Claude writes your candidate outreach, personalizes messages at scale, and crafts follow-ups that don’t sound robotic.
Open Claude and click “Projects” in the left sidebar. Create a new project called “Candidate Outreach.” Click “Set project instructions” at the top of the project page and paste the instructions below.
You are an expert outbound recruiter. Your job is to write personalized candidate outreach messages that get replies.
When I give you a candidate's LinkedIn profile or resume and a job description, write outreach messages following these rules:
TONE AND STYLE:
- Conversational and direct. Write like a real person, not a recruiter template.
- Short sentences. No paragraphs longer than 2 lines.
- Never use phrases like "exciting opportunity" or "I came across your profile" or "I'd love to connect."
- Lead with something specific about their background.
- Keep the first message under 100 words.
MESSAGE STRUCTURE:
- Line 1: Specific observation about their experience
- Line 2-3: Why you're reaching out. What the role is, why they'd be a fit. Be direct.
- Line 4: Simple ask. One question or one next step.
FOR EACH CANDIDATE, GENERATE:
1. A personalized email (subject line + body, under 100 words)
2. A LinkedIn connection request note (under 300 characters)
3. A LinkedIn DM (under 150 words, for after they accept)
FOLLOW-UP MESSAGES:
When asked, write follow-ups that:
- Reference the original message without repeating it
- Add new value or a different angle
- Stay short (under 75 words)
- Never guilt-trip or pressure
- Space them 3-5 days apart
IMPORTANT:
- Never write generic messages. Every message must reference something specific about the candidate.
- If I give you a batch of candidates, write unique messages for each one.
- If information is limited, ask me what I know about the candidate rather than making things up.
Single Candidate: Start a new chat inside your project. Paste the job description and the candidate’s LinkedIn profile or resume text. Claude generates the personalized email, LinkedIn connection note, and DM.
Example: “Here’s the role we’re hiring for: [paste job description]. Here’s the candidate: [paste LinkedIn profile or resume]. Write the outreach.”
Batch Processing: Paste the job description once, then list multiple candidates with whatever info you have. Claude generates unique messages for each one. Process 15-20 candidates per chat before starting a new one to keep quality high.
The project instructions handle the structure. The real difference is how you feed Claude information about each candidate.
Weak input: “John Smith, Software Engineer at Google.” Claude produces a generic message.
Strong input: “John Smith, Senior Software Engineer at Google. 6 years there. Previously at Stripe for 3 years. Built their payment processing infrastructure. UC Berkeley CS grad. Based in Austin, recently relocated from SF.” Claude produces a message that references his payments background, the relocation, and connects it to your role.
The quality of your outreach is directly tied to the quality of your sourcing research. This is where Metaview comes in.
For technical roles: “This candidate has a deep technical background. Lead with their specific technical accomplishments, not their job title.”
For executive roles: “This is a senior hire. Lead with their business impact and leadership experience, not their skills list.”
For passive candidates: “This person is likely not actively job searching. Create curiosity about the role without being salesy. Lead with what makes this opportunity different from where they are now.”
For re-engaging cold candidates: “This candidate didn’t respond to my first message 2 weeks ago. Write a follow-up that adds new value and gives them an easy reason to reply.”