Cold Emailing

5 Cold Email Templates for Recruiters [+ Job Seekers]

lemlist team
LAST UPDATED
May 22, 2024
READING TIME
7 min.

21% of millennials reported changing jobs during the year.

Gallup reported that 60% of millennials are open to finding new job opportunities.

Recruitment strategies

First, let’s understand the state of play.

Outreach as a strategy offers multiple channels that can be used to attract talent. Email, LinkedIn, groups and communities, other Social Media networks, cold calling... these usually come to people's mind.

Of course, everything depends on the part of the world you live in, the industry, job type, etc.

Generally, email and LinkedIn are probably the two most common methods.

As far as the hiring strategy process goes, it operates something like this:

  • Research and sourcing
  • Outreach and getting in touch
  • Interviews and tests
  • Selection and hiring
  • Rejection or acceptance

One of the biggest roadblocks recruiters face is the same as with any other cold email outreach professional.

Response rate.

People are being over-contacted by recruiters.

Both on email and LinkedIn. It’s a crowded space.

Whether we’re talking about developers, marketers, salespeople, or HR managers, people are frequently changing jobs for many reasons.

If you’re chasing talented people who can bring results, all these market conditions are making it harder to attract them.

Which in turn makes the recruiter’s job more challenging.

Hence, the response rate is the toughest challenge to crack.

If you’re a recruiter offering jobs on LinkedIn, and you’re asking for a CV and application after a rejection, you won’t get anywhere.

Why is research important?

Research is the most important piece of the puzzle.

You simply cannot expect a double-digit reply rate without proper research.

Good research allows you to do cool things with your cold emails and craft amazing recruiting email templates:

Personalize your messages based on different skills or qualifications

✅ Get candidates excited about projects they love to do

✅ Talk about their career goals or grab their attention with potential next steps

✅ Get them pumped about working with a brand or person they admire

However, if you neglect the research, this can happen:

❌ The same old recycled message many recruiters use

❌ People ignoring and unfollowing you

❌ First-class ticket to spam and blacklists

❌ Low or non-existent response rate

Without good research, there would be no personalization. Don't forget that. 😉

Recruiting email templates

Let’s move on to the templates!

Wanted 2.0 version

This email is pretty straightforward.

The personalized image can make things really personal, while also adding some links in the last sentence of the email.

Every piece of text on the image can be unique for every candidate.

It just depends on how deep with personalization you want to go.

You can also include gender classification with lemlist's liquid syntax feature.

Once the candidate clicks on the button, you can have a cool dynamic landing page in lemlist with a semi- or fully personalized video to greet the person and show them more details about the job.

You can even embed a Typeform if you need to gather additional info or just add lemcal to book an interview.

Subject line: Have you seen this {{jobPosition}}?

Hey {{firstName}},

I'm {{yourName}}, Head of Growth at {{yourCompany}}. We're currently on a lookout for {{jobPosition}}.

We keep seeing this name. Do you happen to know him/her?
All kidding aside, we'd really like to meet you, have a talk and see if continuing your career at lemlist sounds interesting.

Let me know what you think,
{{signature}}

Don't forget you can also create your email signature with lemlist and easily include it in all of your emails.

"Company wants you" recruiting email template

It’s a little bit subjective, but generally, this is the template that would work the best.

Secrecy in recruiter pitches seems very tiresome.

This email is straightforward about the interviews, position, and details.

Subject line: {{companyName}} wants you {{firstName}}

Hi {{firstName}},

{{icebreaker}}

I'm {{yourName}}, Chief Recruiter at {{companyName}}.

We're looking for a {{jobPosition}} to join our team full-time. Your profile looks not only interesting, but I'd like to invite you over for an interview.

Here's everything you need to know:

- {{quickDescription}}
- {{contractType}}
- {{Salary}}
- {{startingDate}}

Let me know if you're interested,
{{signature}}

To learn how to include icebreakers in your emails, check out this email ⬇️

This email will work best if a company they can relate to is hiring so that you can leverage this style of writing and subject line.

Video recruiting email template

One cold recruiting email template should have a video printed over it. Here's one of such!

Subject line: We're looking for a {{jobPosition}}

Hey {{firstName}},

My name is {{yourName}} and I'm a recruiter at {{yourCompany}}.

We're looking for a 🔥 {{jobPosition}} to join our team. Full-time gig, properly paid.

I think you might be the one. If interested, I made a quick video for you where I'll give you the details you need.
Recruiting email templates
Let me know your thoughts,

{{yourName}}

You can also add a smooth dynamic landing page here as well. Simply link an image to lead the way to that page.

How to email a recruiter if you're looking for a job

Recruiting email templates don’t have to be just for recruiters. People who are job hunting can play with them too.

If you’re looking for a job, what’s stopping you from sending a personalized cold email to your potential boss or colleague?

A lot can happen through our inboxes.

Check out the email I sent to start working at lemlist!

successful candidate email template

Everything started with good, patient research and a personalized recruiting email template.

Just like any other quality outreach campaign.

Oh, I still owe you two recruiting email templates to help you send a cold email to a recruiter!

Cold email with a personalized video thumbnail for job seekers

Number one looks like this...

Subject line: To {{companyName}} with ❤️

Hi {{companyName}} team,

This email might sound a little unorthodox, but bear with me. :)

Going to be honest from the start and say I would absolutely love an opportunity to join your team.

I'm aware this email is out of the blue in your inbox, but just so you know I mean every word I wrote, here's a quick video I made for you.
Recruiting email templates
Or click here to open it.

Hope to hear from you,
{{yourName}}

The main thing to remember is that when sending this kind of email, the video has to be super representative and convince them you deserve a shot.

To make personalized images more eye-catching and to drive more clicks, add a dynamic logo to it.

Internship cold email template

In specific cases, we believe this can be a valid strategy.

Especially if you don’t have meaningful experience to brag about, but you’re confident in your work ethic and your delivery.

And that’s precisely what this email is about. You sacrifice short-term transactions for a bigger monthly check a few weeks or months later.

That being said, don’t allow being exploited!!!

Here’s the template...

Subject line: For {{firstName}} the 💪

Hey {{firstName}},

I'm a longtime fan of {{companyName}} {{firstName}}. Just so you know it's not a shallow line, {{Proof}}.

Have a question to ask. Is there an opportunity for a young marketer to join your team? Here's how it could work...
Oh, and I'll start for free. That way, you can assess my delivery with a peace of mind and, if the results are there, we can talk business.

I'm going to outwork anyone if you give me this opportunity {{firstName}}. Really mean that!

Hope to hear from you.

Nothing but the best,
{{signature}}

You might need to do some editing on this recruiting email template to tailor it to yourself because it's critical to be authentic.

Keep in mind that {{Proof}} tag is a sentence you should use to demonstrate your motivation to join and evidence you're in fact a true fan of the company or the person.

⚠️ To be able to dynamically personalize images like in the examples above, you need an account on lemlist. But don't worry, you can test drive it for free. The whole thing, no credit card required.

Key takeaways

Recruiting email outreach strategy and recruiting email templates requires the same mindset as any other.

Meaningful personalization.

Not just because it boosts our response and conversion rates, but because makes our approach feel unique and human.

It allows the person reading the email to understand we've put some effort into it and that we're genuinely interested in them.

Hopefully, the recruiting email templates in this article, as well as the ones you're going to create in the future, will help improve the game we play.

Remember that it's just the beginning, though - you may need the best employee engagement software and hard work to make the people you recruit happy and motivated.

lemlist team
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Price
Best for
Standout feature
Con
4.9
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star
star
star
star
$30/mo
$75/mo
$2,999/mo
Large, distributed sales teams
AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs
Lack of tracking system
4.6
star
star
star
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star-half
Not publicly available
Sales operations and finance teams
Powerful configurability
Limited training resources and complex to navigate
4.4
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star
star
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Not publicly available
Mid-market and enterprise businesses
Comprehensive incentive management
Potentially high cost and steep learning curve
4.7
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star
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$15/user/mo
$40/user/mo
Enterprise: custom price
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Steep learning curve
4.6
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star
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star
star-half
Not publicly available
Collaborative teams
Connected planning
Complexity and steep learning curve
4.6
star
star
star
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star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with complex sales structures
Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy
Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs
4.7
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Not publicly available
Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts
Simplicity and ease of use
Lack of features like redirection
4.7
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$30/user/mo
$35/user/mo
Custom: upon request
Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software
Ease of use and adoption
Lack of ability to configure the product based on user needs
4.8
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star
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Not publicly available
Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights
A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility
Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow
4.9
star
star
star
star
star
$30/user/mo
$50/user/mo
Smaller sales teams
Powerful automation
Lesser user base and average user interface
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with scalable needs
Automated Commission Calculations
Lack of filtering by date, no mobile app
ERP vs. CRM
ERP
CRM
Summary
Backbone of a business's internal operations.
Backbone of customer-centric interactions and operations.
Goal
To centralize and streamline core business processes in a company.
To increase customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty, and boost sales.
Focus
Internal operations and processes across departments (finance, accounting, inventory, supply chain, HR, and sales).
All interactions with leads and customers.
Manages
Internal business data like financial data, inventory levels, production details, supply chain, HR info.
All customer data like contact info, purchase history, communication history, customer preferences and more.
Users
Finance, accounting, operations, supply chain, and HR departments.
Customer-facing teams like sales, marketing, and customer service.
Benefits
Streamlines operations, improves data accuracy, enhances decision-making, boosts collaboration, increases productivity.
Improves customer relationships, increases sales, strengthens customer service, personalizes marketing campaigns, provides insights.
Price
$150 per user per year on average.
$10 to $30 per user per month on average.
PRM Tool
Rating
Feature
Pro
Con
Mobile App
Integrations
Free Plan
Pricing
4.65
star
star
star
star
star-half
Org-wide alignment
User-friendly layout and database
Suboptimal as a personal CRM
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-check
Team: $20/month
Business: $45/month
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Social Media Integration
Easy contact data collection
No marketing/sales features
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-xmark
7-day trial
$12/month
4.75
star
star
star
star
star-half
Block Functions
High customization capability
Not a dedicated CRM
square-check
Limited
square-check
Plus: €7.50/month
Business: €14/month
N/A
Open-source
Open-source flexibility
Requires extensive manual input
square-xmark
Limited
square-check
Self-hosted
$9/month or
$90/year
3.1
star
star
star
Simple iOS app
Ideal for non-tech-savvy users
iPhone only
square-check
iOS only
Limited
square-xmark
1-month trial
$1.49/month or
$14.99/month
3.6
star
star
star
star-half
Smart Contact Management
Feature-rich and flexible
Reported bugs
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
7-day trial
Premium: $13.99/month
Teams: $17.99/month
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Customizable Interface
Customizable for teamwork
Pricey for personal use
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
Standard: $24/member
Premium: $39/member
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Integrated Calling
Integrated Calling
Too sales-oriented & pricey
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
Startup: $59/user/month
Professional: $329/user/month
4.8
star
star
star
star
star
Business Card Scanning
Business Card Scanning
Mobile only
square-check
Limited
square-check
$9.99/month
4.45
star
star
star
star
star-half
160+ app integrations
Comprehensive integrations
No free app version
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
$29.90/month or
$24.90/month (billed annually)
Capterra Rating
Free Trial
Free Plan
Starting Price (excluding the free plan)
Maximum Price (for the most expensive plan)
Best for
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-check
€15/month/seat billed annually
€792/month/3 seats billed annually + €45/month for each extra seat
Versatility and free plan
4.2
star
star
star
star
square-check
30-day
square-xmark
But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations
€25/user/month
€500/user/month billed annually (includes Einstein AI)
Best overall operational CRM
4.3
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-xmark
square-check
Limited to 3 users
Comprehensive incentive management
€52/user/month billed annually
Small-medium businesses and automation
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-xmark
€14/seat/month billed annually
€99/seat/month billed annually
Sales teams and ease of use
4.1
star
star
star
star
square-xmark
square-check
Limited 10 users
$9.99/user/month billed annually
$64.99/user/month billed annually
Free plan for very small teams up to 10
CRM goal
Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months.
SMART Breakdown
1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation).
2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking.
3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements.
4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives.
5. Time-bound: The 6-month timeframe creates urgency and a clear target date.
Actions
Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation.
Step 2: Personalize marketing automation campaigns based on lead demographics, interests, and behavior.
Step 3: Develop targeted landing pages with clear calls to action for qualified leads.
Step 4: Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads for sales follow-up.
Step 5: Track and analyze campaign performance to identify areas for optimization.
Outcomes
Increased sales and revenue
Improved marketing automation ROI
Marketing and sales alignment
Data-driven marketing optimization
Table
CDP Software
CRM Software
Approach
Data-centric
Customer-centric
Focus
Interactions across various channels and touchpoints, both online and offline.
Sales, marketing, and customer service interactions.
Functionality
Automatically collects, organizes, tags, and makes data available in real-time.
Helps businesses track customer interactions, sales pipelines, prospects, and service requests.
Goals
Personalized customer experiences across all channels.
Better customer relationships, streamlined processes, and improved profitability.
Benefits
Data integration, management, and accessibility, allowing for detailed analysis and segmentation.
Better communication within teams and with customers by organizing information about customer interactions and history.
Data Handling
Handles both identified and anonymous data, stitches together various data points.
Deals primarily with identified customer data.
Use Cases
Personalized marketing campaigns, targeted advertising, content customization across multiple channels.
Managing campaigns and leads, enhancing customer service, providing better customer support, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Examples
Insider, Bloomreach, Salesforce Marketing Cloud CDP
HubSpot, Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional, and Zoho CRM
CRM
Free plan
Best feature
Best for
Con
1. HubSpot CRM
square-check
Sales automation
Sales teams
Up to 1,000 contacts
2. Insightly
square-check
Custom fields
Basic needs
Not enough info about the free plan
3. Agile CRM
square-check
Deal and sales pipeline tracking
Small teams
Up to 10 users
4. Zoho CRM
square-check
Lead and contact management
Businesses of all sizes
Limited to 3 users
5. ClickUp
square-check
Unlimited tasks and unlimited members
Personal use
Up to 100MB storage
6. EngageBay
square-check
Live chat
Small and midsize enterprises
Up to 1,000 branded emails per month
7. Bitrix24
square-check
Unlimited users and 5 scrum teams
Big teams
Up to 5GB of cloud storage
8. FreshSales
square-check
Easy to use and simple setup
Beginners
Up to 3 users
9. Mailchimp
square-check
Very beginner friendly
Marketing teams
Send up to 500 branded emails per month
Type of Affiliate Marketing
Unattached
Related
Involved
Format
Paid advertising
Social media or YouTube channels
Dedicated website or blog
Focus
Quick income
Your niche
Your audience
Engagement with your audience
square-xmark
square-check
square-check
square-check
square-check
Very close connection with your audience
Pro
Little effort
Higher credibility thanks to your niche
Long-lasting and scalable
Con
Paid ads cost a lot
Potential for bias since you don’t use the thing you promote
Require time, effort, and dedication

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