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 use this prompt

Open ChatGPT / OpenAI (e.g. claude.ai or chatgpt.com) in a new chat.
Hit “Copy” above and paste the text in.
Replace every [square bracket] with your real details before you send.
Check the result. If it is too generic, just tell it what to change, e.g. “shorter, with one concrete number” or “give me variant 2 in my voice”.

The workflow around it

Collect profile info + honest selling points of the role
Sanity-check the motive hypotheses. They're hypotheses, not facts
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