LinkedIn Message Templates Initial Outreach, Follow-Up, Recommendation Requests, and

More
As we mentioned in the previous lessons, LinkedIn is NOT necessarily the best way to contact
people, especially if youre a university student or you have limited work experience.
LinkedIn is excellent for finding individuals at firms and for maintaining your own online
presence, but it rarely works as well as emails or phone calls in terms of getting responses.
Many professionals log into LinkedIn once a week, accept connection requests, and then log out
without responding to any messages.
Youll get a better response rate via LinkedIn messages if:

You have extensive, relevant work experience via internships or full-time jobs (e.g., a
corporate lawyer with transaction experience moving into IB or PE) and your profile is
very good.
You are contacting very specific people with a background similar to your own (e.g., ex-
pats from Big 4 firms in the UK who moved to China to work in finance).
Youre contacting someone who rarely receives messages or networking requests for
whatever reason, or youve started networking much earlier than other people.
This doesnt mean that LinkedIn is useless you should absolutely use it as a research tool,
and as a way to expand your network and contact otherwise unreachable professionals.
To support your efforts doing that, we provide below a variety of LinkedIn message templates
for different scenarios everything from initial outreach / connection requests to informational
interview requests to recommendation requests.
Your LinkedIn messages should be short to maximize your response rate even more so than
with email, it is VERY tough to catch someones attention with a lengthy message.

LinkedIn Templates for Connection Requests and Outreach

LinkedIn Templates for Informational Interview Requests and Follow-Up
LinkedIn Template for Requesting Recommendations

LinkedIn Template for Connection Requests as a Student / Outreach to Alumni:

SUBJECT: [University Name] Student [Industry Name or Abbreviation] Internships

Mr. / Ms. [Name],
Im currently a [sophomore / junior / senior] at [University Name] majoring in [Major Name]
with internship experience in [Industry Name], and I found your name via LinkedIn. Im

http://breakingintowallstreet.com
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com
messaging you because Im interested in a career in [Industry Name], and I saw that you work
at [Name of Other Persons Firm].
It would be great to connect so we could speak in the future as I learn more about [Industry
Name].
Thanks,
[Your Name]"

Executed Example of This Template:

SUBJECT: Tufts Student IB Internships
Mr. Barnes,
Im currently a junior at Tufts majoring in Economics & Finance with internship experience in
private wealth management (Merrill Lynch), and I found your name via LinkedIn. Im messaging
you because Im interested in a career in investment banking, and I saw that you work at
Evercore.
It would be great to connect so we could speak in the future as I learn more about investment
banking.
Thanks,
Wei"

LinkedIn Template for Connection Requests as a Professional:

SUBJECT: [Firm Name] Professional Transition to [Industry Name or Abbreviation]

Mr. / Ms. [Name],
Im currently working at [Firm Name] in their [Group Name] team, and I graduated from
[University Name] with internship experience in [Industry Names]. I recently came across your
name on LinkedIn, and I'm sending you a brief message because I'm very interested in
transitioning into a career in [Industry Name] and I saw that you currently work at [Name of
Other Persons Firm].
I know you're extremely busy, but it would be great to hear any insights you have on how I
might make this transition into [Industry Name].
Thanks,
[Your Name]

http://breakingintowallstreet.com
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com
Executed Example of This Template:
SUBJECT: KPMG Professional Transition to Private Equity
Ms. Vahit,
Im currently working at KPMG in their Transaction Advisory Services (TAS) team, and I
graduated from USC with internship experience in equity research and investment banking. I
recently came across your name on LinkedIn, and I'm sending you a brief message because I'm
very interested in transitioning into a career in private equity and I saw that you currently work
at Sentinel Peak Capital.
I know you're extremely busy, but it would be great to hear any insights you have on how I
might make this transition into private equity.
Thanks,
Victor

LinkedIn Template for Meeting Other Professionals in a New City / General Outreach or
Catching Up with Classmates, Alumni, or Co-Workers:

SUBJECT: [University / Firm Name] Alum Transition to [Location Name]

Hi [Name],
I hope all is well. Im reaching out because I saw that you also [List something you have in
common, such as graduating from the same university / business school, participating in the
same club, or working at the same firm in the past].
Ill actually be working at [Firm Name] in [Location Name] this summer, and I saw that youre
also working in [Location Name] currently.
It would be great to catch up and connect when Im in town.
Thanks,
[Your Name]

Executed Example of This Template:

SUBJECT: Georgetown Alum Transition to Chicago
Hi David,

http://breakingintowallstreet.com
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com
I hope all is well. Im reaching out because I saw that you were also in the Finance Club at
Georgetown the year before I graduated (I was VP of Recruitment there), and youre currently
working in investment banking.
Ill actually be working at Citadel in Chicago this summer, and I saw that youre also working in
Chicago currently.
It would be great to catch up and connect when Im in town.
Thanks,
Rashid

LinkedIn Template for Informational Interview Requests:

SUBJECT: [University / Firm Name] [Student / Professional] [Industry Name] Career

Transition
Mr. / Ms. [Name],
Im currently a [student / professional] at [University / Firm Name] with previous internship
experience in [Industry Names], and I am now looking to move into [Industry Name or
Description of Roles].
I came across your profile on LinkedIn, and was curious to learn more about your career and
how you got to where you are today would you happen to have 5 minutes to speak on the
phone on [Dates / Times]?
No worries if not as I know youre very busy, but I just wanted to ask anyway I really
appreciate any insights you could share with me.
Thanks,
[Your Name]"

Executed Example of This Template:

SUBJECT: LSE Student Corporate Finance Career Transition
Ms. Greyjoy,
Im currently a 2nd year analyst at Rothschild with deal experience in TMT and previous
internships at HSBC and Google, and I am now looking to move into a corporate finance role in
the technology sector.

http://breakingintowallstreet.com
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com
I came across your profile on LinkedIn, and was curious to learn more about your career and
how you got to where you are today would you happen to have 5 minutes to speak on the
phone next week?
No worries if not as I know youre very busy, but I just wanted to ask anyway I really
appreciate any insights you could share with me.
Thanks,
Jiayi"

LinkedIn Template for Following Up on Informational Interview Requests:

SUBJECT: Follow-Up [Industry Name] Career Transition

Mr. / Ms. [Name],
I just wanted to follow-up on my message from [last week / 2 weeks ago] would you happen
to have 5 minutes to speak on the phone on [Dates / Times]?
I am currently a [student / professional] at [University / Firm Name], and am very eager to
transition into [Industry Name or Description of Roles].
I know you are extremely busy, but I would greatly appreciate any insights you could share with
me.
Thanks,
[Your Name]

Executed Example of This Template:

SUBJECT: Follow-Up Corporate Finance Career Transition
Ms. Greyjoy,
I just wanted to follow-up on my message from last week would you happen to have 5
minutes to speak on the phone on next week?
I am currently a 2nd year analyst at Rothschild with TMT deal experience, and am very eager to
transition into a corporate finance role in the technology sector.
I know you are extremely busy, but I would greatly appreciate any insights you could share with
me.
Thanks,

http://breakingintowallstreet.com
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com
Jiayi

LinkedIn Template for Requesting Recommendations in Your Profile:

SUBJECT: Recommendation for My LinkedIn Profile

[Name],
I hope all is well. I just wanted to reach out and ask if you had a few minutes to write a brief
recommendation for my LinkedIn profile, based on my [previous internship / work on XX
project / work on XX deal] at [Firm Name].
I know youre extremely busy, so its fine if the recommendation is 2-3 sentences or less. Heres
an example of a good recommendation Ive seen on another profile:
[Your Name] is one of the hardest-working and most detail-oriented [interns / analysts] weve
had at [Firm Name]. [He/She] consistently delivered excellent work ahead of schedule, and
[he/she] will be a key asset to any organization [he/she] joins in the future.
Thanks,
[Your Name]

Executed Example of This Template:

SUBJECT: Recommendation for My LinkedIn Profile
Ricardo,
I hope all is well. I just wanted to reach out and ask if you had a few minutes to write a brief
recommendation for my LinkedIn profile, based on my previous internship at Swift River
Capital.
I know youre extremely busy, so its fine if the recommendation is 2-3 sentences or less. Heres
an example of a good recommendation Ive seen on another profile:
Dianne is one of the hardest-working and most detail-oriented interns weve had at Swift River
Capital. She consistently delivered excellent work ahead of schedule, and she will be a key asset
to any organization she joins in the future.
Thanks,
Dianne

http://breakingintowallstreet.com
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com