Guides · Updated 2026-09-06
What to say when someone in your network changes jobs
A job change is the highest-value outreach trigger there is, because the person is genuinely in a new situation and open to conversations they would otherwise ignore. The rules are simple: send within the first two weeks, name the actual role rather than saying "the new role", ask one real question, and do not pitch anything. A congratulation that immediately sells is worse than no message at all, because it tells the recipient the congratulation was a pretext.
Why the timing window is short
The first two weeks are when a new role is still the main thing happening in someone's life. They are telling people, fielding congratulations, and forming views on what to change. A message then lands as part of that conversation.
After about a month the moment has passed. Congratulating someone six weeks in reads as either late or automated, and it is usually both. If you have missed the window, say something else entirely rather than pretending you noticed at the time.
Name the role, not "the new role"
The single clearest tell of an automated congratulation is vagueness. "Congrats on the new role!" could have been sent to anyone, and the recipient knows it.
Naming the actual title proves a human read something. It is a small thing that changes how the whole message reads, and it costs nothing.
Ask one question, and make it answerable
A congratulation with no question is a dead end. The recipient has nothing to do with it except like it.
The question should be easy to answer in one line and genuinely open. "How are you finding it?" works. "What are your priorities for the next 12 months?" is an interview question and gets ignored.
Do not pitch, and mean it
The strongest temptation is to attach the offer to the congratulation, because the person is newly in a position to buy. Resist it.
A new decision-maker is being approached by every vendor in their category during exactly this window. Being the one who did not pitch is far more memorable, and leaves the door open when they are actually ready.
Examples
Each of these passes the same style checks OutreachConvert applies to its own drafts.
Straightforward congratulation
Saw you have taken on Operations Director at Northgate, congratulations. How are you finding the first few weeks?
Why it works: Names the role and the company, asks one answerable question, sells nothing. Around twenty words, which is the right length for a message that expects a one-line reply.
When you have relevant context
Congratulations on the move to Head of Supply Chain, Ian. Coming in during peak season is a particular kind of baptism. How is it going so far?
Why it works: The middle sentence proves domain understanding without claiming anything checkable. It earns the reply because it shows you know what the job involves.
A promotion rather than a move
Saw the promotion to Commercial Director, well deserved. Is the remit much different from what you were already doing, or more of the same with a bigger title?
Why it works: Distinguishes a promotion from a move, which most automated messages fail to do. The question is slightly wry and invites a real answer rather than a thank you.
Common questions
How soon should you message someone after they change jobs?
Within the first two weeks. That is when the new role is still the main thing happening for them and congratulations are expected rather than surprising. After about a month the window has closed, and a late congratulation reads as automated because usually it is: a tool noticed something a human would have noticed sooner.
Should you pitch when someone starts a new role?
No. A new decision-maker is approached by every vendor in their category in exactly that window, and a congratulation that turns into a pitch tells them the congratulation was a pretext. Sending nothing but a genuine congratulation is more memorable precisely because it is rare, and it leaves the conversation open for when they are actually ready to buy.
How do you find out when connections change jobs on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn does not expose job changes through its official API, so tools infer them by watching profile headlines and detecting when they change. That works, but it is a heuristic: someone rewording their headline is not a new job, and a tool that cannot tell the difference will congratulate people on things that did not happen. Ask any tool you are considering how it distinguishes the two.
What is the ideal length for a job change message?
Twenty to forty words. Long enough to name the role and ask something specific, short enough to answer from a phone in one line. Anything longer starts to look like it wants something, which defeats the purpose of a message that is meant to want nothing.
Should you congratulate someone you have never spoken to?
If you are already connected, yes, and it is one of the few genuinely good reasons to break a long silence. If you are not connected, a connection request with a note referencing the new role is reasonable, but understand that you are now a stranger congratulating them, which carries much less weight and is transparently an opener.
What if you miss the two week window?
Say something else. A congratulation four months late draws attention to the fact that you were not paying attention. If the role is genuinely relevant to you, reference it in passing while making a different point: "saw you moved to Northgate, we work with a few teams in that space" is honest, where "congratulations on the new role!" in month four is not.
Related
This is what the product does
OutreachConvert watches your connections for these signals, drafts a reply to the specific event, and holds it for your approval. It refuses to send anything that reads as machine-written.