LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking and job-hunting platform, with millions of users across the globe. While employers and recruiters can use LinkedIn to identify and reach out to promising candidates for roles, jobseekers can use it to uncover career opportunities. They may do this via the job board or by directly contacting recruiters to find out about vacant roles or build relationships for future opportunities by cold-emailing them on the platform.

In this article, we’ll explore the latter method of career prospecting – getting in touch with a recruiter – and the do’s and don’ts of messaging them. There’s an art to reaching out to recruiters and building professional relationships to further your career and rules of etiquette to follow. Get it right and you could open the door to a world of opportunity and cultivate strong professional relationships. However, get it wrong and you may be ignored completely.

Let’s look at how to reach out to recruiters on LinkedIn the right way.

Contacting Recruiters on LinkedIn

Why reach out to a recruiter?

Recruiters or recruitment consultants have the job of finding the ideal candidate for a role on behalf of a company. They often post vacancy listings on LinkedIn or use LinkedIn to search for prospective candidates. This means they are often open to communicating with jobseekers who cold-email them on LinkedIn and are usually responsive to polite, well-written emails from serious jobseekers seeking a particular position.

If you are successful in reaching out to a recruiter and beginning a conversation with them, they will be able to not only help you find roles to apply to but also advise you on everything from your CV to interviews. All in all, it’s great to have a recruiter in your corner who specialises in mining industry roles when you’re searching for a job. Read on for strategies to use when getting in contact with recruiters.

Tips for Contacting Recruiters on LinkedIn

First, find recruiters in your industry

LinkedIn has introduced an enhanced search experience for job seekers, which puts people, jobs, posts, companies, and groups into a single, filterable search results page. This search feature allows you to methodically identify and connect with recruiters in specific industries, from the mining industry as a whole to particular fields like metallurgy, drilling, engineering, and so on. You can also use it to find recruiters in certain locations.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on using LinkedIn filters to pinpoint industry-specific recruiters:

1. Navigate to the ‘My Network’ section from the homepage.
2. Click ‘Connections’ in the top left-hand column.
3. Select ‘Search with filters’ and click ‘All filters.’
4. In the pop-up box, choose 1st, 2nd, and 3rd connections.
5. Scroll down to the ‘Industry’ section and select your industries of interest.
6. Scroll further to the ‘Keywords’ section and under ‘Title,’ type in relevant terms like “Recruiter,” “Headhunter,” “Talent Acquisition,” or “Hiring Manager.”
7. Click ‘Show Results.’

Then, send an effective message

Once you have your search results, you can initiate contact with the recruiter by clicking the ‘Connect’ button next to each profile. When sending the connection request, be sure to include a customised message. Tip: Your search results may also highlight people in your network you know who are connected to the recruiter and could introduce you, so don’t hesitate to ask them for introductions.

Writing effective messages to recruiters on LinkedIn is essential. Avoid sending brief and vague messages, as recruiters receive many of these every day. Instead, your message should include your specific skills, qualifications, and past experience.

Moreover, be sure to mention the specific job posting you have seen and are interested in. Refer to the job requirements, demonstrating that you’ve done the necessary research on the role and job description and understand how you align with the role.

As well as this: Ensure your profile is complete and as well as proactively approaching recruiters, it helps to also utilise tools like #OpenToWork to enhance your discoverability. Maintain realistic expectations when contacting recruiters, understanding that not all may have immediate opportunities matching your skills. View it as an ongoing investment in your career network, even if you encounter occasional rejections.

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Visit CA Mining’s job board to see the latest vacancies in the mining industries of Africa, Australia, and more.

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For a mining recruitment partner with a deep understanding of Africa’s markets and staffing solutions and the intricacies of recruiting local, diaspora, and expatriate candidates, choose CA Mining.

Take a look at our range of customisable recruitment services or contact us to find out more.

As well as Africa, we have served clients with projects in Australia, Canada, Latin America, and other areas of the world.