Linkedin connection requests are often used by recruiters in their sourcing. In this article, you will find out why you need to use them more often in your sourcing recruitment strategy and some templates that can be helpful and that have already proved themselves.
A connection request is used on Linkedin to add people to your network. You can send connection requests to people you know or people you want to engage and connect with. Linkedin also allows you to add a note to your request, but it needs to be less than 300 characters.
Linkedin connection requests seem to have a better response rate than inmail messages.
We estimated that the average response rate to our Inmail messages is 14%, whereas our acceptance rate to connection requests is 56%
A candidate accepting a connection request does not mean that he will answer eventually. However, he is now in your network and you will be able to reach out to him straight to his Linkedin inbox.
By clicking on Contact Info on his profile, you may also find his personal email address and his phone number, which is another advantage of the connection request.
Last but not least, Inmails, if not accepted by the candidates, can be really expensive. Indeed, you have a limited number of Inmails available, depending on the plan you have (Linkedin Recruiter Lite or Linkedin Recruiter Pro). After reaching this limit, the price charged by Linkedin is about $1.50 for each Inmail. Using more connection requests will help you reduce your outbound recruitment costs.
Linkedin is not 100% transparent on the number of the connection requests you can send each week. It seems that the limit is between 100 and 200 connection requests per week.
The standard way to send connection requests is by going on the Linkedin profile of the candidate and clicking “Connect”.
If the button is not displayed, you will have to click on the “More” button, and then “Connect”
After this step, you will be able to add a note to your connection request. This note is limited to 300 characters maximum.
This will help you save a lot of time and encourage you to use the connection request.
Linkedin does not have a feature to automate the connection requests. It is not possible to send connection requests messages to multiple recipients.
However, by using Leonar, you will be able to design automated sequences which include connection requests.
Before sharing the perfect connection request messages used by the most talented recruiters and talent acquisition managers, here is a quick list of the common mistakes you need to avoid while sending sourcing messages:
Of course, out of the panel of candidates you will contact, there will sometimes be some who do not fall into one of the cases mentioned above.
The idea is to minimize the risks to maximize the response rate.
A higher response rate means:
➜ Less time spent on sourcing
➜ A higher probability of finding the right candidate
➜ A reduced time-to-hire
We have listed connection requests’ notes, below 300 characters, that have high acceptance rates, with the pros and cons.
“Hello [first_name],
I am looking for a CFO for [company], a FoodTech.
The challenge is to seek performance to achieve profitability.
Current team: 2 accounting and payroll managers
Location: Paris
Salary: Around 150k (to be discussed)
Are you open to new opportunities?”
This type of message will give the candidates the maximum information
Pros:
Cons:
“Hello [first_name],
Your profile is highly sought after in the market, I would like to add you to my network to share opportunities in [Industry]
I have an offer at [Company] at the moment that might interest you
See you soon,”
This type of message is also interesting for recruiters, especially for Head Hunters.
Pros:
Cons:
It may not be obvious at first glance, but some candidates like to receive a request without a note.
Pros:
Cons:
Based on the background or interests, you can write a message dedicated to the candidate you are targeting.
“Hello [first_name],
I have an offer at [Company] at the moment that might interest you
Your experience at [Former_Company] is exactly what they are looking for.
Would you like to connect?”
Pros:
Cons:
Another option is to really find something in the candidate's background, interests, or activities on Social Networks, that will help you write a message dedicated to him.
Example:
“Hello [first_name],
I saw the interest you have in Sustainability, we are developing an app to help measure environmental impact. I thought that you might be interested in the new position we have…”
Pros:
Cons:
Artificial Intelligence can help you write your own notes. We will be releasing a new version of Leonar soon that will allow you to generate the messages with AI, directly on the application.
As you can see on the screenshot, you will also be able to ask the AI to adapt each message to the candidate background by using the AI personalization.
You have two options to withdraw a connection request
If you are on the candidate’s profile, you can click on the “pending” button to withdraw the invitation. You have to know that you won’t be able to resend any connection request to this person for up to 3 weeks.
Another option you have is to go to “Your network”. On this view, you will be able to manage all your pending requests and select which one you want to withdraw.
The idea, after a short notice with less than 300 characters, is to give more information about the job.
The details you can give are:
The most important is to set up a call.
Do not hesitate to follow up with the candidate after a few days if he does not answer your messages.
If the candidate does not accept the connection request, do not worry, it is not over yet. You have at least three other options:
Leonar can help you do all of the above when you design your automated message sequences.
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