A job seeker recently wrote to me after a hiring manager viewed her LinkedIn profile. She 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 the first question, “Yes, connect!”
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:
1. Receiving an applicant’s resume.
2. Looking at the applicant’s LinkedIn profile.
I was a retained search consultant, not a hiring manager, but I don’t think there’s much of a difference. Why? Because whomever you invite, they’re either going to accept your invitation or not. It’s a binary thing.
Eight Sample Invitations
Here are eight invitations I received after viewing people’s profiles:
1. I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. (There were four of these.)
5. I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. I thought it would be great to keep in touch.
6. 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 Foote
7. Since you are a person I trust, I wanted to invite you to join my network on LinkedIn.
8. 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? These invitations are 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 she or he views your LinkedIn profile, you might eliminate yourself from contention for lack of go-getter-ish-ness.
I had looked at these people’s LinkedIn profiles 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!
More
Please don’t hesitate to invite me to connect on LinkedIn. The more I know about my readers, the more relevant I can make my blog.
Image: Fotolia/Minerva Studio
Updated November 2019
© 2014 – 2019, Donna Svei. All rights reserved.
Donna Svei, an executive resume writer and former C-level executive, retained search consultant, and CPA, writes all of AvidCareerist’s posts. She has written for and been quoted by leading business, general, and career media outlets, including Forbes, Mashable, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, Lifehacker, Ask.com, Social Media Today, IT World, SmartBrief, Payscale, Business News Daily, and the Muse. Let her background and experience 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.