Recruiting is never going to stop. It never did.  What happens is that the ways of recruiting evolve or rather demand to be relooked every few years. Sometimes because of economical factors, and most of the time because the candidate herself is constantly evolving and learning. The way you approach recruiting needs to evolve as the candidate does.

That’s where outbound recruiting comes in. 

First, what is outbound recruiting?

Think of recruiting as if you’re on a dating app. When you practice inbound recruiting, you wait for candidates to make the first move.  But in outbound recruiting, YOU, the employer, make the first move. You also get to choose your potential fits based on your inclusivity needs. (think Bumble for recruiting) 

Outbound recruiting simply means taking the proactive approach of reaching out to potential candidates. 

Will outbound recruiting work in 2023 and thereafter? 

Short answer: YES! 

Whether in times of great resignation, or lay-offs, or recession, recruiters aren’t going to sit back and wait for candidates to apply all the time. Outbound recruiting is something recruiters will need to continue to embrace now and in the future. Because it’s proven to work and will continue to whether you're hiring passively or actively. 

Now, how do you make outbound recruiting work? 

As evident as it is, the outbound messages play an important role in deciding whether a candidate would even consider the offered opportunity. 

So what’d you do? Simple answer:: Send messages that actually make the candidates want to read and respond to them. And get the conversation started. 

Emails are widely used by both candidates and recruiters. And seldom go missed. 

So how do you make the most of email as an outbound channel? Let’s take a look at a couple of emails. 

Outbound recruiting emails that don’t work

Clearly, this email never received a response from the candidate and rather made it to a Reddit thread on worst emails sent by recruiters.

Outbound recruiting emails that work

That’s a nice follow-up email. The email is sent by the founder themself, the opening brings context about the previous emails, the copy highlights the work culture and throws a spotlight on the role & opportunity for growth. The email signature has relevant information as well.

There’s a whole list of more such best outbound recruiting emails AND LinkedIn InMails along with templates and best practices in our Outbound Recruiting Playbook.

Get a copy for yourself and utilize it when you’re out of ideas about sending that one perfect cold email to a candidate, think of subject lines to send the next InMail, or figure out just about anything related to outbound recruiting.

Happy Recruiting!