How to Land a Job By Messaging a Recruiter, According to, Well, a Recruiter

Many candidates make the mistake of simply perfecting their LinkedIn profile in hope of recruiters finding them. Instead, reaching out to recruiters can be your one-way ticket to starting your job search off right. Here’s some advice for your pitch: 

1. Be open but specific.

Recruiters are not just working on one job at a time. To boot, they are often working on multiple jobs at the same time that are very similar to one another. There is nothing that says a recruiter cannot send the same candidate to multiple client interviews, so being open to industry and company size is the best way to get sent on the most interviews. The more interviews you go on, the better chance you have of landing a job. It’s that simple. 

On the other hand, being specific about what you’re hoping to achieve with the job in terms of benefits or growth potential helps the recruiter align with your goals without limiting your interview spots. Having goals like desiring a clear path to management, a 20% salary increase over what you’re currently making, and workplace flexibility are things that, while the recruiter may not guarantee, is usually something that can be negotiated in the final stages. So, while remaining open with your options but specific in your intentions, you are able to go on more interviews than your counterparts, while also showing great focus and discretion in your goals and workplace evaluation. 

2. Be generation-savvy. 

10,000 Baby Boomers are reaching retirement age every day. But still, for a time, there is an exchange of three generations happening at the same time: Gen Z, Gen Y and Baby Boomers. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each of these generations can help you sell yourself to the hiring team that you’re the next right fit, not for the next 2 years but for the next 10. Remember, you’re not the only one prioritizing your path for the next decade. 

Gen Y is a very collaborative generation, where as Gen Z and Baby Boomers tend to be more independent. By now, Baby Boomers have learned how to become more collaborative with their Gen Y counterparts, but might welcome being able to return to a more independent and competitive approach to the Gen Z employees who are now entering the workplace. Discussing how excited you are about bridging some of these gaps and the opportunity to be a part of the work transition of these three different generations portrays you as an engaged and thoughtful candidate who is future-focused. This is something the recruiter will highlight in their client submission. And you’ll stand out for it. 

3. Be consistent and careful.

Let me be clear: you will be evaluated based on your timeliness of responses and misspellings in your communications. If two candidates are very similar in background, personality and price but one has a leg-up in communication skills, both in regards to tact and attention to detail, the one with those qualities wins. 

Minding these three strategies while making contact with recruiters is guaranteed to set you apart. And remember, companies and candidates alike are setting goals not just for 2020, but for the 2020s. 

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