LinkedIn InMail is a powerful tool for recruiters. You can reach passive candidates directly, bypass gatekeepers, and build relationships with talent who aren't actively job hunting.

But like all powerful tools, it can be misused spectacularly.

Enter Marcus, a third-party recruiter at a staffing agency, who decided to send 300 identical, generic InMails to software engineers in a single afternoon. The candidates noticed the copy-paste job, compared notes, and created a Discord server specifically to mock the message.

Welcome to the internet, Marcus. We hope you're ready.

The InMail That Started It All

Marcus was recruiting for a generic "Senior Software Engineer" role at a tech company. He had a list of 300 LinkedIn profiles that matched the basic criteria (software engineer, 5+ years experience, lives in the U.S.).

Instead of personalizing outreach, he used a template and mass-sent it via LinkedIn Recruiter:

---

Subject: Exciting Opportunity for Top Talent!

Hi [FIRST_NAME],

I came across your profile and was really impressed by your background! You seem like exactly the kind of talented professional we're looking for.

We're working with an innovative, fast-growing tech company (I can't name them yet, but trust me, you've heard of them!) on a Senior Software Engineer role that could be perfect for you.

This is a game-changing opportunity to work with cutting-edge technologies on impactful projects in a collaborative, dynamic environment.

If you're open to exploring what could be the next step in your career, I'd love to connect!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Best, Marcus

---

Generic? Yes. Vague? Extremely. Copy-pasted to 300 people without customization? Absolutely.

The Candidates Notice

Within a few hours, software engineers across the country started receiving this exact message. And because software engineers are detail-oriented people who communicate with each other, they noticed.

The first public callout came from @DevHumor on Twitter/X:

"Got a LinkedIn InMail from a recruiter who says I'm 'exactly the kind of talented professional they're looking for.' Funny, because my profile says I'm a frontend developer and the role is for backend infrastructure. But sure, I'm 'exactly' what you need."

Then @SoftwareEngineerMemes posted:

"Recruiter just told me I 'seem like exactly the kind of talented professional' they want. My LinkedIn headline is literally 'Not looking for jobs, stop InMailing me.' Reading comprehension: 0/10."

And @LinkedInRoast:

"I got an 'exciting opportunity' InMail for a role the recruiter 'can't name yet.' If it's so exciting, why are you being secretive? This isn't the CIA."

The Discord Server Is Born

Someone had the brilliant idea: "I bet a bunch of us got the exact same message. Let's compare."

A software engineer named Jake created a Discord server called "Marcus's Exciting Opportunity Support Group" and posted the invite link on Twitter. Within 24 hours, 63 people had joined, all of whom received identical InMails from Marcus.

The server had channels like:

• #marcus-sightings (screenshots of the InMail)
• #translations (decoding recruiter-speak like "fast-growing" = "chaotic" and "dynamic environment" = "no work-life balance")
• #bingo-card (generic recruiter phrase bingo)
• #response-ideas (creative ways to reply to Marcus)

The community immediately started analyzing the message like a literary text.

The Roast Begins

Discord members dissected every line of Marcus's InMail:

"I came across your profile and was really impressed by your background!"

@EngineerJake: "You came across 300 profiles and were impressed by all of them? That's either impressive multitasking or you didn't read any of them."

@SarcasmDev: "My background is a default LinkedIn banner image. Glad you're impressed."

"You seem like exactly the kind of talented professional we're looking for."

@CodeMonkey: "I'm a mobile developer. The role is for embedded systems. We are not the same."

@BackendBob: "Define 'exactly.' Because I don't think that word means what you think it means."

"We're working with an innovative, fast-growing tech company (I can't name them yet, but trust me, you've heard of them!)"

@SkepticalSenior: "If I've heard of them, why can't you name them? Are they in witness protection?"

@StartupSurvivor: "Fast-growing = they're hemorrhaging employees and desperately backfilling."

@DevOpsDoug: "'Trust me' from a stranger on LinkedIn is the recruiting equivalent of 'this isn't a pyramid scheme.'"

"This is a game-changing opportunity to work with cutting-edge technologies on impactful projects in a collaborative, dynamic environment."

@BuzzwordBingo: "I got BINGO on this sentence alone. Game-changing, cutting-edge, impactful, collaborative, dynamic. That's five squares."

@JavaJill: "Cutting-edge technologies = we use React. Collaborative environment = open office with no walls. Dynamic = constant fires to put out."

The Creative Responses

Some Discord members decided to reply to Marcus with increasingly absurd messages to see if he'd notice:

Response 1 (from @TrollDev):

"Hi Marcus! I'm very interested in this exciting opportunity! Just a few questions: Does the role involve cutting-edge technologies like COBOL? I specialize in COBOL for blockchain applications. Also, I only work Tuesdays and alternate Thursdays. Let me know!"

Marcus replied: "Thanks for your interest! Let me check with the hiring manager and get back to you."

(He did not get back.)

Response 2 (from @SarcasticSally):

"Marcus, I'm thrilled you found my profile! I've been looking for a game-changing opportunity in a fast-growing company I can't know the name of. Secrecy is my passion. When can we schedule a mystery interview?"

Marcus replied: "Great! Let's set up a call. Are you available tomorrow?"

(Sally did not respond.)

Response 3 (from @AIEnthusiast):

"Hi Marcus! I'm actually an AI language model trained to appear human on LinkedIn. I don't have a physical form or the ability to work at a company. But I appreciate the outreach! Would you like me to generate a more personalized InMail template for your future campaigns?"

Marcus did not reply to this one.

The Bingo Card

The Discord community created a "Generic Recruiter InMail Bingo Card" with common phrases:

• "Came across your profile"
• "Really impressed by your background"
• "Exciting opportunity"
• "Game-changing"
• "Cutting-edge technologies"
• "Fast-growing company"
• "Can't name the client yet"
• "Collaborative environment"
• "Top talent"
• "Next step in your career"
• "Impactful projects"
• "Dynamic team"
• "Innovative company"
• "Looking forward to hearing from you"

Marcus's InMail hit 11 out of 14 squares. Impressive.

The Analytics

The Discord community started tracking Marcus's outreach strategy like a research project:

Total InMails sent: 300+

Response rate: ~4% (12 people responded, mostly to troll him)

Actual conversations that led anywhere: 1 (someone who was desperate and took a call out of curiosity, then declined after learning the role paid $30K below market rate)

InMails sent to people who explicitly state "not looking" in their headline: 47

InMails sent to people whose profiles clearly don't match the role: ~150

InMails sent to people who work at the company Marcus is recruiting for: 3 (yes, really—he messaged people who already work there)

Success rate: 0.33% (one person took a call, didn't move forward)

The Company Finds Out

Someone in the Discord server worked at the company Marcus was recruiting for. They sent screenshots of the Discord conversation to their internal recruiting team.

The internal recruiter was horrified.

Turns out, the staffing agency Marcus worked for had been hired to help fill a handful of engineering roles. Instead of quality outreach, Marcus was blasting generic messages to maximize volume, hoping something would stick.

The company terminated their contract with the staffing agency within a week.

An internal email (leaked to the Discord, naturally) said: "We're ending our relationship with [Agency Name]. Their approach to candidate outreach does not align with our employer brand or values. We'll be handling recruiting internally going forward."

Marcus's boss was reportedly not pleased.

The Aftermath

Discord server membership: Grew to 130+ people (many joined just for the entertainment)

Twitter thread about the incident: 12,000+ likes, 3,400 retweets

Marcus's LinkedIn activity: Went quiet for about two weeks, then resumed with slightly less generic InMails

Candidates who blocked Marcus: At least 40

Recruiting agency contracts lost: 1 (that we know of)

Lessons learned by Marcus: TBD

The Actual Lesson Here

Mass-sending generic, copy-pasted InMails is a terrible recruiting strategy, and candidates will notice and call you out.

What Marcus should have done:

1. Personalize outreach: Reference something specific from each candidate's profile—a project they worked on, a skill they highlighted, a company they've worked for.

2. Be transparent: If you can name the company, name it. If you can't, explain why (NDA, confidential search, etc.). "Trust me, you've heard of them" isn't compelling.

3. Match candidates to roles: Don't send backend infrastructure roles to frontend developers. Read the profile before messaging.

4. Respect people's stated preferences: If someone's headline says "not looking for opportunities," don't message them. You're wasting everyone's time.

5. Quality over quantity: Sending 300 generic messages with a 0.33% success rate is worse than sending 30 personalized messages with a 10% success rate. Do the math.

The Discord Legacy

The "Marcus's Exciting Opportunity Support Group" Discord server is still active, though it's evolved beyond mocking Marcus specifically.

It's now a community where software engineers:

• Share bad recruiter messages
• Decode vague job descriptions
• Warn each other about red-flag companies
• Swap salary negotiation strategies
• Celebrate job offers and commiserate about rejections

Marcus inadvertently created a support network for engineers dealing with recruiting nonsense. That's kind of beautiful, in a chaotic internet way.

The Bottom Line

Candidates talk to each other. They compare notes. They screenshot your messages. And if you're sending generic, low-effort outreach to hundreds of people, they will notice and they will roast you publicly.

Respect candidates' time, personalize your outreach, and treat people like humans instead of numbers in a CRM. Or don't—and risk becoming the next Discord meme.

Your call, Marcus.