{"id":999881424,"date":"2015-06-22T15:47:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-22T15:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dice.com\/?p=1210273"},"modified":"2025-06-24T01:51:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T07:51:53","slug":"tailoring-the-perfect-recruiting-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dice.com\/hiring\/recruitment\/tailoring-the-perfect-recruiting-message","title":{"rendered":"Tailoring the \u201cPerfect\u201d Recruiting Message"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the new eBook I produced with Dice, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dice.com\/career-advice\"><strong>The Definitive Guide to Engaging Top Tech Candidates<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, I discuss how to personalize your email or message to what you\u2019ve learned about the candidate. Keep it short\u2014no more than 2-3 quick paragraphs. (2-3 sentences is even better!) Ask a question\u2014don\u2019t be a one-way \u201csender.\u201d The goal is to get them to the next step, which is a two-way conversation, so start the relationship with a two-way orientation:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cMy CTO, Brian, and I were reviewing some of the work you\u2019ve talked about on [site]. You have an impressive background in XYZ, although it doesn\u2019t appear to be your work-focus now \u2013 more of a passion project? We\u2019re doing some early-stage work around XYZ that we think will change the way consumers do ABC. The team has less than 10 people on it now, but the work will ultimately touch millions. Would you be interested in learning more about what we\u2019re doing and sharing more about your project?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI\u2019m a recruiter for [company]. Before you delete this message, let me tell you why I\u2019m reaching out and how I found you. I can tell you\u2019re really smart based on the questions you asked on [site]. Our tech team is doing some very interesting work around XYZ, which appears to be your focus now. I\u2019ve attached a picture of our technology stack, and would like to learn if problems related to A, B, and C are interesting to you. If so, I\u2019d like to learn more about you.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cI was speaking with [common connection], and he said \u201cHello,\u201d and suggested that I reach out to you. He was telling me about your expertise with XYZ, and I was hoping you might be interested in a conversation with our engineering leader, Shilpa. She\u2019s also a Stanford grad, and is assembling the team that\u2019s building [something disruptive or interesting, based on their interests in XYZ]. Would you be open to a 20-minute intro chat tonight or tomorrow after work? Even if you\u2019re not interested in making a career change, she\u2019d be a great person for you to know.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Should I use these messages for passive or active candidates? Both. One of the big misperceptions is that you can simply treat active candidates like people who are dying to work for your company, with no other career options. That\u2019s almost never true when it comes to top tech talent, as even active tech talent needs to be engaged based on their interests. Starting a dialogue, and not sending a presumptuous \u201capply here\u201d message, is the key to engaging top talent, whether they\u2019re passive or active. Prepare, personalize, and persist. Even active candidates are likely being courted by other recruiters. Remember, it\u2019s very unlikely you\u2019re their only career option.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the new eBook I produced with Dice, The Definitive Guide to Engaging Top Tech Candidates, I discuss how to personalize your email or message to what you\u2019ve learned about the candidate. Keep it short\u2014no more than 2-3 quick paragraphs. (2-3 sentences is even better!) Ask a question\u2014don\u2019t be a one-way \u201csender.\u201d The goal is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":1210273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2154],"class_list":["post-999881424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sourcing-candidates"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tailoring the \u201cPerfect\u201d Recruiting Message - Dice Hiring<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the new eBook I produced with Dice, The Definitive Guide to Engaging Top Tech Candidates, I discuss how to personalize your email or message to what\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dice.com\/hiring\/recruitment\/tailoring-the-perfect-recruiting-message\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tailoring the \u201cPerfect\u201d Recruiting Message\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the new eBook I produced with Dice, The Definitive Guide to Engaging Top Tech Candidates, I discuss how to personalize your email or message to what\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dice.com\/hiring\/recruitment\/tailoring-the-perfect-recruiting-message\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dice Hiring\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-22T15:47:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-24T07:51:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dice.com\/hiring\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/shutterstock_316050143-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dice Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Dicedotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Dicedotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dice Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dice.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/tailoring-the-perfect-recruiting-message#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dice.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/tailoring-the-perfect-recruiting-message\"},\"author\":{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Dice Staff\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dice.com\\\/hiring\\\/authors\\\/dice-staff\"},\"headline\":\"Tailoring the \u201cPerfect\u201d Recruiting Message\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-22T15:47:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-24T07:51:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dice.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/tailoring-the-perfect-recruiting-message\"},\"wordCount\":484,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dice.com\\\/hiring\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dice.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/tailoring-the-perfect-recruiting-message#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dice.com\\\/hiring\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/shutterstock_316050143-2.jpg.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sourcing Candidates\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dice.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/tailoring-the-perfect-recruiting-message#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dice.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/tailoring-the-perfect-recruiting-message\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dice.com\\\/hiring\\\/recruitment\\\/tailoring-the-perfect-recruiting-message\",\"name\":\"Tailoring the \u201cPerfect\u201d Recruiting Message - 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