Recruiters get a bad time of it on LinkedIn. A lot of it isn’t fair. I know some awesome recruiters that do a great job at social media marketing. However, it’s the recruiters that do LinkedIn wrong, then make it harder for the rest. So, let’s look at how recruiters do LinkedIn wrong with an example.

This is a LinkedIn message I got in January from a recruitment consultant;

Kate: SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER – PERMANENT OPPORTUNITY WITH CITB IN PETERBOROUGH

Good afternoon 💥 Hazel I hope this email finds you well. I appreciate we haven’t spoken before but having looked at your LinkedIn profile you look like you have the skills and experience required for the role I am recruiting for.

I am working with the CITB in Peterborough who are looking to appoint a Social Media Manager which is permanent opportunity. The salary is paying up to around £39,000 per annum plus benefits. If you are interested in discussing this opportunity in more detail then please contact me (her details).

I look forward to hearing from you. Kindest regards (name)

Apart from taking out her details, this was the message she sent me, with no edits. A great example of how recruiters do LinkedIn wrong. There are quite a few grammar errors in there, but that’s not the main concern. This was my reply;

Me: Have you seen my profile

Kate:  Yes i did, please let me know if you are interested? I appreciate you run your own business but wasnt sure if you were open to permanent opportunities. Regards Kate

This how recruiters do LinkedIn wrong, it was only at this point she actually looked at my profile. I know this because it suddenly popped up that she had viewed my profile, seconds before the message.

My reply was as follows;

Me: Unless they’re looking to employ me and my 3 staff – I think it’s not suitable???

Kate: That is definitely a no then!

So, what is so wrong about this email? The grammar errors aren’t a great sign. If I was to use them to represent my business this is not a great first impression. The email communication wasted Kate’s time and mine, as it wasn’t a suitable role. A few moments research and she would see it wasn’t right.

However, more worryingly for the recruiter – I won’t use them. It’s likely we will need to recruit in the future, but we won’t be using this agency. They just send bulk emails without checking the name or details. Instead, the details are just copied in. How do I know? The ‘boom’ symbol next to my name!

Want to make sure your recruiters aren’t doing LinkedIn wrong? Drop us a line for some LinkedIn training.