Use LinkedIn for finding recruiters
Using LinkedIn Filters to Find Industry-Specific Recruiters
When preparing to reach out to recruiters on LinkedIn, carefully select five to 10 of them. Don’t randomly send connection requests to those who might not have any openings in your industry or jobs that match your skills. Your smartphone might not offer all the options you need for this process, so use your laptop or tablet instead.
Here’s how to use LinkedIn’s filters to find recruiters:
- From the home page, click on “My Network.”
- Click on “Connections” at the top left-hand column.
- Click on “Search with filters”, then select the “All filters” box (highlighted in blue at top right).
- In the pop-up box, choose 1st, 2nd, and 3rd connections.
- Scroll down to the “Industry” section (a couple of sections below in the pop-up box) and click your industries of interest. You can also add industries. This is important because you want to choose a recruiter that works with people in your fields of choice.
- Scroll down to the “Keywords” section at the bottom of the box. Under “Title,” type in “Recruiter,” “Headhunter,” “Talent Acquisition,” or “Hiring Manager”
- Click “Show Results.”
Within your search results, click on the “Connect” button of each recruiter you want to reach out to. Then, choose the option “Add a note” and send them a customized message. In addition to your first-level (1st) connections, these search results will offer the names of other people in your network who you may be familiar with. Don’t be afraid to ask your connections for an introduction.