I ignore 99% of these messages. Here’s why.

I ignore 99% of these messages. Here’s why. 

Hi I'm a recent graduate from ____. Can we chat about your experience at ____?

I ignore 99% of these messages on LinkedIn. Here’s why.

Finding a job and dating are like close, family cousins. The common genes? Rejection and validation. Rejection is like a heavy-weight boxer, constantly jabbing blows at our emotions and resilience. Validation is like a water pump, pumping happy chemicals into your bloodstreams. We might be furiously refreshing our emails to see if we got the offer, or constantly glancing at our phones to see if that person texted us back, only to get jabbed with a rejection. Or, we might get that wonderful phone call, pumping happy chemicals into our bloodstream. 

First dates and phone screens are checks for red flags. Second dates and technical screens give us a deeper feel for the other person’s skillset. The onsite is…… I won’t go that far with this analogy. Although, it’d be hilarious if we were all assigned “homework assignments” after the second date.

For each job posting, company’s get hundreds of applicants. For females, dating apps can become overwhelming, especially when their inbox looks like this:

Now, since I have worked for multiple “big tech companies”, I feel like a female on dating apps. Here’s what my inbox looks like: 

If I broke this message into a formula, this is what it’d look like: 

Hi, I'm currently a student or employed at XXXX. I saw you were working at [INSERT SOME BIG TECH COMPANY] and am very interested in this position and was hoping to chat about your experience.

Click. Delete. Move on with my life. Let’s dissect why I don’t respond to these messages. 

Noise

Someone might write me a stellar message. But because it’s on LinkedIn, this dramatically increases the likelihood I gloss over the message. It’s easy to message someone on LinkedIn, which is why everyone does it. When anything in life is easy, more people will do it, therefore, making it difficult to stand out. Dating apps are easy, so it’s easy to get lost in a sea of dudes. Applying through job boards is easy, so it’s easy for you resume to get lost. 

If you want to stand out in a sea of noise, do the harder thing. The harder thing means less noise which means, less competition. The harder thing in this case is finding my email address and sending me a high-quality, cold e-mail. Literally, no one emails me and my email is smack in the middle of my LinkedIn profile. 

Here’s an example of a cold e-mail a recruiter told me “was the best she’s ever gotten”:

Specificity & Investment

Another reason why I won’t respond to these messages is lack of specificity. If there’s one king rule for sending messages on the internet, it’s be specific. Returning to the previous Tinder inbox, you’ll see nearly every single message in that screenshot is a vague “Hello” or “How Are You.” 

Specific questions lead to specific answers. The only way to ask specific questions is through research. Research shows that the other person has invested time and effort into crafting the message. Here’s an example of an e-mail I sent someone: 

To be fair, when I was in college, I had no clue what I was doing. Like an F-14 fighter jet, I’d carpet bomb messages & resumes to as many places as I could, hoping for a hit. As I’ve grown in my career, I’ve realized depth reaps greater returns that going broad. Being specific reaps greater returns than being general. It’s the best way to jump right out of the sea of noise.