Recruiters are always keen to find the right candidates to fill job roles. The recruitment process often starts with recruiters seeking out qualified candidates and initiating first contact.
When you’re a job seeker actively pursuing employment opportunities, reaching out to a recruiter is one of the best ways to kick start your job search. They are well-placed as they can direct you to your next career opportunity.
Recruiters go through a ton of messages each week. When reaching out for the first time, consider using these tips to get noticed by the right people.
Get in touch with the right person
You need to be intentional and strategic about who you reach out to. Before you even begin to think about sending messages to recruiters, make sure you’re getting in touch with the right person.
When you’re looking to work with an independent recruiter, assess if they’re well-placed to help you with your job search. Just as recruiters and hiring managers vet candidates for skills and qualifications, you should be looking into a recruiter’s track record and industry knowledge. Look at their profile or company website. You want to make sure that the recruiter works in the specific industry you’re in and has an inside track to relevant companies and their hiring needs.
Reaching out to recruiters on Linkedin
Over 95% of recruiters are on LinkedIn looking for job candidates so it makes a lot of sense to use this platform to connect with recruiters. Start off by making a good impression. If you want to send a connection request, craft a concise yet well-written message. Make it personal and intentional. Mention something about one of their posts or find some common ground to connect and then try to lead with that.
Recruiters will skim through your message so it’s best to go straight to the point. Give a brief introduction and include the reason why you’re reaching out — i.e. you’re looking to build a relationship or inquiring about a specific position you’re interested in. Recruiters will be looking at your profile so it’s important to optimize it by curating all the sections. This generates interest and helps recruiters understand who you are and your expertise.
Build on that connection
Once you’ve made the connection, you now have a little more room to make your case. If you want to position yourself as a valuable candidate for available opportunities, send the recruiter a message describing your experience, qualifications and ask if you can send a resume.
If possible, discuss things over the phone. Calls are usually more efficient, personal and thorough. They are a quick and easy way of assessing if someone is suitable for a job and it also helps the recruiter get a better sense of how they’ll be able to help you with your job search.
It would be good to have some idea about what you’re looking for, specifically your job goals and the companies you’re interested in. This helps the recruiter streamline opportunities that align with your preferences. If you’re willing to relocate, mention this as a feasible option. Showing some flexibility in terms of geographic preferences can make you more desirable to recruiters and hiring managers.
When approaching recruiters, not every attempt will yield a successful outcome. This is a reasonable expectation so don’t feel rejected or defeated. From sifting through resumes to interviewing candidates, recruiters juggle multiple tasks so they may not have enough time to accommodate every person who reaches out. These things usually take time so stick with it and pretty soon you’ll end up being the right fit for the right job.
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