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. Follow-up templates
4. Guide on how to personalize your templates
5. How to send them at scale without landing in spam

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 (including [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 (including 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 Blop 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 on signing 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 on signing 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 that you're 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 that you're 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 base 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 your 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 your 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 Formula 1 fan, can’t wait for the new season to start.

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 growing fast with recruitment teams across Europe, 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.

Personalization in your subject line is the most important contributor to the quality of your subject lines. Use the candidate’s name, their company or the role, and keep it short enough to survive a phone screen (most mobile clients cut off around 35-40 characters).

One warning before you optimize for open rate: open rate is no longer a metric you can trust. Since 2021, Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection pre-loads the tracking pixel in the background whether or not the recipient ever looks at the message, and Apple states plainly that it "prevents senders from seeing if you've opened the email". Apple Mail is the single most common email client, so a large share of the "opens" in your dashboard are machines, not candidates.

Judge your subject lines on reply rate instead. A reply is a human action that no privacy proxy can fake. If you A/B test subject lines, test them on replies and be patient: the sample sizes recruiters work with are small, so a 2% difference over 40 sends is noise.

These are some subject line patterns that work well for candidate outreach:

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. Follow-up templates

This is the part most recruiters skip, and it is the part that gets the replies. A passive candidate is not ignoring you because they hate your job. They are in a meeting, your email arrived at 11:03 on a Tuesday, and it slid off the screen by lunch.

The rules that matter more than the wording:

• Reply in the same thread. It keeps the original context one scroll away and looks like a conversation instead of a new campaign.
• Add something each time. "Just bumping this to the top of your inbox" gives the candidate nothing new to react to. Every follow-up should carry one new fact: the salary, the team, the tech stack, the reason you thought of them.
• Cap it at two or three. Beyond that you are not persistent, you are a nuisance, and nuisance emails get marked as spam (which costs you far more than one candidate, see section 5).
• Space them out. Roughly 3 days, then a week, then two weeks. Same-day follow-ups read as automated because they are.

Follow-up 1: the short bump (3 days later)

Template

Hi [first name],

Quick one: is [job position name] something you'd want to hear more about, or is the timing wrong?

Either answer is useful to me, and "not now" is a perfectly good one.

[your name]

Example

Hi Dario,

Quick one: is the senior frontend role at Blop something you'd want to hear more about, or is the timing wrong?

Either answer is useful to me, and "not now" is a perfectly good one.

Yuma

Follow-up 2: the new angle (about a week later)

Do not repeat your first email louder. Lead with the single detail most likely to matter to this person, the one you left out the first time.

Template

Hi [first name],

I left out the part that most [job position name] people actually ask about first: [the concrete detail: salary band, team size, tech stack, remote policy].

[one sentence on why that detail is relevant to this specific candidate]

Worth a 15 minute call?

[your name]

Example

Hi Dario,

I left out the part that most frontend people actually ask about first: the band is €85,000 - €105,000, the frontend team is four people, and it's React and TypeScript with no legacy Angular to maintain.

Given you've been deep in component libraries at your current place, the greenfield design system work is probably the interesting bit here.

Worth a 15 minute call?

Yuma

Follow-up 3: the close (about two weeks later)

This one gives the candidate an easy exit, which is exactly why it gets answered. Recruiters are often surprised that this is the email that produces the reply.

Template

Hi [first name],

I'll stop emailing after this one, promise.

If [role/company] isn't for you, no problem at all. If you know someone who'd be a better fit, I'd genuinely appreciate the pointer, and I'm happy to keep you in mind if something closer to [candidate's interest] comes up.

All the best either way,

[your name]

Example

Hi Dario,

I'll stop emailing after this one, promise.

If Blop isn't for you, no problem at all. If you know someone who'd be a better fit, I'd genuinely appreciate the pointer, and I'm happy to keep you in mind if something closer to design systems work comes up.

All the best either way,

Yuma

4. 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.

5. How to actually send these templates

A template that lands in the spam folder has a 0% reply rate, no matter how good the writing is. Since February 2024, Gmail enforces a baseline on every sender, not just the big ones. Per Google's own sender guidelines, you must set up SPF or DKIM authentication on your sending domain, have valid forward and reverse DNS (PTR) records, transmit over TLS, and keep the spam rate reported in Postmaster Tools below 0.3%.

Cross 5,000 messages a day to Gmail addresses and the bar goes up: SPF and DKIM and DMARC, plus one-click unsubscribe on marketing and subscribed messages. Almost no recruiting desk sends 5,000 a day, so in practice the rule that will bite you is the spam rate. 0.3% is three complaints per thousand emails. That is a handful of annoyed candidates away, which is the real reason to cap your follow-ups at three.

Two practical notes: warm up a new sending domain before you use it in anger (a brand new domain blasting 500 cold emails on day one is the classic way to burn it), and never send candidate outreach from the domain your company relies on for payroll and customer email. Use a separate sending domain so a deliverability mistake stays contained.

Where to send from

One last thing: say where you found them

You are emailing a personal mailbox using data the candidate did not hand you. In the EU, that is personal data and the candidate has the right to know how you got it. It also just works better: one line saying "I found your profile on GitHub" removes the "how does this person have my email?" reaction that gets outreach marked as spam.

Give people a real way out, too. A plain "reply 'no thanks' and I won't contact you again" is enough, and honour it. Every complaint you avoid protects the 0.3% spam rate that keeps the rest of your templates landing.