Many professionals are taking advantage of the benefits that LinkedIn has to offer with it opening access to more opportunities, compared to traditional methods. Means of networking and finding job opportunities feel much more attainable, but you may not have tapped into its full potential if you haven’t taken advantage of networking with recruiters. This can be done in seconds allowing you to connect with more people in a shorter time span.
Why you should network with recruiters
Networking with recruiters opens numerous benefits and opportunities, whether you’re actively looking for a job or wanting to keep in the loop of what opportunities are out there. By sending a connection invite and a message, you will make yourself known and hopefully more memorable compared to the competition.
Ways to network with recruiters on LinkedIn
Understand their niche
Coming from a recruiter, we receive a lot of connection invites from candidates who have the same idea as you: to stand out. The difference is a lot of these people send out connections without looking more into who they’re connecting with. Before blindly sending out a connection invite to a recruiter, it’s important to understand the industries they recruit for and see that it’s relevant to what you’re looking for.
Customize your message
Next would be to include a brief personalized message to explain who, what, and why you’re reaching out, which will improve the acceptance rate. Keep this message straight to the point and relevant. It can be as simple as including things like your occupation / industry, and why you’re reaching out. Since in most cases, recruiters will receive many connection invites, it’s very important to keep this initial messaging straight to the point.
Connecting for an immediate opportunity
If you’ve recently applied for a job they posted, you can follow up immediately after with a connection invite, letting them know you applied and sharing the unique value you bring for that specific job. If you haven’t heard back in a couple weeks, you can follow up with an email as well. Avoid sending repeat messages if you’re not getting the response you want, or any responses at all.
If this is the case, it may be best to continue your job search elsewhere. If they don’t have something relevant for you or feel you’re not the right fit this time around, you can establish a relationship also by offering to share the opportunity or the recruiters contact with members in your network. This can go a long way and is really appreciated.
Expanding network in a proactive approach
On the other hand, if you’re looking to expand your network in a more proactive way, let recruiters know what industry you’re coming from or what you’re hoping to achieve in the future through building your network. Since this approach will take more time, it’s important to try and regularly reach out to interesting recruiters relevant to your industry and keep an eye out for when they post new opportunities. It is always good practice to follow up with a thank you message if they accept your request as well.
It’s important to remember that this type of networking may not give immediate results and is best used as a way of building your network for the long-term. If you aren’t successful in landing a job this way on your initial outreach, you can keep in touch by liking and commenting on their posts as well. This is especially useful for when those relevant opportunities come your way, that you can use the relationship you’ve built with the recruiter to your advantage and to be remembered for more opportunities into the future.
Contact Us today to speak with one of our Recruitment Specialists and let us help you find new opportunities for the next step in your career!