Which job seeker are you - the one who scans through job postings or send in the application straight to companies? Now, you are missing out on another useful tip that could bring a whole lot of difference to your job hunting experience, and that is, reaching out to the recruiters.
"But wouldn't that make me look desperate?", no, not at all. Writing to recruiters is socially acceptable, so don't worry about that! Let's get down to the steps of approaching recruiters on LinkedIn.
Image Credit: LinkedIn Blog
Update LinkedIn profile
Before you even get started with the whole procedure, you would want to do a little housekeeping on your profile first.
Here’s a checklist of the things you need to settle first:
· Change your profile icon to a professional headshot
· Find a suitable image for the banner section
· Optimize your profile title with the right keywords
· Construct a short and concise summary for the bio section
· Update employment history, skills, education sections
Remember, your profile plays an important role as the first impression of yourself so you would want to look good in the eyes of the recruiters.
Research & Compile
Blindly contacting every single recruiter you can find on LinkedIn without researching beforehand is a bad idea already. The proper way to do this would be to look for the companies you would very much like to work for and list them down.
Next step – make use of the search bar on LinkedIn to find the company pages. Once you are there, use the search bar again to go through the list of employees at the company. Key in specific roles such as Recruiter, HR Manager, Talent Acquisition or Recruitment Consultant. Another alternative is to narrow your search results by region to find recruiters in the area you selected.
Connection Request
Okay, time to send those connection requests! Hold on! Before you click on the button, have you figured out the message you would like to include together with the request? “Wait, why should I even add a message?” – Including a personal message will most likely give you a better acceptance rate as you start reaching out to these recruiters.
An example for you to refer:
“Hi _________, I see that you work for __________(name of recruiting agency). I wanted to reach out because I’m currently exploring new opportunities. I’ve been working professionally in (name of industry) for (number of years), and I’m ready for my next challenge! If you have time, I’d love to talk about whether my background would make me a fit for any openings you have. Let’s connect!”
Stay in touch
Oftentimes, establishing relationships with recruiters will not produce results instantly. You may end up receiving a generic answer like, “I will get back to you when there’s a vacancy”. In fact, don’t take it personally if you encounter rejections from some of them.
So, what do you do next? No, don’t just give up! Look for other companies to apply to and at the same time, get in touch with these recruiters again in the next few months. The key here is to avoid pestering them very often. Maintain good relationships and they may just reach out to you whenever there are opportunities available.
If you are looking to start working immediately, perhaps getting in touch with a recruiter isn’t advisable as it could be time-consuming. Nonetheless, this method could still secure you a new job. Time to build your connections!
