Why Don’t Recruiters Respond on LinkedIn?

Are you feeling frustrated after not hearing back from a recruiter you messaged? Maybe you’ve sent off a dozen messages and connection requests on LinkedIn and are just confused about what’s happening?

Do recruiters ever respond on LinkedIn? Is it just you who is running into this wall of silence?

Let’s take this slowly and look at it from all angles. Because the answer is yes, recruiters do respond to messages on LinkedIn. That’s why the platform exists and that’s the main function.

However, not all recruiters respond to messages. And no one responses to all messages they receive. There are multiple reasons for this, which we will address below.

It helps to understand how LinkedIn works, how recruiters approach getting cold approached via messages, and how you as a job seeker should use the process.

How’s Your Approach?

First, before we discuss recruiters and how they operate and use LinkedIn, let’s discuss your approach. Are you being smart about how you use LinekdIn to message people, or are you being lazy and wasting your time.

It might sound harsh, but if you’re doing something wrong, it’s better to learn now and fix it before you have spent countless hours wasted and the end result is that you’re no better off than when you started.

Fist, be smart. Don’t just mass message everyone with the title recruiter in their profile. This is an enormous waste of time. You want to make sure they work in an industry that you are looking to work in.

Most people who are looking for work don’t understand how recruiting works. They think that a recruiter can get them a job. Well, that recruiter can only get that person a job if they have an opening to fill. So, if you’re a IT support analyst, and you reach out to a medical staffing recruiter…you’re wasting your time. And they won’t respond because they assume you are both incompetent and also they won’t have a role to place you in.

Secondly, are you tailoring your messages to each recruiter? Because you should. I never suggest that people use a mass message template approach. Even though LinkedIn offers a template if you use their premium account, I don’t advise using this. I always think that a tailored approach is better. Shorter too.

You don’t want to read those long, mass generated templates that most sales reps send out, and recruiters don’t want to either.

So, I suggest making a short, to the point message. Clearly state your desire to work with them if they have any openings in your particular field. And don’t be too picky with salary desires. If you’re a strong candidate, they can always negotiate a higher salary once you get an interview.

Do Recruiters Ever Reply on LinkedIn?

Of course they do. There are some recruiters who don’t, but those are mostly in-house corporate side recruiters. Agency recruiters all use LinkedIn.

The reason that corporate recruiters tend to not use LinkedIn is that they have to follow company protocol. The jobs are posted to sites like Indeed or linked from Greenhouse. Then the recruiter and internal HR partners have to follow a very strict protocol.

There is a ton of red tape involved in the process. And, honestly, in house recruiters and HR business partners are not the most motivated people. They are salaried and do not work on commission.

So, if you’re reaching out to a recruiter who works in-house for a company, then you are likely wasting your time. Odds are that they do not even use LinkedIn for work.

The only recruiters who are active and utilize LinkedIn are agency side recruiters. They are the ones who are most motivated to secure placements as their income depends on it. And they don’t have to go through the entire bureaucratic process that is involved with in-house human resource departments.

So, yes, in summary, recruiters do reply on LinkedIn. But they don’t just spend their day chatting and messaging people for the fun of it. They are there to make money, and if you are not someone they can place, they are not going to waste time with you.

Are You Selling Yourself Right?

First off, let’s look at how you’re selling yourself. Remember, when you are approaching a recruiter, it is important that you make a good impression. This means that you need to be aware of how you’re “selling” yourself.

A recruiter is not going to spend much time on a person who doesn’t bother to spend much time on themselves. The idea here is that if you’re not someone who has invested time in making yourself look good on paper (or on LinkedIn) then it’s not appealing to a recruiter.

Part of that process involves making sure you have a solid profile, making sure you use a professional photo for LinkedIn, and also making sure that your work history is properly filled out and you list your education and other important information.

A Great Profile Helps, But It’s Not Enough

Of course, it helps to have a great profile on LinkedIn. But it’s not enough. If you don’t fit what the recruiter is currently looking for, then they are not really incentivized to spend time discussing jobs with you that they don’t have access to.

For instance, if you’re a project manager, and they never fill those roles, then it might be the reason that they don’t respond to you.

That’s why it’s a good idea to do some research on your recruiter or at least their agency. That way you know that you’re directing your messages to someone who might at least have access to roles that you would be good for. We’ll cover this in more details in the section below.

Are You Messaging The Right Recruiter?

Here’s where you really need to pay attention. If you message recruiters who do not work in your sector, then you’re not going to get a response. It’s that simple. You need to message the right recruiter.

So what I advise everyone do is check out the agency that the recruiter is associated with. Check their job listings and see if they staff for roles that you would be interested in. If you see that they mainly focus on roles outside of your industry, then it isn’t likely that the recruiter will assist you if they even message you back.

Also, if the agency isn’t clear with the sort of roles they recruit for, then it’s likely that they are more of a headhunting, executive search firm. In that case you will need to have a really stellar cv as well as fit a role that they’re recruiting for. For instance, a C.O.O. with experience in FinTech won’t be much use to someone hiring for a Marketing Director with P.R. experience.