Never Miss a Job Opportunity Again: 3 Smart Tactics for Finding the Right Recruiter

You spend hours on LinkedIn and job boards, but you can’t seem to find recruiters who specialize in your field. It feels like you’re searching for a needle in a haystack. Even when you do connect with recruiters, you’re never quite sure what to say so you stand out in their crowded inbox. From finding the right person to crafting the best message, recruiter outreach is anything but easy.

What makes things worse is that once you’ve invested all that effort to reach out, you’re met with silence. It’s disheartening, to say the least. These challenges stink and make job searching all the more difficult. That’s why I decided to write this article, to give you the key to not only finding the right recruiter but to crafting outreach messages that get responses. 

Leverage LinkedIn’s Advanced Search Features

When my husband launched his job search a year ago, one of the first things we did was head to LinkedIn to search for the recruiter and hiring manager at his target company, the YMCA. He was making a pivot from a decade of entrepreneurship into the non-profit field. We utilized LinkedIn’s advanced search options to pinpoint the person who was hiring for the role he wanted and a few other key decision-makers. 

Unfortunately, very few job seekers take the time to run a search and connect directly with recruiters. Finding a recruiter doesn’t guarantee they’ll respond. Not everyone is active on LinkedIn. If you review their profile and see recent activity, there’s a better chance that they’ll accept your request. Make sure that you craft a message stating why you want to connect.

The upside to LinkedIn’s search features are that you can usually find someone within the company to connect to. The downside is that if you don’t have a premium account the amount of information you have access to and the number of searches you can run may be limited. The number of messages you can send is definitely limited. 

If you have LinkedIn Premium and you’re applying to a job via LinkedIn, make sure to check the job posting. Many postings include a “Meet the hiring team” section on the job post that gives you a direct link to the recruiter’s profile who posted the position. You can message them directly from the job post after you apply. One word of advice when you go this route. Absolutely customize the message you send the recruiter. Do not send the generic AI-created message that LinkedIn auto-fills for you. 99% of people who send a message send this template. 

You will not stand out if you send the template message. You will sound just like everyone else. Instead, write a brief message stating that you applied for the role and why you’re interested and believe you’re a fit. Recruiters love this information and they’ll be more likely to respond especially if you tie your experience to the requirements of the role and needs of the company.

So,here’s what you need to do:

• Go to LinkedIn’s search bar and select “People.”
• Use filters such as “Location,” “Current Company” (for company-specific recruiters), and “Industry.”
• Add keywords like “recruiter,” “talent acquisition,” or specific to your field (e.g., “tech recruiter”).
• Review the profiles of potential recruiters to ensure their specialization aligns with your career goals.
• Look at their profile activity and recent posts. This is how we found the hiring manager for his role. She’d posted the role on LinkedIn, announcing she was hiring. 
• We sent a connection request and she accepted. We didn’t stop there we sent requests to a few other people in HR and even the CEO of the Y for our area. He accepted our request too. It never hurts to ask.

Attend Industry Networking Events and Webinars:

While not my favorite way to get direct access to a recruiter because of the time and effort involved, it’s still a way to make contact with local recruiters. Recruiters often attend industry-specific events and webinars to scout for potential candidates. I’m not talking about job fairs. I am talking about industry conferences put on by major associations, groups, or companies in your field. 

As an introvert, I can already feel the hives forming at the thought of having to make small talk. If that’s you, opt for a webinar or online event to make some quick headway. You can add in-person events once you’ve built up some networking courage.

Here’s where to start:

• Research and register for industry-related networking events, both in-person and virtual. I’m a member of Career Thought Leaders it’s an association for career experts. I try to attend their events as often as I can. See if you can find an industry-related conference online or in person you can join.
• Prepare an elevator pitch that succinctly highlights your experience and career aspirations. Keep it short. Recruiters don’t want whole life stories.
• Engage with speakers and participants, and ask for introductions to any recruiters present.
• Follow up with connections made during these events through LinkedIn or email. LinkedIn is a great way to continue building the relationship. A quick, “We met at the CTL conference on Thursday. I’d enjoy connecting and following your work.” is a simple way to start.

Utilize Recruiter Directories and Contact Lists:

I hear from job seekers every week about how difficult it is to find recruiters, message them, and get a response. I decided there had to be a better way to connect job seekers with active recruiters. So, I started researching and building recruiter contact lists for different industries and locations. Each recruiter on my list has a verified email address, company name, and LinkedIn profile URL so you can find and connect with recruiters in your industry. If they’re not an active member on LinkedIn, that’s OK, because you’ll also have their email address and you can message them directly. 

This eliminates the hassle of doing the research to find recruiters in certain industries and organizations while also cutting out the middle man (job boards/applications). 

I provide access to the recruiter directory and contact list as part of membership to Job Seeker Central, a one-stop-shop of career tools and resources. The curated list of recruiters is categorized by industry, expertise, and location. This resource can significantly cut down the time and effort in finding the right recruiter.

Here’s what to do next:

• Head over to the Job Seeker Central Membership site and sign up.
• Log into the membership and scroll to the Recruiter Contact List.
• Filter the list according to your industry, desired role, and location.
• Research the selected recruiters on LinkedIn, the URL to their profile is provided in the list. Understand their recruitment style and the companies they represent.
• Reach out with personalized messages, and reference any common connection points you share with the recruiter. Think: alumni, industry, location, shared connections, past companies, common LinkedIn groups, etc. Mention these common points of connection in your outreach.
• Engage with their posts. Recruiters often share openings and content or advice on LinkedIn. If you have time before you send a connection request, follow them, and engage with their content so they become familiar with your name. Like their posts, share openings, and comment for visibility.

It’s important to remember that research from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business found that you can expect a reply from 20-40% of your outreach messages. That means for every 10 messages you send, only 2-4 people will accept your request to connect or reply to your message. 

Your message needs to be short, about the contact more than you, and personalized. Avoid long messages, sharing your whole career history, or too many details. Always mention any common points of connection if there are some. 

One last tip: connect with me or follow me on LinkedIn. I am connected to hundreds of recruiters. Once you connect with me you’ll have access to all of these recruiters as second-degree connections, thereby increasing your visibility. Many of my connections comment and share my posts so if you engage with the content I post daily, you’re putting yourself right in front of hundreds of recruiters in my network. Doing this will gain you exponentially more visibility. 

Now that you know how to find the right recruiters, what about scripts for messages to send to them or other connections in your network? I have more than a dozen messaging scripts and templates you can customize and send to recruiters and network connections to request informational meetings so that your response rates are closer to 40%. You can access the scripts, templates, and more inside Job Seeker Central.