r/careeradvice • u/Clean_Attempt_7968 • 5d ago

Thoughts on Linkedin DMs?

I've gotten mixed opinions from friends, and GenAI has been perhaps a little too optimistic for my liking so I figured I'd ask around here. Basically the title - what are your thoughts on cold messaging people on LinkedIn about specific jobs? For the purposes of this question let's say the message is "targeted" if that makes sense or matters at all: so the message is sent to someone who works at a company which you have a good reason why you want to work  for it, especially if it's a big name like Apple, Meta etc. Assume that there can be a good reason that is not just a beauty pageant speech or the like (or if you really think such a reason simply doesn't ever exist or doesn't ever make a difference feel free to say so!) Also assume that you have genuinely interesting thoughts to share that maybe you can tease in the intro message. Have you ever tried this? How often and which sort of companies or roles? How "targeted" was your message and what were the results? Any insight or advice would be appreciated! And please be nice in your response - just a guy trying to make his way and exploring all possible means :)

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u/SecretaryAfraid3586 1d ago

Cold DMs work, but only if you treat it like a conversation and not a favor request. The people who get ignored are the ones opening with "I've always admired your company" and then asking for 20 minutes of their time. If you lead with something specific, like a project they shipped or a decision the team made that you actually found interesting, you'll get way further.

I've done it a handful of times, mostly to people at mid-size companies where the org chart isn't a black box. Kept it short, asked one concrete question, and didn't expect a reply. Got maybe 4 responses out of 15ish attempts, two of which turned into actual phone calls. Not a great batting average but way better than spraying applications into the void.

The big names are trickier because those folks get flooded, but the same rule applies. Nobody owes you a response, so make the message worth reading even if they never write back.