Recruiters wanting to connect on LinkedIn

9 Comments

1. rgstaffing@bellsouth.netFebruary 26,2025 at 1:59PM UTC

   You should be flattered that recruiters want to connect with you. That is how jobs get filled. I don't know any of the hundreds of people I am connected with. Nothing "sketchy" about this--it is the way it is done.

2. AnonymousFebruary 26,2025 at 2:38PM UTC

   It depends. You may be missing an opportunity. That said, I don't typically accept random requests to connect without an accompanying message. When I do accept these random invites without a message, it's after I have extensively stalked to the individual's LinkedIn to determine if they are legit. Unfortunately for me, I have lots of recruiters trying to connect with me, but not to recruit me rather to try to win my employer's business.

3. AnonymousFebruary 26,2025 at 8:24PM UTC

   I never connect unless the opportunity matches my capabilities and interests indicated in my profile. I often get DMs and emails for things far out of my wheelhouse (franchise opportunities, WFH customer service jobs, wealth management, and insurance sales are the worst offenders), and almost everything is nothing but phishing and spam. Out of 50+ such "opportunities" in the past three years, I have responded to only one, and it didn't turn out to be what I was looking for either. If you didn't apply or ask for an opportunity, the chances that these messages are spam (or worse) are exceptionally high.

4. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistFebruary 26,2025 at 11:17PM UTC

   So I would recommend you check out their profile to try to determine if they're legit.

   Did they just create their profile last week? Do they only have three connections? Are they located in American Samoa (no shade on American Samoa, just recall someone posting on LI about a scammer and that's where they were located). What does their posting/commenting history look like? If they seem legit, do they recruit in the space you work in?

   Legit recruiters and sourcers reach out to passive candidates on LI all the time.

5. AnonymousFebruary 27,2025 at 1:57PM UTC

   Yeah, just had one of these experiences yesterday. Someone from India, who I have never met or spoke with reached out to me that they think I might be a good fit for "Consulting work" with their company.

   Sadly, the only thing I thought is why on earth would anyone want to talk to me. Haven't responded, not sure how to approach it either. Is it legit? Is it a scam? They emailed me at my work email as well.

   The company is legit and they do have offices in India but any advice from others who've had experience would be appreciated.

6. GirlBossanova934974March 2,2025 at 3:17PM UTC

   Here's the deal. This happens all the time on LI. That is the whole purpose. Recruiters run searches and find you, contact you, and you send in your resume and sign a right to represent. NO recruiter will represent you for a job unless you do that. THAT BEING SAID, be on the lookout for recruiters with names that sound like they are from INDIA or PAKISTAN. I avoid them as a rule. There are exceptions. These folks usually are not actual recruiters. They are being paid to find resumes for other companies to represent you. ON THE FLIP SIDE, there are some good staffing companies who will find you on LI. That is how I got my last several jobs so it does work!!

7. AnonymousMarch 2,2025 at 3:49PM UTC

   Wow, sorry to send a note here but why would you discriminate against folks with Indian or Pakistani names. I work in Recruiting and have a team of recruiters who have very ethnic names. Shame on you for saying this! We are a country of immigrants if you are here in the US and should respect our differences. What you might have said instead is check to see where the recruiter is located and that should be the telling way to see if it is a scam.

8. AnonymousMarch 2,2025 at 3:47PM UTC

   3rd party recruiters often do this (agency recruiters) and sometimes internal to company recruiters (sourcers-front end ones) do this to build up their pipeline of folks that they tag for quality work for either current or future job searches. If you are not actively looking perhaps best to add a line to your LI profile letting them know you are not open to connections from them. When I added that to mine it stopped completely. If they persist, I block the 3rd party ones. The internal ones I politely ask them if they have a current search they want to speak to me about or if they are tagging me for the future. No reply, I decline them.

   3rd party ones are generally working on commission while internal recruiters usually are keeping tabs on you for their specific company. If the company is not of interest to you at all decline.

9. Gisele CloutierMarch 5,2025 at 1:40PM UTC

   As a recruiter, I rely on LinkedIn to find up to 80% of my candidates, so if you want to be found, be on LinkedIn. Yes, there are scams - I always provide plenty of information about the specific opportunity I'm reaching out about, and invite the recipient to check me out on LI. If the "recruiters" who are reaching out to you aren't being transparent like that, it's most likely a scam.