Recruiter email to a passive candidate
A recruiter or hiring manager writing to someone who is not job hunting. It gives them the facts they would ask for first (role, range, location) so they can decide in one read.
- Category:
- Cold outreach
- Length:
- 79 words
Subject line options
- {{role}} at {{company}}, {{salary_range}}
- A {{role}} role you might find interesting
The email
Hi {{first_name}},
I'm hiring a {{role}} at {{company}}, and your {{specific_work}} is why I'm writing. It's close to what this team will be doing.
The short version:
- {{salary_range}}, {{location_or_remote}}
- Reports to {{manager_title}}, team of {{team_size}}
- First project: {{first_project}}
I know you're probably not looking. If it's a no, a one-word reply is completely fine and I won't follow up more than once.
If it's a maybe, the full job description is here: {{link}}
{{your_name}}
{{your_title}}, {{company}}Highlighted {{placeholders}} are the parts to replace. If you cannot fill one with something true and specific, cut the sentence rather than leaving it generic.
When to use it
Use it for a named role with a budget that is actually approved. Passive candidates are doing you a favour by reading, and a role that turns out not to exist burns that goodwill for the next recruiter at your company too.
Personalise the first paragraph with something the person made or did in public: a talk, an open-source project, a write-up. "Your impressive background" is not personalisation.
Why it works
- The salary range is in the email. It is the first thing a passive candidate wants to know, and leaving it out reads as a range they would not like.
- The bullet list is scannable. Three facts in three lines let someone decide in seconds, which is all a person who is not looking will give you.
- It promises a limit. Saying you will follow up at most once, and then doing exactly that, makes a reply feel safe.
Before you send
Personal addresses for candidates go stale quickly and work addresses stop the day someone leaves. Check the address with the free email checker before sending, so the message does not bounce off an inbox that closed when they changed jobs.