9 Tips for How to (Not) Recruit Through Email

If you’re a recruiter, there’s a good chance email is a key part of your outreach strategy. In a perfect world, you would only email vetted candidates who you know are a perfect fit. But today’s cleared hiring market is far from perfect. It’s plagued with clearance delays, a reduced candidate pool, and the need to apply all of your skills to find the right fit. In many cases, that will lead you to emailing new candidates. We asked a cleared IT professional who gets dozens of email queries each week for his tips. He rounds out the top 9 tips for how NOT to send an email to a candidate.

1. Do not send a message BCC’ing all your candidates.

Oh, the bcc! This is a personal pet peeve of mine, as well. It has great utility in protecting privacy, but seems to be more often used in lazy or ambiguous ways. Your email is your first impression, so don’t make it vague – send personalized messages to each candidate individually.

2. Do not put a requisition number in the name field or subject.

The requisition number is your internal resource – it provides no valuable information to the candidate.

3. Personalize the first line greeting to each candidate.

We know this makes messages a lot longer to craft, but it also makes them much less likely to be immediately deleted. It’s easy to fill your email with just the job requirements, but finding some way to personalize the message – how you saw the candidate, where you found their resume, why you liked them or a common interest you’ve noted – is absolutely the way to go.

4. Do not start your message with ‘I.’

This is where the Jedi mind tricks come into play. When you start your message with ‘I’ – even if it’s just ‘I found your resume and…’ – it makes the exchange about you. Don’t tell them about your needs, tell them how they have the skills that might fit an opportunity that you have.

5. Do not have different font for the greeting and job requirements.

This is a small detail, but the small details can make a big difference. When your formatting varies, it makes your message appear copied and pasted.

6. Use the right capitalization when describing technologies.

This is another detail, but in the competition for IT talent, details matter. It’s ‘vSphere’ not ‘VSphere’ and ‘AWS’ not ‘AwS.’

7. Double check the grammar of the requisition with a person who is currently doing similar work.

Don’t take the requisition at face value. To the point above, don’t assume the requisition includes the proper names for technologies or is grammatically correct. When dealing with a highly technical position, you do yourself a huge favor and run it by another person doing similar work, to make sure it is worded correctly.

8. Do not end the message with ‘thank you.’

Don’t waste words with a thank-you. You’ve wasted your time if you put together a carefully crafted email, and then forget to make the ‘ask.’ You should end the message asking the candidate to contact you if they’re interested or know of someone who is.

9. Do not put images, quotes, or advertisements in your signature block.

It may seem like a great idea to put an inspirational quote in your signature block or hyperlinks to every place the candidate can find you online, but keep in mind that if a candidate is using their work email or checking their email from a secure network, your fancy signature block may be stripped of all its glory. The idea should be to give the candidate a way to get in touch with you. Make sure your signature includes your contact information and the link to your company website. Other details are more distracting than useful.