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2 Oct 2026
By RecruitFinds
Many job seekers only apply for advertised vacancies. They search job boards, upload their CV and wait for a response.
That approach can work, but it is not the only way to find employment.
Recruiters, talent acquisition specialists, HR managers and recruitment agencies often know about hiring needs before a vacancy becomes widely advertised. Building professional relationships with these people can therefore give job seekers another way to discover opportunities.
For Kenyan professionals, LinkedIn is particularly useful for identifying recruiters working in specific industries. You can also use company websites, professional associations, recruitment agencies and email to identify the people responsible for hiring.
The objective is not to send your CV to hundreds of strangers.
It is to identify relevant people, introduce yourself professionally and make it easy for them to understand what type of opportunity you are looking for.
Do not message every HR professional you find.
Look for people whose work is connected to the type of position you want.
Useful titles to search for include:
Talent Acquisition Specialist
Talent Acquisition Manager
Recruitment Manager
Senior Recruiter
Technical Recruiter
HR Manager
Human Resources Manager
Head of Human Resources
People & Culture Manager
Recruitment Consultant
Executive Search Consultant
The appropriate title depends on the organisation.
For example, if you are looking for banking jobs, focus on recruiters and HR professionals working in banking and financial services.
If you are looking for NGO positions, search for recruiters and HR professionals working within NGOs, development organisations and humanitarian agencies.
If you want technology jobs, search for technology recruiters and talent-acquisition professionals who recruit for technology companies.
LinkedIn's search function allows users to search for people and refine results using filters such as location, company, industry and connections. LinkedIn also supports natural-language searches and more detailed queries containing a person's role, company or location.
Start with searches such as:
Talent Acquisition Manager Kenya
Recruiter Nairobi
HR Manager fintech Kenya
Talent Acquisition banking Kenya
Recruitment Consultant NGO Kenya
Technology Recruiter Kenya
HR Manager manufacturing Kenya
You can make the search more specific by adding a company.
For example:
Talent Acquisition Safaricom
or:
HR Manager [Company Name]
Once you find a relevant person, look at their profile before contacting them.
Check:
Current employer
Current position
Industry
Location
Previous recruitment experience
Recent posts
Skills
Whether they appear to recruit for your target roles
This takes only a few minutes but can make your message much more relevant.
Do not limit your search to internal company HR teams.
Recruitment agencies can be valuable because one recruiter may work with several employers.
Search for:
Recruitment Consultant Kenya
Executive Search Kenya
Talent Acquisition Agency Kenya
Recruitment Specialist Nairobi
Then investigate the agency and the recruiter's current role.
If an agency specialises in your field, introduce yourself even if there is no advertised position.
For example, an accountant can target recruitment consultants specialising in finance and accounting. An engineer can look for recruiters handling technical and engineering positions.
You do not always have to send a message immediately.
Follow the recruiter's activity.
They may post:
New vacancies
Hiring updates
Industry information
Recruitment advice
Company announcements
Requests for candidates
This can give you a natural reason to start a conversation.
It also helps you understand what type of candidates they recruit.
Before contacting recruiters, check your own profile.
A recruiter who receives your message will probably look at your profile before deciding whether to respond.
Your profile should clearly communicate:
Who you are + what you do + what type of opportunity you want.
For example:
Finance Assistant | Accounts Payable | Bank Reconciliations | Excel | Nairobi
is more informative than:
Job Seeker | Hardworking | Looking for Opportunities
LinkedIn says its Open to Work feature can allow recruiters to see the types of roles and locations you are interested in. You can choose to share your status with all LinkedIn members or restrict it to recruiters.
Make sure your experience, education and skills are also up to date.
If you are not connected with the recruiter, your first objective does not have to be asking for a job.
It can simply be starting a professional relationship.
LinkedIn recommends keeping personalised connection requests short and specific. Its current limit for personalised invitations is 200 characters for standard accounts, with different limits depending on account type.
A simple request could be:
Hello [Name], I came across your profile while looking for recruitment professionals in the [industry] sector. I’m a [job title] with experience in [key skill]. I’d be glad to connect.
