What to say to a hiring manager on LinkedIn
Last updated 28 September 2026
Say four things to a hiring manager on LinkedIn: the role and that you have applied, why this team in one specific sentence, one proof point from your own work, and one question they can answer in writing. Under 80 words, no CV. This page has the shape, a worked example, and how a HeyLead job-search campaign writes it in your voice with every reply held for you.
The connection note
The role, the company, one line on why. Example:
Hi Priya, I applied for the Head of Payments Engineering role at Northwind this week. I have taken a payments stack through two audits and would like the team to have seen my name before the shortlist.
The first message, after they accept
- The role and the fact. "I applied for X on Monday."
- Why this team. One sentence that could only be about them: a product decision, a post they wrote, a constraint in the job ad.
- One proof point. A thing you did with the same constraint. A number only if it is yours.
- One question. Something they can answer in a sentence: "Is the team hiring for the migration or for what comes after it?"
Thanks for connecting, Priya. I applied for Head of Payments Engineering on Monday. Your post on moving settlement off the monolith is the reason: I ran that migration at a 200-person fintech and took the stack through two audits after it. Is this hire for the migration itself, or for what comes after?
Leave out
- The CV, as attachment or as a list of skills. The application has it.
- Praise for the company. One specific sentence about the team says more.
- "I would love to hop on a call." Ask a question they can answer in writing; the call comes from the answer.
- A second message inside a week.
How a HeyLead job-search campaign does this
Type one brief in Claude Code, Cursor or the dashboard: the company, the role, one proof point. A job-search campaign finds the hiring manager, the leads on that team and the recruiter, writes the invitation and the first message in the voice of your own LinkedIn posts, and stops there. The message may name the company and the role, carries at most one proof point, and never lists a CV. Every reply is held for you. Nothing answers, books or negotiates on your behalf. You read replies with check_replies or on the campaign page and answer in your own words.
Set up HeyLead using https://heylead.dev/llms.txtFree is $0 with one LinkedIn seat. HeyLead sends at most 20 invitations a day and 100 a week on a free LinkedIn account, Monday to Friday 08:00 to 22:00 in your time zone. HeyLead is not affiliated with LinkedIn. It reaches LinkedIn through Unipile, which is also not affiliated. Details on job search with HeyLead.
Questions people ask
What should I say to a hiring manager on LinkedIn?
Four lines: the role and that you have applied; why this team, in one specific sentence; one proof point from your own work; one question they can answer in writing. No CV, no list of skills, no request for a call in the first message.
How long should the message be?
Under 80 words. The connection note is shorter still: the role, the company, one line on why. If it needs scrolling on a phone, it is too long.
What if I have no proof point for this exact role?
Use the closest true thing: a project with the same constraint, a result in a neighbouring domain, a thing you built that they can open. One line, with a number only if it is yours and you can stand behind it.
Does HeyLead write this for me?
A job-search campaign writes the invitation note and the first message in the voice of your own LinkedIn posts, naming the company and the role, with at most one proof point and never a CV. You approve the draft before it goes, and every reply is held for you to answer.