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Candidate outreach

Candidate outreach

Our advice for reaching out to candidates

Jeffrey Li

By Jeffrey Li

In this article
Email subjectIntroductionThe opportunityCall to actionGeneral adviceFollowing up with candidatesUp to date LinkedIn profile

Being recruiters in the past and now founders of Paraform, we’ve learned a lot about candidate outreach after having sent thousands of emails to candidates.

We wanted to share the key sections in an outreach message and principles that we’ve found remain true when doing candidate outreach. From our learnings, we’ve developed an AI-powered tool for generating outreach messages personalized to a candidate and role you’re recruiting for.

Email subject

  • Include the company name and/or role name
  • Add personalization (candidates' first names, mention their current position, mutual connection or share a similar interest)
  • Add relevancy to candidate’s work experiences, skills or qualifications
  • Be clear, short and concise (no greater than 70 characters)
  • Avoid spam trigger words (all caps, mentioning money, urgency, opportunity join) or looking too desparate (https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30684/the-ultimate-list-of-email-spam-trigger-words.aspx)

Introduction

  • Highlight your reason for reaching out to candidate and add personalization
  • Comment on a candidate’s experience, compliment that candidates about something that is unique to them
  • Use employer brand as a creative question or relevancy (recent round raised or any recent announcements)
  • Look at a candidate on other mediums like Github, Twitter, Quora, StackOverflow, and personal blogs to things more personal like side projects or interests outside of their professions
  • Mention a mutual connection if that exists
  • Use your own work experiences to relate to a candidate if anything you both relate to exists
  • Compliment them on a recent post, a previous accomplishment, or anything else that catches your attention

The opportunity

  • Basic information about the role, tech stacks that are required, salary information
  • Strong talent on the existing team (top companies and university experience)
  • Funding and mention VC backed companies that are involved
  • What it’s like to work at the startup

Call to action

  • Be clear about what you’re trying to accomplish when you’re sending a message to someone.
  • Goal should be to either schedule a short call with candidate or respond directly to the email

General advice

  • Keep the email concise (100-200 characters) and only include key things that will convince a candidate to reply to your call to action
  • Keep the tone friendly, human and casual

Following up with candidates

  • Following up with candidates is an essential part of the recruitment process. Be sure to follow up with candidates you haven't heard back from, and keep track of their responses.
  • It's important to keep the lines of communication open and to be responsive to their questions and concerns. Remember, the hiring process can be stressful for candidates, so it's important to be as transparent and supportive as possible.

Up to date LinkedIn profile

  • Ensure that your LinkedIn profile is up to date and accurately reflects your current position and responsibilities.
  • This will help candidates to better understand your background and experience, and can also help to build credibility and trust.
  • Make sure to include a professional photo, relevant industry keywords, and a clear summary of your experience and goals.