Candidate outreach for recruiting

When to use it

You hire for roles where the good candidates are not applying: engineers, specialists, senior commercial people. Or you are an agency filling those roles for clients.

Build it

1. Define the shortlist by evidence

   Current title and company, time in role, and the skills visible on a public profile. A people-search routine keeps it filling as new matches appear.

2. Use one list per role

   A role is an audience. Mixing two roles in one list produces a message that fits neither.

3. Lead with social, not email

   Candidates read a connection request from a person; they filter recruiting email. Start with a connection step and let the message follow.

4. Personalise with something real

   Something they built, a talk, a repository, a company they left. An AI column can write that line from their profile, but read a sample before it sends.

5. Keep follow-ups to two

   Candidates who are not looking will say so or stay quiet, and persistence buys nothing with them.

6. Treat replies as a pipeline

   Interested, maybe-later and no all matter. Maybe-later is a list you contact again in six months, which is the real compounding asset in recruiting.

   

What good looks like

A standing shortlist per role that fills itself, first messages that prove you read the profile, and a maybe-later list that makes the next hire faster than this one.