What to Do When a Recruiter Reaches Out to You

TL;DR

There are two types of recruiters: agency (third-party) and internal (in-house). They have different incentives.
Don't ignore recruiter messages, even when you're not actively looking. Every conversation is market intelligence.
Before responding, spend five minutes researching the recruiter and the role.
Your first conversation is about information gathering as much as selling yourself.
Red flags in recruiter outreach are real and worth knowing.
Even a role that isn't right for you can be useful to discuss.

You've done the work to make your LinkedIn profile visible, and now a recruiter has messaged you. This happens more often than most new grads expect, and most candidates either don't respond, respond poorly, or respond without understanding what they've walked into.

Here's how to handle it well.

Two types of recruiters, very different incentives

The first thing to figure out is whether you're talking to an agency recruiter (also called a third-party recruiter or external recruiter) or an internal recruiter (also called an in-house recruiter or talent acquisition).

Agency recruiters work for a staffing or recruiting firm. They are paid by client companies to fill roles, typically a percentage of the placed candidate's salary. They may be reaching out about one company or placing candidates across many clients. Their incentive is to make a placement. That's not inherently bad, but you should understand it.

Agency recruiters often have broad industry relationships and can help you learn about opportunities you might not find otherwise. However, they are not advocates for you the way an internal recruiter might be. They advocate for matches that close.

Internal recruiters work directly for the company that's hiring. When a recruiter at Stripe or Shopify messages you, they're working for Stripe or Shopify. They care about finding people who will succeed in that specific role and culture. Their incentive is to fill roles with good matches, not to place as many people as possible across many companies.

You can usually tell which type you're dealing with by looking at their LinkedIn profile. If they work at a company called "[Company] Staffing," "Talent Partners," or anything with "Solutions" in the name, they're likely a third-party firm. If their current employer is the same company they're recruiting for, they're internal.

This distinction affects everything from how you evaluate the role to what you're willing to share about your current compensation and timeline.

Don't ignore recruiter messages

Many engineers, especially early in their careers, ignore recruiter messages when they're not actively looking. This is a mistake.

Recruiter conversations give you:

Market intelligence: What roles are available, what skills companies are hiring for, and what compensation looks like for your experience level.
Practice: Recruiter calls are low-stakes conversations that sharpen how you talk about your work and goals.
Pipeline: Even if you don't want this role, the recruiter now knows who you are. When you are actively looking in six months, that relationship exists.
Competitive information: Learning what other companies are building, what problems they're solving, what their interview processes look like.

A short, professional response to a recruiter message costs you almost nothing and has potential upside.

Before you respond: do your research

Spend five minutes before writing back.

Look up the recruiter on LinkedIn. How long have they been in recruiting? Do they specialize in software engineering? Have they placed people at recognizable companies? Are their recommendations genuine?

If it's an agency recruiter, look up their firm. Is it a well-known technical recruiting firm, or is it a small shop you've never heard of? That's not a dealbreaker, but it's context.

Look up the company (if named). Many agency recruiters will name the client upfront. Look them up. What do they do? What's their size and stage? Do they have Glassdoor reviews?

Look up the role. Is there a listed job posting? If so, does it seem like a real role (a team, a described problem) or a generic posting (looking for a "software engineer with 0-2 years experience to work on exciting projects")?

If the message is vague about the company and role, note that. Asking for more details is completely appropriate.

How to respond

If the role seems worth exploring, respond promptly and professionally. Within 48 hours is standard.

A good response:

Acknowledges their message.
Expresses appropriate (not breathless) interest.
Asks one or two clarifying questions if you need them.
Offers to schedule a call.

Example response to an internal recruiter:

Hi [Name],

Thanks for reaching out. The [role] at [company] sounds interesting. I'd be open to learning more. Could we set up a 20-30 minute call this week or next?

Best, [Your name]

That's enough. You don't need to send your resume again (they have your LinkedIn) or explain your entire career history in the opening message.

Example response when you need more information:

Hi [Name],

Thanks for reaching out. Could you share a bit more about the role and the company? I'd want to understand the team and the type of work before committing to a call, but I'm open if there's a good fit.

Best, [Your name]

This is reasonable, especially for agency recruiter messages that are light on specifics.

What to ask in the first conversation

The first call with a recruiter is not an interview. Treat it as a mutual information exchange. You're learning about the opportunity, and they're learning whether you might be a good fit.

Questions worth asking:

About the role: - What does the team look like? How many engineers, and what's the seniority mix? - What's the main problem the team is working on right now? - Why is this role open? Growth, backfill, or a new team?

About the process: - What does the interview process look like from here? - What's the expected timeline? - Is there a take-home component, or is it live coding?

About compensation (appropriate to ask early): - What's the compensation range for the role?

This last question is important and often avoided by candidates out of politeness. Asking about compensation early saves everyone time. If the range is significantly below market or below your needs, you can say so honestly and either continue the conversation knowing that or end it gracefully.

About the company (for internal recruiters): - What does growth look like for engineers who join at this level? - How does the company approach remote work?

You will not get to all of these in one call. Pick the ones that matter most to you.

What not to do in the first recruiter call

Don't share your current or target salary without context. If a recruiter asks "what are you looking for in terms of salary?" before giving you a range for the role, it's fair to answer with a question: "What's the range budgeted for this position?" In many places, asking for salary history is legally restricted. You don't owe a recruiter that number before you've learned whether the role is worth your time.

Don't commit to things you're not sure about. If they ask "would you be able to start in three weeks?" and you're not sure, say "I'd need to give that more thought once I know more about the opportunity." Don't agree to a timeline to sound agreeable.

Don't over-sell yourself in the first five minutes. The recruiter is trying to understand your background, not hear your pitch. Answer questions directly and honestly. Save the selling for when you're actually in front of a hiring manager.

Don't lie about where you are in other processes. "I have three offers in hand" when you have zero will not create leverage. Recruiters talk to enough candidates to recognize the pattern. Honest answers like "I'm actively interviewing at a couple of places but nothing at offer stage yet" are fine and true.

Red flags in recruiter outreach

Not all recruiter messages are worth your time. Signs something is off:

Vague to the point of uselessness. "I have an exciting opportunity that might be a great fit for your background" with no company name, no role title, and no description is often a fishing expedition to gather your contact information and current employer for their database.

Pressure for a call immediately. A recruiter who says they need to speak with you today or the opportunity will be gone is using artificial urgency. Good opportunities don't evaporate overnight.

Mismatched experience level. A message pitching you a "senior architect" role when your profile clearly shows one year of experience either wasn't read carefully or was sent in bulk.

Requests for sensitive information upfront. No legitimate recruiter needs your Social Security number, your current W-2, or your bank information before a first conversation.

The role is "contract-to-hire" but that's buried. Contract-to-hire isn't necessarily bad, but if it was described as a full-time position and you find out later it's actually a six-month contract with no guarantee of conversion, that's worth flagging.

Using the conversation for market intelligence

Even when a role isn't right for you, a recruiter conversation can still be valuable.

Good recruiters are in the market constantly. They know what skills are in demand, what compensation looks like across companies, which companies have hiring freezes, and where the most active growth is happening. That information is worth 20 minutes.

If you're not interested in the specific role, you can say so while still having a useful conversation:

"I appreciate you reaching out. This particular role isn't quite the right fit for what I'm looking for right now, but I'm curious about the market generally. Do you have a few minutes to talk about what you're seeing in [type of role] hiring?"

Some recruiters will engage with this, some won't. But asking costs nothing, and the ones who do engage will often give you useful context.

Following up after the call

If you want to continue the process, send a brief follow-up within 24 hours. Thank them, confirm your interest, and mention anything you want to add or correct from the conversation.

If you've decided the role isn't right, let them know promptly. Ghosting a recruiter is fine, but a quick "thanks for the conversation, I've decided this isn't the right fit for me right now, but I'd be happy to stay in touch" is better. You may talk to that recruiter again in a year when you're at a different point in your career.

Recruiter outreach and your broader search

Recruiter conversations are useful, but they shouldn't be your only path to opportunities. Most roles at smaller companies, startups, and growth-stage organizations will never appear through a recruiter. You'll find them through your network, direct outreach, and targeted applications.

Read our guide on LinkedIn to make sure your profile is set up to attract the right inbound interest. And when the time comes to negotiate an offer, the salary negotiation guide covers how to handle compensation conversations without leaving money on the table.

If your job search isn't generating enough inbound activity, the job search after 6 months article covers what to reassess and change.

If you want structured support navigating all aspects of the job search, here's how the Globally Scoped program works.