We've all received cold messages on LinkedIn. Most aren't exactly planned or well-written and, in many cases, recruitment attempts on the platform are downright terrible. But if you're set on using InMail yourself, there are ways to set yourself apart.

A few weeks ago, I received an InMail from a recruiter looking to leverage my services as a business advisor. By the time I got partway through the message, I'd already discounted the sender. It was completely generic, with little understanding of who I am, what I do or why I'd be interested in working with them.

In short, it was obvious this recruiter had taken a shotgun approach. They'd belched out the same message to 20 different people in hopes that someone would eventually respond.

LinkedIn users are may be generally open to hearing from recruiters, but most people are really bad at using it. They either don’t understand what makes a message compelling to the recipient, or they don't care. And it shows.

To set yourself apart from them and structure your messages so people actually open and respond to them, you'll want to start with a compelling subject line and build things out from there.

[For more of this article, please visit HR Dive]