A job seeker recently wrote to me because a hiring manager had viewed her LinkedIn profile.
(If you wonder, “Do hiring managers check LinkedIn?” the answer is, “Yes.”)
The email said:
“I had a question for you after reading your article, Should You Contact Recruiters Who View Your LinkedIn Profile?
I applied for a sales job, and the Director of Sales for the company viewed my LinkedIn profile. Should I connect with him? If so, what should I say?”
My Thoughts on Her Questions
- Question: Should I connect with him?
Answer: Yes, connect! - Question: If so, what should I say?
Answer: Good question!
Then, on the second question, I thought, “Why not look at what people have said to me?”
So, I paged back through invitations I had received to connect after:
- Receiving an applicant’s resume.
- Looking at an applicant’s LinkedIn profile.
I was a retained search consultant for 25-plus years, not a hiring manager, but in this case, there’s not much difference.
5 Sample Invitations
I looked at 8 invitations I received after viewing people’s profiles. There were 5 unique samples:
1. I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. (There were 4 of those.)
2. I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. I thought it would be great to keep in touch.
3. Donna,
I sent you a letter and resume via e-mail yesterday expressing an interest in the COO position at Organization X.
I am currently the VP of Operations at Organization Y.
We recently merged with a larger organization. As a result, I plan to make a transition in the next few months.
In addition to 10+ years in the nonprofit world, I have 25+ years in business and government.
I would like an opportunity to present my background and discuss this opportunity with you.
Happy Holidays,
Kevin Turner
4. Since you are a person I trust, I wanted to invite you to join my network on LinkedIn.
5. Dear Donna,
I heard about your work on the Organization X search through Ed Joyce and Wendy Morgan.
I hope we can connect soon.
Best,
Phyllis Yun
Not much variety, is there? Those invitations show pretty simple stuff from the real world. You can see some slightly fancier, made-up samples here. Low bar. No rocket science.
I didn’t think more or less of anyone because of the language in their invitation.
OK, #7 made the sender look like a dweeb. Fortunately, LinkedIn finally deleted that canned invitation.
Show Your Self-Confidence
Why didn’t I care about what the invitations said? Because I was too busy liking the writers’ self-confidence and initiative.
In fact, if you’re applying for a sales job and you don’t follow up with a Director of Sales when they view your LinkedIn profile, you might eliminate yourself from contention for lack of go-getter-ish-ness.
I had looked at each person’s LinkedIn profile and not invited them to connect. Thus, if they wanted to connect with me, they had to extend the invitation. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
BTW, I accepted every invitation.
So, if you’re looking for a job and a hiring manager views your LinkedIn profile, definitely invite them to connect!
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Please invite me to connect on LinkedIn. The more I know about my readers, the more relevant I can make my blog.
Image: Kaspars Grinvalds
Updated January 2021
© 2014 – 2021, Donna Svei. All rights reserved.
Donna Svei, an executive resume writer and former C-level executive, retained search consultant, and CPA, authors all of AvidCareerist’s posts. She has written for and been quoted by 100+ business and general media outlets, including Forbes, Mashable, Fast Company, Inc., Entrepreneur, CNBC, the New York Times, USA Today, Time, CBS, the BBC, Lifehacker, Social Media Today, IT World, SmartBrief, and Business News Daily.
Let her expertise inform your job search strategy and decision making.
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Comments 1
It’s understandable that a recruiter would do this, but what if I’d sent a resume to a company that had posted a job, and then someone from that company had viewed my LinkedIn profile. Would you say it’s OK to reach out to them too?
Yes.