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Cold email vs LinkedIn DM - which one actually got me a reply?
I've been job hunting for about 6 months now and I noticed a huge difference between two ways I reached out to people. Cold emailing felt like I was shouting into a void, I sent maybe 50 emails and got 3 replies total. Then I switched to LinkedIn DMs, kept the same message template, and got 12 replies out of 30 messages. The weird part is that the LinkedIn people actually answered my questions and offered to chat more. I think it's because on LinkedIn they can see your profile right there and know you're real. But some folks swear email is more professional and gets taken more seriously by managers. Has anyone else found one of these methods way better for getting a foot in the door?
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grant.parker7d ago
My buddy Mike was in a similar spot last year, he's a marketing guy and he swore by cold emails until he hit a wall after like 40 sends with maybe 2 replies. He switched to LinkedIn DMs and within a week a hiring manager at a mid-sized tech firm actually set up a 15 minute call with him. That call turned into a referral for a role that wasn't even posted yet, and he ended up getting the job offer a month later. He told me the DM felt less formal and more human because the person could click on his profile and see his experience right there, no extra steps. I guess the lesson is that for him, the DM route made people feel like they were talking to a real person instead of just another email in their inbox.
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