How to Stand Out in a Busy Inbox: 6 Recruiting Email Templates For Recruiters in 2023

We all know that almost everyone is one social media @ or DM away. But if you really want to make an impact on your candidates, it all circles back to the email that makes them say “You know what? Let me give this a shot.” The real question is — what recruiting email templates and email marketing best practices should you and your team go for?

Creating a solid recruiting email template and outreach plan is never easy. Don't forget that your candidates probably take only a few seconds to scan their inbox before deciding which email gets opened and which email gets dumped in the trash. You have to hook them right off the bat with short snappy content that they can digest and react to instantly. But the shorter the word count, the more limited your window is to make an impact, and the harder it is to create email content that can grab your candidate's attention.

That's where these recruiting email templates and tips come in. We've seen our customers come up with some real creative outreach and although we can't spill all their secrets, we still wanted to share a framework for you to get creative with your emails without losing the plot.

What to remember when building your recruiting email templates:

• Give your subject line lots of love
• Make an impact from the very first touchpoint
• Don't forget your past candidates
• Always send follow-ups emails
• Nurture and strengthen long-term relationships

Give your subject line lots of love

While we shouldn't judge a book by a cover, we definitely judge emails by their subject line. Subject lines are the first thing we see in our inbox, and have major sway on if we open up an email from someone.

In most cases, keeping your subject line short with a mention of job titles or your company name will help increase the open rate of your emails. So, as you craft your email templates, here are some viable subject lines you might want to consider using:

• [Job Title] - [Company Name/Industry] - [Location]
• Opportunity for [Job Title] at [Company Name]
• Hello from [Company Name]
• [Job Title] opportunity at [Company]
• [First Name], Opportunity for [Job Title] at [Company Name]
• [First Name], We Need You On Our Team

Make an impact from the very first touchpoint

First impressions definitely matter. When crafting your initial reach out, there are certain practices that will help you be more impactful and engaging.

These include:

• Introducing yourself, your title, and where you work
• A sentence or two about your company, and the role you're looking to fill
• Mentioning what stood out to you about the candidate's profile, and express why you are interested in them for that role.

Get creative with these as much as you can but make sure your content remains concise and gives your reader value by the time they get to the end of the second sentence. Here are some examples that you can use to build out that perfect first outreach:

Reach out to past candidates

Engaging with candidates from the past can be tricky. If they did not get hired before, they may not be willing to engage in another opportunity. However, it's worth reaching out to them in case they're still interested.

Here's a template you can use to engage prior candidates:

Always send follow-ups

Did you know that sending follow-ups can dramatically increase your chance of a response rate?

We analyzed candidate emails sent out on hireEZ and found that recruiters who used email sequences had a 2x higher response rate than those who used single-email outreaches.

Here's what's even more interesting.

Recruiters who have recorded historically low reply rates with single emails sent out on hireEZ were able to triple their response rates after adopting a follow-up sequence the next time they reached out to a candidate.

Follow-up #1: (Send +2 days later)

Here are some best practices and examples for your first follow-up.

• In your follow-up, acknowledge your previous touchpoint.
• Give additional details about the specific team and role.
• Reiterate your interest in them and why they would be a good fit.

Follow-up #2: (Send +4 days later)

Unless a candidate says they're not interested, there's no harm in sending more follow-ups. In fact, the more follow-ups you send, the better chance you get a response.

For the second follow-up, here are some useful tips:

• Keep it short, sweet, and direct.
• Express why you're continuing to reach out to them (and that this will be your last email regarding the role).
• Directly ask if this is something they are interested in exploring.

Follow-up #3 / Final Attempt: (Send +7 days later)

If you still haven't heard back, it's always good to let candidates know that your inbox is open for them. A final follow-up might lead to an opportunity to reconnect in the future.

Nurture and strengthen long-term relationships

Throughout your sequence, you may receive candidates that give you a definitive “no.” However, some candidates may show interest in connecting at a future time. This is a great opportunity to build relationships and pipeline future talent.

As you continue to nurture candidates, here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Use this time to learn more about their career objectives and goals.
• Share selling points about your company to build brand awareness, appreciation, and interest. In other words, what your company or client is doing, what they have achieved, and any relevant updates and projects.
• Follow up with candidates that have potential future interest on a periodic basis. (i.e. 3 months, 6 months, 9 months).

We hope that these email best practices and recruiting email templates help you boost candidate engagement and make your dream hires.

If you have any questions about building email templates and how hireEZ can help, feel free to reach out to our Customer Success team.

If you're not a customer and would like to learn more about these features, contact our sales team today.

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