Most recruiter messages to candidates on LinkedIn open with the job: a title, a salary band and "are you open to a chat?". Passive candidates get several of those a week and ignore most of them. The messages that get answered usually start with the person: what they've done, and what they'd want next.
That's how Updately's Candidate outreach template is built. It's one of the Recruiters & HR templates and gives you the whole campaign: a warm-up, a short connection note, an advisor-style first message, a voice note, reply rules for the AI agent and follow-ups.
Short answer: view the candidate's profile, send a short note saying you work with people in their field, then ask one question about what they'd want from their next role. Don't pitch a job until they've told you what they want. When their goals match a role you're filling, describe it in two sentences, and once a qualified candidate says yes, hand the chat to a recruiter.
Key Takeaways
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Who is it for? | Recruiters and talent teams sourcing passive candidates |
| Which candidates? | People showing a signal: career-change posts, two to five years in role, alumni groups |
| How long is the sequence? | Four steps over about four days |
| When does it mention a role? | Only once the candidate's goals match a role in your Knowledge |
| Objective | Understand their career goals and hand qualified candidates to a recruiter |
| Run it with client outreach? | No. Keep candidate and hiring-manager campaigns separate |
When candidate outreach on LinkedIn beats InMail and job boards
Job boards reach people already applying, and the strongest candidates often never open one. InMail reaches them, but a stranger's InMail with a job spec looks like every other.
A connection request followed by a conversation does two things InMail can't. It lasts: once connected, you can message them about the next role and the one after. It starts with them: the candidate tells you what they'd move for before you mention a vacancy.
Use it to build a bench for a role family you fill again and again, not to find one CV by Friday.
Where to find candidates, and how to keep the list tight
Every candidate should have a reason to hear from you now. In Updately, that reason is a signal:
- Keyword alerts: people posting about a career change, a redundancy, being open to work or a new qualification. The warmest candidates you'll find.
- Profile search: LinkedIn people search by title, industry, location and headcount, or a pasted search URL.
- Sales Navigator list import: a list you've built with Sales Navigator's tenure filters, such as two to five years in role.
- Post engagement: people who commented on a post about pay or career moves in their field.
- Network and CSV import: your own connections filtered by keyword, or a shortlist from your ATS.
Keep each campaign to one role family and one region. Score leads against an ICP filter (seniority, location, employer size) so invitations aren't spent on people you could never place.
Run this campaign on its own. Candidates and hiring managers need a different tone, objective and reply rules, and this template treats the person as a candidate, not a buyer. For clients, run the hiring managers template separately.
The sequence, day by day
Days count from the first step. Messages after the invitation wait until it's accepted.
| Day | Step | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | View profile | A light warm-up, so your name may be familiar when the request arrives |
| 0 | Send invitation | A short fixed note. Withdrawn automatically if not accepted within 14 days |
| 1 | AI message: career question | Picks out something specific in their background and asks what they'd want next |
| 4 | Voice note check-in | A short spoken check-in, written from the conversation so far |
The invitation note is the same for everyone:
Hi {FirstName}, I work with people in your field on their next move. Would be good to connect.
It names no role, client or salary, because a note that pitches gets judged as a pitch. See LinkedIn connection request best practices.
The first message is written by the AI for each person: acknowledge something specific in their background, ask one question about their next role, stay under 250 characters, sound like an advisor, no job pitch. For a data engineer four years into a payments company, it might mention the payments background and ask whether they'd stay in that world or try something broader.
The day 4 step goes as a voice note: one warm line about their background and an easy question about their plans. Set up Voice for voice notes before launch, or switch the step to text.
How the AI agent handles candidate replies
With Reply autopilot on, the AI agent follows the template's rules:
- Open to talk: it asks what they'd want in their next role, covering scope, location and compensation range.
- Goals match a role in Knowledge: it describes the role in two sentences and asks if they'd like to talk to the recruiter.
- Qualified and interested: it must mark HUMAN INTERVENTION, so the chat lands in Needs you for a recruiter.
- Not looking: it thanks them, asks if it can get in touch when something exceptional comes up, and ends the chat.
Every template also hands the chat to you when the AI can't answer from your offer or Knowledge (the client's name, visa sponsorship), or when the candidate shares an email, phone number or calendar link. Once the objective, a hand-off, is met, it ends the chat.
Follow-ups when a candidate replies, then goes quiet
- After 2 days of silence: a warm one-line check-in about their career plans, with no role pitch.
- 5 days after that: one specific opportunity or market insight from Knowledge, and a question asking if they'd like to hear more.
How to adapt it to your desk
- Knowledge is where your roles live. Add each one with scope, location, working pattern, the salary range you can share and why it's worth a move. No role in Knowledge means nothing to match. Market notes feed the second follow-up.
- Files & Links: a role brief, with a use when note such as "when they ask for the job description".
- Rules: for example, IF THEY ASK WHO THE CLIENT IS, say "I can share that once we've had a quick chat" and offer the recruiter call.
- Train the voice: paste two or three messages your best recruiter sent to candidates.
Common mistakes: pitching the role in the first message, leaving Knowledge empty, mixing candidates and clients in one campaign, and messaging people a few weeks into a new job.
How to launch it in Updately
- Create a campaign and check the sending LinkedIn account shows as Active.
- On the AI Agent tab, click Start from a template and pick Candidate outreach under Recruiters & HR. It fills in the sequence, reply rules and follow-ups, and keeps your voice, Knowledge, files and booking link.
- Edit the note and AI instructions on the Workflow tab if needed.
- In the simulator, play a candidate who's open, one who isn't, a salary question, "who's the client?" and a clear match.
- Run Test Sequence with a real lead, then add your list and launch.
Read is LinkedIn automation safe in 2026 before you scale, and see every campaign template.
FAQ
What should a recruiter's first message to a candidate on LinkedIn say?
Something specific about their background and one question about what they'd want next. Under 250 characters, with no job until they've answered.
Should the connection request mention the job?
Not with this template. The note says you work with people in their field on their next move.
How many candidates can I contact each week?
LinkedIn caps connection requests at roughly 100 a week per account, so a tight, signal-based list matters.
What about candidates I've spoken to before?
Use the re-engage past candidates and clients template. It skips the invitation and opens with a new role or market update.