Cold outreach to candidates is one of the most effective recruiting techniques available today. Especially for hard to find talent, your jobs on job boards and a good employer brand are not enough anymore to get the attention of talent.

If you can land straight in the personal mailbox of the candidate with a great personalized story, you are much more likely to get a meaningful conversation going.

To set up your outreach messages for success, you want to be personal enough so the candidate knows you are talking to her, but at the same time you don’t want to spend 15 minutes per candidate to draft your outreach message every single time.

With email templates you can get write your message once and reach out to many candidates and still give the required personalized feel to your message.

This blog provides:

1. Email templates
2. Subject line templates
3. Guide on how to personalize your templates

1. Email templates

Here are some email templates that you can use for inspiration for your own outreach message templates.

These templates are examples for outreach to:

• Software engineers
• Sales executives
• Marketeers
• Data scientists
• Team leads
• Short and concise for all roles
• Personal approach for all roles

Feel free to steal!

*All text between square brackets [...] are details that vary and can often be automatically inserted when you use the right tool.

Best for (remote) software engineers

Template

Hi [first name], 

I saw your profile on [platform] and your extensive front-end dev skills (i.a. [top 3 matching skills]).

[hiring company name], a blockchain startup, is looking for their next [job position name].

Full remote option, so it can be done from [candidate location] (or some exotic island, up to you).

Here are some more details and you can leave your info at the bottom if you want to get connected with the [hiring company name] team:

[job post link]

I can also help you get connected with the [hiring company name] team quickly if you prefer.

Kind regards,

[signature]

Example

Hi Dario, 

I saw your profile on LinkedIn and your extensive front-end dev skills (i.a. Web, JavaScript and Frontend).

Blop, a blockchain startup, is looking for their next senior frontend developer.

Full remote option, so it can be done from Sevilla, Spain (or some exotic island, up to you).

Here are some more details and you can leave your info at the bottom if you want to get connected with the Bebop team:

https://app.xyz/jobs

I can also help you get connected with the Blop team quickly if you prefer.

Kind regards,

Yuma Heymans

Co-founder

Best for sales executives

Template

Hi [first name], 

I saw you’re nailing it at [company name]. Congrats with singing the new clients!

With [hiring company] we’re continuously looking for great sales talent to sell our [product] across [geographies and industries].

Our sales execs are talking to [type of customers] and they typically love the variety of their clients.

You can get up to [incentive scheme] and can enjoy our royal benefits like [other benefits].

Let me know if you want to have a quick call.

[your name]

Example

Hi Ben, 

I saw you’re nailing it at HubSpot. Congrats with singing the new clients!

With HeroHunt.ai we’re continuously looking for great sales talent like you to sell our SaaS product across industries and geographies.

Our sales execs are talking to c-suite buyers from mid market companies. They typically love the variety of their clients.

You can get up to 20% commission for OTE and can enjoy our royal benefits like ski trips and remote allowance.

Let me know if you want to have a quick call.

[your name]

Best for marketeers

Template

Hi [first name],

I saw your experience in [top skills] and your currently helping [current company name] grow.

Your [project or result] got my attention and I wanted to check where you are in your career.

We’re looking for a great [position name] to grow our [product] across [geographies and industries].

Our marketeers enjoy working at [hiring company] because of [benefits] and a great [other benefits].

You will be surrounded by growth minded people and are continuously challenged to keep on growing yourself.

Let me know if you want to have a quick chat.

[your name]

Example

Hi Emma,

I saw your experience in digital marketing and your currently helping Salesforce grow.

Your post on the quarterly achievements in SEO ranking got my attention and I wanted to check where you are in your career.

We’re looking for a great growth marketeer to grow our talent search and engagement product globally in the recruiting industry.

Our marketeers enjoy working at HeroHunt.ai because of total freedom, remote work and a great learning environment.

You will be surrounded by growth minded people and are continuously challenged to keep on growing yourself.

Let me know if you want to have a quick chat.

Yuma Heymans

Best for data scientists

Template

Hi [first name], 

I saw your profile on [platform] and your [data projects].

[hiring company name], a [company description], is looking for their next [job position name].

This role can be done from [candidate location] and you will have a lot of freedom in how you execute on your responsibilities, but at the same time there’s a lot of guidance and mentoring.

Here’s the job description:

[job post link]

Let me know if you want to receive more information and if you prefer we can schedule an introduction to share some more info.

Kind regards,

[signature]

Example

Hi Wally, 

I saw your profile on Kaggle and your AI and ETL projects on people data.

HeroHunt.ai, a data driven talent solution, is looking for their next medior data scientist.

This role can be done from Amsterdam, Netherlands and you will have a lot of freedom in how you execute on your responsibilities, but at the same time there’s a lot of guidance and mentoring.

Here’s the job description:

https://herohunt.ai/jobs

Let me know if you want to receive more information and if you prefer we can schedule an introduction to share some more info.

Kind regards,

[signature]

Best for team lead

Template

Hi [first name],

I saw your impressive track record in leading teams in [domain].

We’re building the next [company mission description]. 

The team is growing with some of the best and most intelligent [position titles] in the industry.

To make this team perform at its best we’re looking for the [team lead position title] to navigate the squad to their full potential.

Here’s the full job description:

[link]

Some of the reasons why you’ll probably enjoy this role:

• [benefit 1]
• [benefit 2]
• [benefit 3]

Let me know if you want to know more.

Kind regards,

[your name]

Example

Hi Miles,

I saw your impressive track record in leading teams in data analytics.

We’re building the next big sales enablement platform, technology that many sales teams worldwide already use to increase deal collaboration and overall team performance.

The team is growing with some of the best and most intelligent data talents in the industry.

To make the data analytics team perform at its best we’re looking for the data analytics lead to navigate the squad to their full potential.

Here’s the full job description:

https://herohunt.ai/jobs

Some of the reasons why you’ll probably enjoy this role:

• 120.000 - 180.000 salary
• Up to 20% commission for achieving team quarterly milestones
• Employee stock options
• Working with the brightest in the industry

Let me know if you want to know more.

Kind regards,

Yuma Heymans

Short and concise for all roles

Template

Hi [first name],

I saw you extensive experience with [top skills]. We’re building the next [company mission]. We’re continuously looking for great [job position name] talent like you. 

Would be great to connect and we can always have a chat when it’s a good time.

Kind regards, 

[your name]

Example

Hi Giulia,

I saw you extensive experience with digital marketing. We’re building the next Netflix for real estate, a subscription platform for housing. We’re continuously looking for great growth talent like you. 

Would be great to connect and we can always have a chat when it’s a good time.

Kind regards, 

Yuma

Personal approach for all roles

Template

Hi [first name], 

I saw on [platform] that you’re a big [candidate interest] fan, can’t wait until [next big thing in interest field].

I’ve been looking at your [platform posts] and was impressed with your [theme] projects, especially the [highlighted project], not something I have seen a lot of people working on but seems to be very relevant.

With [your company name] we’re building out our [subject] app which is reaching [company milestones] and we’re looking for someone who’s able to not only [job position’s function 1] but also [job position’s function 2].

Here’s more about the product we’re building on:

[link to product or about page]

With the variety of your [theme] projects and the level of complexity you’re handling, it seems to be something that you might love to do.

If you want to have a chat over this you can reply in short and I'll take care of arranging our chat. Enjoy the day!

[your name]

Example

Hi Emilia, 

I saw on LinkedIn that you’re a big Guardians of The Galaxy fan, can’t wait until the GoTG 3 release in 2023.

I’ve been looking at your GitHub repos and was impressed with your Angular projects, especially the dev tools projects, not something I have seen a lot of people working on but seems to be very relevant.

With HeroHunt.ai we’re building out our talent search and engagement software which is reaching 50k business clients and we’re looking for someone who’s able to not only write great code using Angular but who takes the junior team to the next level.

This is the product and tech stack we’re building on:

https://herohunt.ai/product-overview

With the variety of your Angular projects and the level of complexity you’re handling, it seems to be something that you might love to do.

If you want to have a chat over this you can reply in short and I'll take care of arranging our chat. Enjoy the day! 

[your name]

2. Subject line templates for your email

The subject line is an important part of your email because it determines if you can arouse the candidate’s interest and have them open your email in the first place.

Open rates, the percentage of your emails that get opened, are mainly influenced by the quality of your subject line.

Personalization in your subject line is the most important contributor to the quality of your subject lines.

These are some examples of subject lines that have proven to have high open rates:

Subject line 1: personal and simple

Template: [first name] and [hiring company]

Example: Emma and HeroHunt.ai

Subject line 2: informative

Template: [hiring company] is looking for [first name] as their next [position name]

Example: HeroHunt.ai is looking for Emma as their next data lead

Subject line 3: trigger a reaction

Template: A career instead of a job for [first name]

Example: A career instead of a job for Emma

Subject line 4: benefits focussed

Template: Career for [first name]; [benefits]

Example: Career for Emma; full-remote, 120k salary and lead role possible

3. How to automatically personalize your message

Some of the details in your outreach message are personal to the candidate you’re reaching out to and therefore have to be different for every message that you create.

Examples are [first name] and [top skills].

The details that you have seen in the mentioned templates like [first name], [top skills], [company name], [candidate location] and [platform] are personal details and vary for every message that you’ll send.

The good news is that you can automate these so-called personalizations by using the right message template tool.

Here’s a tutorial on how to create personalized message templates:

You can learn everything about sending personalized messages in this message personalization guide.