Personalized outreach to potential talent not only makes candidates feel more valued and appreciated, but also improves your chances of converting them to applicants. According to recent research, two-thirds of candidates said that receiving initial outreach that is personalized increases the likelihood they’ll apply for a role1. However, tailoring individual messages can be time-consuming, with some estimating an average time of 10 to 20 minutes per message, which could take a full workday (8 hours) to reach just 25 candidates2.
This is an area where generative AI (GAI) can offer incredible time savings and increase the volume of candidates a sourcer or recruiter can reach for a given role. GAI, which is a type of artificial intelligence designed to generate content, can analyze large sets of data, then identify patterns and preferences that can be used to create highly targeted and personalized outreach messages. By using GAI to create personalized outreach messaging, you can increase the likelihood of candidates responding positively to your messages and ultimately improve your chances of finding the right candidate for the job. More importantly, it gives you time back so you can focus on other important aspects of the recruitment process like building relationships and bolstering trust with candidates.
Below we look at ways you can use GAI to help you create hyper-personalized candidate outreach, including prompts you can use to create high-quality outputs. But before we dive in, it’s important to note a few guidelines around the use of GenAI in the workplace:
- Always follow your organization’s policies on the use of generative AI in your workplace.
- Never input private or sensitive data or information into public AI solutions.
- Always review the outputs for accuracy and adjust as needed.
Prompt writing for tailored candidate outreach
When you construct your prompt for personalized candidate outreach, you want to provide the AI with information about your brand, the job and the candidate. Here are the key areas to pay attention to:
- Format and tone: What do you want the output to look and sound like? Describe the format (such as email, SMS message or LinkedIn message) and tone (such as professional, fun, energetic, etc.) so it aligns with your brand and desired output.
- Audience: Who are you targeting? Include a description of the candidate’s skills, abilities and experience, or better yet, upload their public LinkedIn profile and let the AI learn about them directly. This will help the AI identify why the candidate is a good fit for your organization or a specific role.
- Your goal: Are you looking to promote and fill a newly created position, or build out a new team, or backfill a top performer? Include this in your prompt to generate a more personalized message that sets the right expectations for candidates.
- Details: What are the job responsibilities, preferred skills, experience or education necessary for the role? What department does the role report to? What industry is it in? What are the working hours? Is it a remote, hybrid or in-office position? Include as much detail around the role as you can in the prompt to get the best output. You can also upload or insert the job description itself, which will typically include these details.
- Length: How long do you want the message to be (i.e., 200 characters, 3 paragraphs, etc.)? Including this information in your prompt will help the AI understand what you want the end result to look like. The best messages tend to be concise.
Sample candidate messaging prompts
Sample 1:
Write an introductory email to [insert candidate’s public LinkedIn profile here] with [3] paragraphs that outline why we they would be a great candidate for this role [insert job description] at [Company Name]. Please include the top reasons why the candidate is a match for this role. Please also highlight our company values, which include [trust, integrity and passion] and emphasize the benefits of this being a [flexible hybrid] role. End with a call to action for them to [respond with their interest in the role or apply using this link — insert link here]. The tone should be [friendly but professional and energetic].
Sample 2:
Write an introductory SMS message to [insert candidate’s public LinkedIn profile here] that tells them why they would be a great fit for this role [insert job description] at [Company Name]. Briefly highlight the benefits of the role being [hybrid and flexible]. End by asking them to respond if they’re interested in learning more. The tone should be [friendly but professional and energetic]. Please limit the message to [200] characters.
Refining the outputs
Once you receive the output from your prompt, be sure to review the messaging and adjust the language to align with your brand and your intent. You can also ask the AI to revise for you by giving additional input. Here’s an example prompt to help you refine your message:
“Revise the email to better highlight the diversity of our teams and showcase our employee resource groups.”
Feel free to edit the final output yourself to make it exactly what you want. The AI is meant to create a solid starting point from which to edit, refine and finalize candidate messaging that will truly resonate.
Wrapping up
Using generative AI to help you create personalized candidate outreach messages is a great way break free from templates that feel canned, improve applicant conversion and better your chances of finding the right candidate. On top of this, you'll be able to save significant time and effort, which you can redirect to spend on building relationships with qualified candidates. Just remember that as you leverage generative AI, always follow your organization’s AI policies and never provide public AI solutions with sensitive data or information.
Sources
1PWC. The future of recruiting, 2023
2ERE Weekly. Are Personalized Messages to Candidates a Waste of Time?