How to message a recruiter on LinkedIn

Recruiters get a lot of cold messages. The ones that get replies are short, specific, and easy to act on. The ones that get ignored are long, generic, and ask the recruiter to do the work of figuring out why you're reaching out.

The structure that works

• One line on who you are and the specific role or team you're interested in, not 'opportunities at your company' in general.
• One line of real, specific relevance: a shared connection, a project that maps to what the team does, or something concrete about your background.
• One clear, low-effort ask, usually 'open to a quick chat' or 'happy to send my CV if useful,' not an open-ended question.

That's three sentences, not three paragraphs. A message a recruiter can read and respond to in fifteen seconds gets answered far more often than a well-meaning wall of text.

What actually kills response rates

• Sending the identical message to every recruiter at every company. It's usually obvious, and it reads as low-effort even when your background is strong.
• Leading with your career story instead of the specific reason you're messaging this person about this role.
• Asking to 'pick their brain' with no specific topic. It's vague enough to feel like extra work.

Timing matters more than people think

A message sent the same week a role is posted, referencing the posting directly, performs better than a cold message with no clear trigger. If you can, connect the outreach to something timely: a new posting, a company announcement, a mutual connection who just joined.