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PromptChatGPT / OpenAI · recruiting

Personalised candidate outreach

Candidates ignore buzzword outreach ('exciting challenge!') — they reply to messages that hit their probable switching motive. This prompt derives the motive from the profile and builds the outreach around it.

Prompt
You are a sourcing copywriter. Build a candidate first-touch message.

Candidate profile: [headline, current role + tenure, history, posts if any]
My role: [title, team, 2–3 honest selling points — including what's NOT great]
Salary band (if shareable): [range]

Task:
1. Derive 2 probable switching motives from the profile (e.g. 4 years in the same role → growth ceiling; corporate → autonomy) — with reasoning AND an uncertainty note.
2. Write the message: max 80 words, reference one concrete profile detail, address the strongest motive, state the band if allowed, question instead of pitch at the end.
3. No superlatives ("market-leading", "unique") and promise nothing I can't keep.

How to run it

  1. Collect profile info + honest selling points of the role
  2. Sanity-check the motive hypotheses — they're hypotheses, not facts
  3. Send manually; track reply rate per motive type
Safety note

Uncritical for manual, individual outreach. GDPR note: use profile data for the specific message only, don't stockpile it in AI tools. Bulk sending via automation tools is a ToS issue — see the safety ranking.

Hands-on tested with Claude · as of 2026-07