Reaching out to graduate recruitment/HR

[17natb]

Hi - I'm wondering if there's a standard protocol on cold reaching out to grad recruitment teams or firm HR on LinkedIn regarding general advice? I have a lot of personal/professional mid-level and senior connections at various firms with whom I've discussed and reviewed my applications, but I still have been unable to make it to any interview stage. At this point, there's clearly something that legal personnel and I aren't catching in my application, so wondering if directly speaking about my candidacy with an HR rep would be of more use in terms of getting through the written stage of apps? If so, is there a recommended way to go about this?

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Hi - I'm wondering if there's a standard protocol on cold reaching out to grad recruitment teams or firm HR on LinkedIn regarding general advice? I have a lot of personal/professional mid-level and senior connections at various firms with whom I've discussed and reviewed my applications, but I still have been unable to make it to any interview stage. At this point, there's clearly something that legal personnel and I aren't catching in my application, so wondering if directly speaking about my candidacy with an HR rep would be of more use in terms of getting through the written stage of apps? If so, is there a recommended way to go about this?

You can try (and there is no harm in contacting them) but typically GR are inundated with messages, whether that is via LinkedIn or via email and they may just direct you to their website/future careers events to get this advice because they are likely (especially at this time of year) not have the capacity to respond to individual requests for advice.

 

[Obrajnick]

I once hit a wall like that and decided to reach out to a few HR folks on LinkedIn. Just kept it short, respectful, and honest—asked for insight, not favors. One person actually suggested I look into SHRM certification cost to boost my HR knowledge, which helped me reshape how I presented my experience.