The Workers and Industries with the Highest InMail Response Rates

Update: This story was originally published in June 2022. In recognition of new InMail benchmarking reports available within LinkedIn Recruiter, we updated the story with fresh data and analysis to give you the latest perspective on InMail response rates. 

To help recruiters better connect with candidates, we’ve shown you which InMails tend to get the best response rates. For instance, the shortest InMails — ones of 400 or fewer characters — get responses at a rate that’s 22% higher than the global average. 

The actionable takeaway for recruiters hoping to improve their response rates? Write shorter InMails.

But even if you craft the best, most optimized InMails in the world, some folks will still be harder to reach than others, just as some companies will have an easier time getting responses. Put simply, your industry and your target candidate make a big impact on your response rates. 

So, let’s take a look at which industries tend to receive the highest InMail response rates and at which employee functions tend to respond at the highest rates.  

Seeing how InMail benchmarks compare across industries and functions can give you a better perspective to judge your own performance. It can also help you set and manage expectations — especially if you’re being hounded by an impatient hiring manager. Read on for a closer look at the highest InMail response rates across industries (of the senders) and functions (of the recipients).  

Which industries get better InMail response rates?

Oil, gas, and mining companies are known for digging deep — maybe that’s why they find it relatively easy to unearth receptive candidates. The InMail response rate for the oil, gas, and mining industry is an earth-shattering 24% above the global average.

The utilities industry also saw relatively electrifying InMail response rates — 17% higher than the global average. The latest May 2024 workforce report for the U.S. reveals that these two industries have seen the sharpest decline in year-over-year hiring rates, down more than 20% for each. If companies in these sectors are hiring substantially less, that could explain why the candidates they contact respond at such a high rate: Because there aren’t as many jobs to go around, candidates entrenched in that industry may be especially eager for any opportunities that do come their way. 

Other top industries include retail, accommodation and food services, and manufacturing. Interestingly, nearly all five of these industries are based around in-person roles whose day-to-day doesn’t lend itself easily to remote work. In the last few years, as the global economy recovers from the effects of the pandemic, in-person roles have consistently been among the most in-demand jobs. 

The high response rates here may indicate that these companies are more aggressively recruiting a broader range of candidates who find their career opportunities enticing.

Which functions have better InMail response rates?

So far, we’ve looked at response rates by the industries of the recruiters sending the InMails. Now, we’ll flip that on its head and consider the recipients, grouping them into functions by role. These functions roughly map to departments you might find in a large organization: HR, engineering, business development, sales, and others.

The most responsive workers on LinkedIn were those in the quality assurance function, with an InMail response rate 16% higher than the global average. With AI poised to overhaul much of the traditional quality assurance process, it may be that workers in this specialty worry that there could be fewer job opportunities going forward. Conversely, from a more optimistic perspective, the development of so many new AI products across all industries could be increasing demand for QA professionals, resulting in more aggressive offers and more responsive candidates. 

Notably, one of the most responsive functions was the one where most recruiters themselves sit: People in human resources responded to InMails at a rate 15% higher than the overall average. And fittingly, program/project/product managers and communications professionals also provided relatively high response rates, ranging from 11% to 15% above average. More than most, workers in these functions understand the value of being timely, organized, and communicative. 

Final thoughts

These benchmarks might not leave you with simple tactics to improve your response rate — but they will help you see how you stack up and better understand different response rates across talent pools or teams. 

If you’re in the retail industry or hiring project managers, you should have an easier time reaching receptive candidates. However if you’re struggling to hear back from candidates, that could be a red flag and it’s probably worth reconsidering your approach. The good news: It’s probably something you can improve. 

Methodology

This analysis was based on tens of millions of InMails sent by corporate recruiters around the world between May 2023 through April 2024. Members included active users with relatively complete profiles. Staffing firms were excluded from this analysis. InMail responses include any response received within 30 days. Industries are determined by the company of the recruiter sending the InMail, while functions are determined by the role of the member receiving the InMail.