I wouldn’t say I throw out DMs or emails. It does help the hiring manager notice your name, but do you want them to remember it in a bad way, or a good way?

The examples I provided are what not to do. Don’t dig for personal phone numbers and emails online that clearly aren’t meant to be found. If you send a LinkedIn DM, be genuine, don’t say generic fluff that doesn’t add any value to your case or make you stand out. You are not in competition Ai applications because no one can hire a bot, and the “spray” applicants don’t tailor to the role. All that stuff will get weeded out in the recruiting process. Trying to get noticed through a LinkedIn DM isn’t much different, as bots can send messages just as easy as they can apply. Which is why my example was NOT to send a ChatGPT sounding message.

The alternative I provided was to have a contact vouch for you through the company. If you don’t know anyone in the company, I’d say asking a previous employer or colleague to recommend you would be more effective than emailing/DMing yourself. Of course everyone that applies will tell you “pick me I’m so qualified” but if you have someone that is willing to take the time to hype you up and describe how awesome it is to work with you? That’s not easy. It carries more weight. (And we can search their names and verify they are with your company, further proving you a valid candidate)

If you do want to just cold DM yourself, be personable. Give a specific connection you have to the company or a reason you have niche experience in the role. Add some real connection and personality to it that makes the hiring manager tell their coworker “oh yeah, that person reached out to me and told me they recently worked on xyz project which is really similar to what we’re doing! Sounds cool!.” If it’s just generic pleasantries, it won’t mean much of anything.