Official skill · Hiring
Passive candidate outreach message
Writes a short sourcing message to a passive candidate: a specific reason why them, the role in one line, one easy ask, and 2 follow-ups. Use it when you found someone who fits a role and want to reach out on LinkedIn or email.
Works in Claude, ChatGPT, and coding agents. On Team and Business, the official skill in your pod updates itself when we improve it.
When to use it
- You found someone who fits a role and want to reach out on LinkedIn or email
- Your first message got no reply and you need a follow-up
What you give it
- The person's profile or a specific piece of their work
- The role in brief, with pay range if shareable
- Sender and channel
What you get
A first message under 400 characters or 120 words, plus 2 follow-ups that each add one new fact.
How it works
- Find the one specific reason Name a thing they did and why it matters for this role: "your write-up on migrating billing to usage pricing" beats "your impressive background". If the reason would fit 50 other people, keep looking.
- Say the role in one line Title, team, and the problem: "We're hiring our first data engineer to rebuild reporting for 2,000 clinics." Add pay range and location if you can; it saves both sides a call "[check: local pay-transparency rules / HR]".
- Make one easy ask A 15-minute call, or "Want me to send the job description?" One question they can answer in a word. No links to apply on the first touch.
- Keep it short Our default: under 400 characters for LinkedIn, under 120 words for email. Subject line names the role or the reason, not "Opportunity".
- Write the follow-ups Gem's 2022 analysis of nearly 8 million sequences found reply rates rose from 8.3% after the first email to 15.8% after the second and 21.3% by the fifth, with most replies in by stage 3. Our default: 2 follow-ups, about a week apart, each adding one new fact (team, project, pay), never "just bumping this". The last one closes the loop politely.
- Check the tone No flattery you can't back, no pressure, no "quick question" bait. Respect a no: if they decline, thank them and ask if they'd like to hear about future roles.
The SKILL.md
The whole file, as your AI reads it. Download it
---
name: candidate-outreach
description: Writes a short, personalized sourcing message to a passive candidate on LinkedIn or email, with a specific reason why them, the role in one line, and one easy ask, plus 1 or 2 follow-ups. Use when you are sourcing, need a recruiter InMail, want to reach out to someone who isn't looking, or need a cold message or follow-up to a potential hire.
---
# Candidate outreach
A passive candidate owes you nothing, so the message has to earn a reply in seconds. Say why you picked them, what the job is, and ask for one small thing. Short and personal wins: LinkedIn's InMail data (2022) shows messages under 400 characters get responses 22% above average, and those sent one by one about 15% above bulk sends.
## When to use
- You found someone on LinkedIn, GitHub, a portfolio, a talk, or a paper who fits a role you're hiring for.
- You sent a first message and need a follow-up.
- Not for mass campaigns to hundreds of profiles. The point here is one specific person; bulk sends lose the "why them".
## What you need
- The person's profile or work: at least 1 concrete thing they made, wrote, or did. If you have nothing specific, ask for it; without it, don't send.
- The role: title, team, the one problem it solves, location or remote, and the pay range if you can share it.
- Who the message is from (a hiring manager often beats a recruiter for senior roles; our default) and the channel.
## Steps
1. **Find the one specific reason.** Name a thing they did and why it matters for this role: "your write-up on migrating billing to usage pricing" beats "your impressive background". If the reason would fit 50 other people, keep looking.
2. **Say the role in one line.** Title, team, and the problem: "We're hiring our first data engineer to rebuild reporting for 2,000 clinics." Add pay range and location if you can; it saves both sides a call "[check: local pay-transparency rules / HR]".
3. **Make one easy ask.** A 15-minute call, or "Want me to send the job description?" One question they can answer in a word. No links to apply on the first touch.
4. **Keep it short.** Our default: under 400 characters for LinkedIn, under 120 words for email. Subject line names the role or the reason, not "Opportunity".
5. **Write the follow-ups.** Gem's 2022 analysis of nearly 8 million sequences found reply rates rose from 8.3% after the first email to 15.8% after the second and 21.3% by the fifth, with most replies in by stage 3. Our default: 2 follow-ups, about a week apart, each adding one new fact (team, project, pay), never "just bumping this". The last one closes the loop politely.
6. **Check the tone.** No flattery you can't back, no pressure, no "quick question" bait. Respect a no: if they decline, thank them and ask if they'd like to hear about future roles.
## Output format
```markdown
**Channel:** [LinkedIn / email] **From:** [name, title]
**Subject:** [role or reason, under 8 words]
Hi [first name],
[Why them: one specific thing they did and why it caught your eye.]
[The role in one line: title, team, the problem; pay range and location if shareable.]
[One easy ask?]
[Sign-off, name]
---
**Follow-up 1 (send [date]):**
[One new fact about the role or team. Same ask, in other words.]
**Follow-up 2 (send [date]):**
[Close the loop: no worries if the timing's wrong; offer to stay in touch.]
```
## Example
**Input:** Rowan Patel, VP Engineering at Cobalt Freight (fictional), wants to reach Mei Tanaka, a backend engineer who gave a talk on cutting route-planning job times from hours to minutes. Role: senior backend engineer, routing team of 4, remote in EU time zones, range €95k–€115k; the first project is moving the batch planner to incremental updates. First message goes out 4 November.
**Output:**
```markdown
**Channel:** LinkedIn **From:** Rowan Patel, VP Engineering
**Subject:** Your route-planning talk
Hi Mei,
Your talk on getting route-planning jobs from hours to minutes is the exact problem my team has. I'm hiring a senior backend engineer for our routing team of 4 at Cobalt Freight, remote in EU hours, €95k–€115k. Open to a 15-minute call?
Rowan
---
**Follow-up 1 (send 11 November):**
Hi Mei, one more detail: the first project is moving our batch planner to incremental updates. Happy to send the job description if a call is too much.
**Follow-up 2 (send 18 November):**
Hi Mei, I'll leave it here; I know a good engineer gets a lot of these. If the timing's ever right, my door's open. Thanks for the talk either way.
```
## Checks before you send
- [ ] The "why them" names one real thing they did and would not fit someone else.
- [ ] The role fits in one line, with pay range if you can share it.
- [ ] There is exactly one ask, answerable in a word or a click.
- [ ] The first message is under 400 characters (LinkedIn) or 120 words (email).
- [ ] Each follow-up adds a new fact; the last closes the loop.
- [ ] Nothing refers to their age, family, nationality, or other personal traits, even as a compliment.
## Common mistakes
- Opening with your company's history. They care about the work and why you chose them.
- Three asks at once: call, apply, and refer a friend. Pick one.
- Copying the job post into the message. Link it after they say yes.
Share it with your team
Add it to an AI Skill Pod and everyone on the team, contractors included, uses the same version from their own AI. Read the best ways to share AI skills with a team
Changelog
- v1.0.0 · · First release.