only if they have proof that they've failed to find talent locally. This is rarely the case.

8. "You are an arrogant piece of ??. Are you really a recruiter? Your smug face is disgusting."

Been there. Heard that. Thanks.

Brutal honesty is my guiding principle. To myself. By extension to others.

This principle bleeds into my communication style.

I am not everyone's cup of tea, nor do I pretend to be.

What you see in me is yours. Not mine. You don't know me. All you are dealing with is your perception. At all times.

For people who choose to resort to negativity in communication, I have only two things to say.

One, I feel nothing, and by being negative you are confirming that my initial assessment of you not being qualified was ?? correct.

Two, if you're being strategic about your career burning the bridge with the person whose role is literally to be a gatekeeper for that company is probably not the best idea.

Thanks for reading.

Enjoy the ride.

Engage thoughtfully.

??

C.