- Career Advice
- Finding a job
- Learn how to find recruiters on LinkedIn and connect with the right ones
Learn how to find recruiters on LinkedIn and connect with the right ones
- How to find hiring recruiters on LinkedIn
- How to perform a recruiter search on LinkedIn
- Should I message recruiters on LinkedIn?
- 5 reasons why recruiters might not be reaching out to you on LinkedIn
- How to optimize your LinkedIn profile to attract recruiters
- Key takeaways
Linkedin can be a great way to connect with recruiters. But what’s the best way to do that? This article covers how to find recruiters on LinkedIn so you can move your career forward.
Millions of today's workers use LinkedIn as their primary professional social network and with good reason. With over one billion users worldwide, it can be a great tool to make contacts to help advance your career. But, it can also be used to find your next job, and a network of recruiters can make the process easier. So, how do you find them?
In this article, we’ll discuss how to find recruiters on LinkedIn and find the right one for you, including:
How do you find LinkedIn recruiters?
How to do a good recruiter search on LinkedIn
What not to say to a LinkedIn recruiter
5 reasons why recruiters are not reaching out to you on LinkedIn
How to optimize your LinkedIn profile to attract recruiters
How to find hiring recruiters on LinkedIn
If you’re a job hunter, LinkedIn is a good source of recruiters. In fact, based on a study and statistics, 77 percent of recruiters actively use LinkedIn to find new hires. The trick is to think like a recruiter to increase your chances of getting noticed. How can you do that?
To increase your chances of finding a recruiter on LinkedIn, you should:
Look closely at the job postings. Find the postings you’re interested in, and strategically use keywords from those postings in your profile.
Join LinkedIn groups. Become a part of profession-related groups, which are regularly visited by recruiters to check for talent.
Join relevant professional associations. Similar to LinkedIn groups, recruiters will often perform a search for people in these groups.
Recommend and endorse others. When you recommend and endorse people you know on LinkedIn, it establishes your credibility as an expert in your field (and, hopefully, will encourage others to return the favor).
Grow your LinkedIn network. This will increase your visibility if a recruiter does a search for your particular job title.
How to perform a recruiter search on LinkedIn
As you likely know, there are recruiters in nearly every industry. That makes it even more important to find one who has experience and contacts in your individual field. So, before you can begin a recruiter search, you must determine two things: your desired industry and the names of companies you’d like to work for.
Once you’ve done that, the process is pretty simple. Find the search bar on your profile page, type in the word "recruiters," select "people," and then hit the search button! This will likely return a large number of recruiters, so if you'd like to narrow the results, do another search but add a specific industry after the word "recruiters." If you want to narrow it even further, add the name of a specific company after the word "recruiters," which will help you find the names of all the recruiters who work with that company.
Should I message recruiters on LinkedIn?
Absolutely but with a caveat: it has to be done with care and in a professional manner. “Hey, hire me!” isn’t going to cut it. You also need to be aware of the messaging parameters. If you have a free account, you can message connections, but if someone is not yet in your network, you’ll have to send a connection request before you can directly message them. Keep your connection request brief and to the point. It can look something like this:
I’m a [position] based in [location]. After [number] years in [field], I’m ready to take the next step in my career and [give specifics of what position you’re looking for]. I have long admired your company because [add specific reasons] and would really like to be considered for any future job openings. If you’re open to it, let’s connect here to chat further about potential opportunities.
Thank you, [your first and last name]
Once you’ve established a connection, you can message them directly. Again, keep your notes concise and professional. Give them your best elevator pitch, highlighting your accomplishments and why you’d be a good fit for their company. To improve your response rate, keep your message no more than about 400 characters; that’s the “sweet spot” that boosts your chances of receiving a response.
Keep in mind that what you don’t say to a recruiter is often just as important as what you do say. When messaging a recruiter, avoid asking them if they have any jobs that might fit you, requesting feedback on your resume or online profile, or demanding that they find you a job. Also, don’t ask for their direct contact info. Avoid requesting an interview for a company the recruiter no longer works for or asking for an endorsement. Using the wrong name in your greeting, or no name at all (i,e, “Hello, friend…”) is something to steer clear of as well.
5 reasons why recruiters might not be reaching out to you on LinkedIn
You’ve got a completed profile, and have messaged several recruiters on LinkedIn. But why might they not be reaching out to you? Recruiters see a huge number of profiles and applications every day, so you really have to make it easy for them to find you. If recruiters are not contacting you, it may be due to any of the following reasons:
Your contact information is incorrect and not up-to-date. If you’re sending them to an email address you never use, you could be missing out on opportunities!
Your “Let recruiters know you’re open” button is not toggled on. They’re not going to contact you if they think you’re not looking for a job.
Recruiters cannot contact you via InMail. Set your notifications to let you know when you’ve been contacted on LinkedIn’s internal messaging system.
You’re not qualified for the jobs you’re applying for. If the recruiter is looking for a sales executive with 10 years of experience and you’re a retail clerk, you’re probably not going to get a call.
Your LinkedIn profile is incomplete. Your profile was never fully completed or it doesn't provide an accurate picture of who you are and what you do.
How to optimize your LinkedIn profile to attract recruiters
If your profile is dull, bland, or lacking in the appropriate keywords, you might be overlooked. So, it’s important to optimize your profile to get noticed by recruiters.
Don’t feel overwhelmed—all it takes is a few easy steps to get your profile up to speed:
Include a great profile photo. It should be clear and close-up. Also, your background (or banner) photo should show off something about your interests or current job.
Add relevant keywords to your profile heading. The heading should include fitting keywords and creatively describe your expertise—basically, what makes you special.
Make your profile summary similar to your resume’s professional summary. You should give a brief overview of your skills, experience, and accomplishments. Incorporate keywords from job postings in your field so that you appear in recruiters’ searches. Also, consider including links to examples of your work, if appropriate.
Distinguish your work experience from your resume's job history. Think of this section as your highlight reel. Focus on your achievements and update them regularly.
Include your education and training. This applies to any professional organizations, licenses, and certifications.
Utilize recommendations. Request recommendations from people in your network, which helps to establish your credibility. Also, consider endorsing others—they may return the favor.
Additionally, ensure a relevant and current list of skills. If you speak more than one language fluently, consider creating your profile in that language. It won't erase your primary profile and might open you up to new opportunities. Don’t use jargon or clichés, especially to describe yourself. It’s better to show these qualities in your experience or “about” sections.
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Key takeaways
Remember, 77 percent of recruiters use LinkedIn to find new hires.
You can and should message recruiters on LinkedIn but deliver concise, professional messages.
There are several reasons recruiters might not be reaching out to you, including a private profile, inaccurate contact information, and an incomplete profile.
Always maintain an optimized and up-to-date LinkedIn profile.
