With over 900,000 recruiters and headhunters on the platform around the world, proactively searching for (and connecting with) recruiters is a great way to follow-up personally after you’ve submitted an online application or to express your interest in a particular type of role, industry, or company.
And, many of the highest-level executive positions are not advertised openly on LinkedIn, Indeed, or other job sites. Instead, sourcing the perfect candidate is the responsibility of a skilled recruiter, so they may have roles and opportunities not found anywhere else. Having an impressive and optimized profile is a great start, but to really maximize your job search efforts, try contacting a recruiter on LinkedIn.
1. Finding an External Recruiter
External recruiters work independently or for search firms and serve their client companies by sourcing, vetting, and presenting qualified candidates to the hiring manager. Many search firms and external recruiters specialize in an industry, job function, professional level, or specific geography.
To find recruiters in your industry or geography, search Recruiter OR Recruitment OR Headhunter in the search bar. This will ensure you don’t miss any recruiters with different titles. Also, make sure the dropdown is on the “People” tab. To refine your search by industry or job function, add something like “Technical” “Executive” “Engineering” “CPG” or any other relevant keyword to help narrow your search.
Then, to further refine your search, you can filter by location, company, connection degree, and more by clicking on “All Filters” to the far right of the drop-down boxes listed above.
2. Finding an Internal Recruiter at a Specific Company
Many medium to enterprise-sized companies have their own internal recruiters or talent department who work to source, pre-qualify, and present candidates to hiring managers to fill internal roles rather than working with an external firm. If you have applied for a position with a larger organization or you have a wish list of companies you’d like to work for, finding and connecting to the companies’ internal recruiters is a good way to start a human conversation and to get noticed.
To do this, you’ll start by looking up the company in the search bar. Make sure you are searching by “Companies” instead of “People” to find the company you want to target. Once you are on a company’s profile, hit “see all employees” in the lower right-hand corner to narrow your search to people currently with that organization.
Now that you have a list of all employees with the company, search for Recruiter OR Recruitment OR Headhunter OR Talent and then follow the steps outlined above for external searches.
3. Personalize Your Connection Request
Instead of just clicking “Connect”, let the recruiter know why you are reaching out and what role(s) you are interested in. These connections should be intentional and professional. Asking if they need people with your skill-set and background will get you a response of “We will keep your information on file,” at best. Your approach should mimic a short cover letter. Things you may consider include the reason you are contacting this specific recruiter, what specific roles you are seeking, your locations of interest, and a few relevant career highlights.
If you are on the mobile platform, you can still personalize your connection, but there is an extra step to doing so.
Click on the person’s profile that you’d like to connect with and to the far left of “Connect” you’ll hit the “More” button instead.
From there, choose “Personalize Invitation” instead of “Connect” which will allow you to add a message to your connection request.
After you’ve made your connection, make sure to maintain contact or engage with their posts and comments on the platform to stay top-of-mind.
For more information on how to optimize your profile to get noticed by recruiters and employers, check out 6 Easy Tips to Get Noticed by Employers on LinkedIn.
Searching for a new role can be daunting. At D&S Professional Coaching, we partner with executives around the world to create highly effective job search tools to compete for top positions.
Our services include executive-level resume and cover letter writing, LinkedIn profile creation and optimization, recruiter connections, and modern job search coaching.
Contact us today to learn more about what we can do for you!