Reach out to Recruiters on LinkedIn (the right way!)

- People underestimate the amount of influence that recruiters have throughout the job application process. We also tend to underestimate the number of prospective applicants that reach out to recruiters on a daily basis. In this video, I'm gonna share the tips that help you stand out from the crowd, show you the three step process that's needed to make this work and finally provide message templates that have worked for both me and my community.

Here's the tip your message to the recruiter should end with a request to put you in touch with someone who's currently working the role that you're applying for.

The three good reasons for this. First of all, recruiters, like most people want to help those who help themselves. By sending this message you're clearly proactive and are doing all the right things when it comes to the job search process. Secondly, believe it or not, you're showing them that you're able to problem-solve effectively, a skill that is applicable to all industries. You convey the fact that as an outside candidate, you don't know nothing about the role to make a judgment call on whether you're a good fit or not yet. However, you do know that the quickest way to find out is to connect with someone working in that exact capacity and asking them about it. And that's completely fine. Even encouraged. Finally, you come off as polite and considerate. Yes, although you're still asking the recruiter for a favor, this request as a lot more meaningful than the generic, can I get 30 minutes to pick your brain message and therefore it will help you stand out in the recruiter's inbox.

On a side note, and this is more related to general job search than the topic of this video, you should always make an effort to connect with someone working in the position that you're applying for. Not only would this give you an unfair advantage versus other the candidates come interview time, but really does give you a better sense of whether the day to day is a good fit for you or not. You definitely don't wanna go through the entire recruitment process, get the job and find out the work is not what you signed up for at all. By the way, if you like this tip, I have a Facebook group where I share exclusive weekly tips. Consider joining, if you haven't already. I'll link it down below. Now you know what the trick is, here's a three step process that will make it work.

Step one, as obvious as it sounds connect with the recruiter first before bringing up this request. If you've watched my how to connect on LinkedIn video, you might remember that in order to get an engaged response from your connection request, you wanna write a message where number one, you try to relate with them in some way. Number two, you compliment them, or number three, you try and add some sort of value. For example, let's say I were interested in this product marketing position at Apple. I might try to connect with the recruiter by writing the following message. Hi Annie. I see that we're both working for MNC tech companies and based out of Shanghai. I also notice you pursued your bachelor's degree at UNNC, where our company recently ran a college outreach program. Would love to connect if possible, Notice I didn't bring up the position at all. This first step is all about getting the recruiter to accept my connection request and perhaps start to engage with him or her.

Step two, and this is where the key takeaway of this entire video comes in, write the message asking to be connected with someone working in the role that you're applying for. Continue with the Apple example. Hi Annie, thanks for accepting my connection request. I saw a product marketing manager job posting from two weeks ago, and I'm currently doing a bit of research on the role to see whether I'd be a good fit. Would you happen to know anyone on the team I can have a casual chat with to better understand the position? As a fellow product marketer working in the tech space myself, I'd love to learn more about the day to day and team culture before bother you with specific questions on the application process, thank you. Several things I wanna point out here. Number one, now that we're connected and have established some sort of rapport, I can afford to say and a longer message without coming off as too direct or aggressive. I try to distinguish myself from other candidates by relating my experiences in product marketing, to the job posting. I also show consideration for her time by mentioning how I wanna learn more on my own before following up with her. And finally, of course, the million dollar question, asking her to connect me with someone on the team.

The third and final step, following up with the recruiter after your conversation with a team member. The goal here is to stay top of mind with a recruiter by reinforcing the fact that your desire to join the company is now stronger than ever. For example, here's how I would follow up. Hi Annie, just wanted to close the loop and let you know my conversation with Jane went very well. Thank you again for putting us in touch. I had no idea that the iOS App Store was creating so many opportunities for Greater China app developers while adhering to Apple's strict privacy policies. Chatting with Jane has only solidified my interest in joining Apple's product marketing team in Shanghai and I will love to send over my resume for your review if convenient. I sincerely believe the stakeholder management skills I've developed during my time as a product marketer at Google would transfer over well to this role at Apple. Notice that I brought up something specific from my conversation with Jane to show the recruiter that my values are aligned with that of Apple's. I reinforced my interest in joining their team and asked to send over my resume as a next step, which keeps a two way conversation going. And finally, I bring up a specific skill that I think the recruiter might be looking for in a strong candidate. And this is something you can easily ask the team member as part of your conversation. So those are the three steps. Of course, I wanna address the possibility that the recruiter may not end up connecting you with anyone, and that's totally fine. Even if they reject your primary requests, most recruiters will provide you with alternatives. For example, they might say, oh, you know what? I can answer any questions you might have about the role. Perfect, you just got 30 minutes to chat with a recruiter for the role that you want, or they might say, why don't you send over your resume first, I'll forward it along to the hiring manager and they'll see if someone's able to reach out for a chat. Awesome, your resume just got forwarded along as opposed to being lost in the system. What I'm trying to get at is that all of these alternatives are better than reaching out through a recruiter in a generic fashion and hoping that the default connection request is able to help you stand out from the crowd.

All right, that's it. Please give this video a like if you found this tip helpful and comment down below if you plan on using it for your next opportunity. It really does help me and the channel a lot. If in the off chance my manager comes across this video, please know that the Apple example was completely hypothetical and I used it for illustration purposes only. Subscribe if you haven't already, see you in the next video, in the meantime, have a great one. (soft music)