How To: LinkedIn Cold Outreach

If slinging applications isn't getting you anywhere, don't be left out in the cold (groan).

As I’m preparing for the next Embark Cohort to start, I’ve been going through the exclusive content that I provide to my clients. This article is one that has helped so many clients out of interview cold spells, and so I’m going to share it with you all. Hopefully it will help you with your job search or as you expand your network.

Unrelated…

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LinkedIn Outreach

We live in a post-AI society where everyone is over-polishing every aspect of their persona with the help of ChatGPT. This isn’t an indictment of tech tech- it’s just the way it is. The result is that hiring teams can no longer rely on the written word (such as resumes and cover letters) to identify talent (see more in this post.)

So what I want to encourage you to do is stand out. One way to do that is through your actions- and outreach is a good way to get there. The goal is to get eyes on your resume ASAP, and not waste your time doing the dance with an ATS if the role isn’t right for you.

Also, side benefit- if you’re sensitive to rejection, this is a good way to step outside of your comfort zone. Give it a try.

Before You Send Outreach

First thing is first: you need to apply to the job. The Referral Economy has crashed, companies are no longer offering crazy $10k+ referral bonuses, and in many cases, they don’t give any preferential treatment to referrals at all. Personally I think this is a good thing, but regardless the end result is that waiting for a referral is no longer helpful. Instead, you want to apply to a role as soon as you can.

I don’t have any empirical data here, mostly just a wealth of anecdotal evidence. Consider that:

• Outreach to candidates happens as soon as applications start flowing in

• Many hiring managers cut off applications when they’ve hit a certain amount

• Right now, with AI tools, by the end of the first week of a job being posted it’s expected they have 800+ applications

So, when you find a job you want, immediately do the following:

• Customize your resume to the role

• Apply to the job

• Do your outreach

Afraid to do this outreach, because you’re sensitive to rejection? Great. This is how you’re going to get over it.

Who To Target For Outreach

This part is honestly a shot in the dark. You never know who is going to be using LinkedIn reliably, who would be open to receiving this message, and unless it’s a smaller company you might end up messaging someone who has zero impact on the role you’re applying for. If you’re lucky, and yes, this happens, the person who gets your message will connect you with the person you should be talking to. But a missed shot is better than one you never took (I think that’s the quote from The Office or whatever).

So ideally, you’d message the recruiter or hiring manager who is responsible for the role you’re interested in. Sometimes you can guess: if there’s only one recruiter/talent acquisition employee, they’re your best bet. Sometimes the Engineering Managers/Directors list which team(s) they manage on their LinkedIn, or if it’s a small enough company, there’s only one of them.

Basically, pick someone who you think is a good target, and go for them. A few signs of a good mark:

• The purple “Hiring” banner

• Lots of connections

• Actively using (commenting, posting, etc)

I don’t recommend messaging individual contributors in engineering. They tend to have very little sway, and little motivation to help you out. Going directly to someone who is responsible for staffing is ideal.

What To Say

Ok the important part: what to say. Basically, you want to tell them that you’re a human being, and you’re interested in the role. That’s it.

My template looks like this. Feel free to use it directly, or ideally, edit it slightly to fit your voice:

Hello PERSON - nice to meet you, I’m NAME. I’m interested in the TITLE role at COMPANY [you shared | on COMPANY’S careers site], and would love to connect to learn more about it.

I’m attaching my resume here for your reference. Thanks in advance!

Short and sweet. Don’t send a novel, they won’t read it. If they’re open to it, they’ll click through to your profile and determine if they want to talk. Companies are looking for people who are self driven, and this is already sending them a good signal.

If you do have some sort of specific connection to the company and/or a detail worth calling out, it’s worth including that. Examples are:

• Experience in the field

• Unique skills overlap

• A personal connection to the mission

• Flexibility in relocation

Here’s a version of the above message with that added:

Hi PERSON - it’s nice to meet you, I’m NAME. I’m very interested in Software Engineer positions at COMPANY, especially the TITLE role.

I’m a huge [fitness | music | travel | whatever] nerd and COMPANY is a dream company for me! I’m open to in-office positions and would love to chat if you’re open to it. Thanks in advance!

Plenty of my clients have seen a lot of success with this, so give it a try. And with every application, you get another opportunity to try a different approach.