Why Recruiters Pass on your Cold Email
In theory, we all know what we should do when applying for job and reaching out to recruiters. But, sometimes silly mistakes happen that end up hurting your chances. I really hate to put people on blast, but it’s incredible the amount of spammy emails that recruiters receive either through LinkedIn or on email, most of which are generic copy and paste emails.
Even if you might have the best resume, work experience, and educational experience, if your cold email is completely off base, we will pass instantly.
Let's discuss this cold email I received from a candidate who was interested in a position at my current company. This candidate would have been someone that I'd be interested in talking to further, except for some some slip ups. Let's take a closer look, as I walk you through my thought process.
1) Title of the email is strong. Naturally, it peaked my interest, so I opened it and read through it. Just looking at the school email address, I knew the candidate had a strong educational background, which is great.
2) A little strange that the candidate cc'd another email address, but OK, that's fine.
3) Minus points for spelling my name wrong! This was one of the first things I noticed. It wasn't exactly a deal breaker, but something to be noted.
4) This first sentence is overall pretty strong. It is direct, and gives a good overview of why the candidate emailed me.
5) Again, the fact that the candidate has the right type of technical background we are looking for prompted me to keep reading and look at the attached resume.
6) This paragraph is overall very, very vague. Be more specific in why you are interested in this role. Candidate should have thrown in some past internship experience here, and that would have made it much stronger.
7) There is a call to action here, but it can be written in a more direct and explicit way. A simple "let me know if I'm a good fit for X role" would have done the job. Also, there are grammatical errors here.
8) My company does not offer a rotational program, so I was not sure what he/she was referring to.
9) By the time I reached this point, I realized that this email was not intended for me, because my company was not listed here. I really don’t know how to respond.
10) Overall, take a look at all three paragraphs. Find any similarities? They all begin with "I." Don't be a me monster. While you might be a great candidate, be sure to tie into what you can do for the company, because that’s what they really want to know.
..And that's about it! Take into consideration all those points above, and you have a verdict. I hope this helps to shed light into what recruiters look for and evaluate when opening emails from candidates. We do skim them. The strongest candidates that advance to the next stages not only have strong relevant backgrounds, but also have strong writing skills that engage and lure in the reader.
Especially if you are mass emailing a bunch of companies, be sure to always double check your work and be as specific as possible. Don't let silly mistakes immediately kill your chances - I can’t tell you how many I’ve personally received; it happens more often than you think!