To reply or not to reply…?

To reply or not to reply

Things are going well at the moment. You’re perfectly happy in your role. The business is doing great, you have the best people around you, employee engagement is high. You’re in the right place. The thought of your next move isn’t even on the horizon.

So, when a message from a recruiter pings into your LinkedIn InMail, you just ignore it. It’s not relevant right now, you’re not interested in other opportunities and besides there’s always other more urgent, more important matters to deal with.

It might seem that the volume of such mails is growing. Technology designed to support the recruitment industry has developed at an astonishing rate, and most consultancies now use data science techniques to identify likely candidates for their open roles. Even more reason to swiftly hit delete perhaps?

But wait a minute

Maybe you should rethink your approach and consider reading and replying to the message.

If a specialist recruiter contacts you about a role, it means you appear to fulfil some of the criteria for a position they are looking to fill. So, what have you got to lose by finding out more? Even if you are perfectly settled, life has a habit of changing, and who can honestly say business stays the same these days?

Who knows, it may be the job of your dreams that they want to talk to you about. Any consultancy worth their salt will not limit their search to those people actively looking for jobs. They are seeking the best candidate, regardless of their current situation. And that best candidate might just be you.

What if I’m not interested or the timing isn’t right?

Many of the comments we hear from those now looking for their next opportunity are around how much looking for a role has changed. We hear about the time it takes to apply for roles, both direct and through an agency. We hear about the frustrations in feeling like your CV has entered into a black hole never to be seen again. We even have had candidates thank us for acknowledging their application, as they haven’t heard back (either positively or negatively) to their other job applications. Finding a new role, the right role takes time and why leave it until you’re looking, to engage with an agency? Remember those conversations you’ve had over the years with career coaches about maintaining your network? Remember those New Year resolutions you made about making time for your self-development, thinking ahead in terms of what could be out there for you? Keeping an open mind and not shutting opportunities down?

Maybe next time that InMail appears its worth replying even if it’s a case of not right now but possibly for the future. Having a warm network that you can access quickly is invaluable. 

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