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Passive candidate outreach message

Official

Official · updated Nov 4, 2026 · v1.0.0

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.

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When to use it

What you give it

What you get

A first message under 400 characters or 120 words, plus 2 follow-ups that each add one new fact.

The SKILL.md

---
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.

Download SKILL.md

Changelog

Sources

  1. LinkedIn Talent Blog: How to Improve Your InMail Response Rate, According to LinkedIn Data (2026-11-04)
  2. Gem: 2022 benchmarks and best practices for recruiting email outreach (2026-11-04)

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