--- name: recruiter-outreach version: 1.0.0 description: | AUTO-TRIGGER: Apply this skill when the user wants to write a message to a recruiter, hiring manager, or company contact about a specific role or to express interest in an organization. Trigger phrases include: "message to recruiter," "reach out to hiring manager," "LinkedIn message," "cold outreach for a job," "follow up on application," "reactivate a contact," "message about the role," or any request to write short-form professional outreach in a job search context. Also trigger when the user wants to reactivate a dormant contact at a target company, or when they want to reach out to someone they know who works at a company they are interested in. Do NOT trigger for cover letters, resume tailoring, or interview preparation. This skill is specifically for the short outreach message that precedes or supplements a formal application. It governs first contact and re-engagement, not formal application documents. allowed-tools: - Read - Write - Edit --- # Recruiter Outreach: Short-Form Messages That Get a Response This skill writes outreach messages for a senior B2B practitioner targeting Director-level demand gen, growth, or RevOps roles. The message types covered are: cold LinkedIn outreach to a recruiter who posted a role, warm outreach to a recruiter you have spoken with before, direct outreach to a hiring manager, and re-engagement of a dormant contact at a target company. These are not cover letters. They are short, specific messages that demonstrate immediate fit and create a reason to respond. Most outreach at this level fails because it is too long, too generic, or opens with the candidate's needs rather than the reader's problem. --- ## HOW TO SET UP THIS SKILL Provide: - The type of outreach: cold recruiter, warm recruiter, hiring manager, or dormant contact reactivation - The role title and company if known - One or two proof points you want to reference (specific results, not job titles) - Any prior relationship with this person (previous conversation, mutual connection, prior application) - The platform: LinkedIn message, email, or other If you do not provide proof points, the skill will ask for them. A message built on generic claims will not perform. --- ## The Strategic Decisions Behind Every Message Before writing, make these decisions explicitly. Getting them wrong is why most outreach fails. --- ### Decision 1: What is the reader's actual problem? A recruiter who posted a Director of Demand Gen role is trying to find someone who can generate pipeline for a B2B SaaS company without a lot of hand-holding. That is the problem. Not "a demand gen leader with 10 years of experience." The message should open by making it immediately clear you solve that problem. A hiring manager who owns a revenue target is trying to find someone who will not make their pipeline problem worse. They are not reading resumes for credentials. They are reading for signals that you have done this before at a similar scale and know what you are doing. Name the problem before naming yourself. --- ### Decision 2: What is the single best proof point for this reader? Not your full career. One number or one outcome that is specific enough to be credible and relevant enough to this role to matter. For a demand gen role: a pipeline number, a CPL reduction, or a revenue attribution figure. Not "drove significant pipeline growth." A specific number from a real program. For a RevOps role: a sales cycle reduction, a CRM rebuild result, or an adoption metric. Not "improved sales-marketing alignment." What happened specifically and what changed because of it. The proof point earns the read. Everything else in the message is just framing around it. --- ### Decision 3: How long is too long? LinkedIn messages: 75 words maximum. Three short paragraphs. If it requires scrolling on a phone, it is too long. Email: 100-125 words maximum for cold outreach. Slightly longer for warm outreach where there is prior context to reference. The instinct is to include more to seem more credible. The opposite is true. A tight message signals confidence. A long message signals anxiety. --- ### Decision 4: What is the one ask? Not "I would love to learn more about the role and discuss how my experience might be a fit." That ask is doing too much work and signals the candidate does not know what they want. The one ask is always one of three things: - A 15-minute call to discuss the role - Confirmation that you should apply formally - An introduction to the right person at the company Name one. Not all three. --- ## Message Structures by Type --- ### Cold outreach to a recruiter who posted a role Structure: Line 1: Name the role and why it caught your attention. One sentence, specific. Not "I was excited to see this role." Something that shows you read the posting. Line 2: The proof point. One result. One sentence. Line 3: The ask. One sentence. Example framing (not a template — adapt to the specific role): "I saw your post for [Company]'s Director of Demand Gen. The focus on pipeline efficiency caught my attention because that is exactly what I spent the last two years rebuilding at [Company] — we cut sales cycle from 8 months to 3 by fixing the qualification and handoff process. Would a 15-minute call make sense to discuss fit?" What this does not do: it does not list qualifications, it does not summarize a resume, it does not express enthusiasm in generic terms. It makes one claim, supports it with one specific, and makes one ask. --- ### Warm outreach to a recruiter you have spoken with before Structure: Line 1: Acknowledge the prior relationship briefly. One sentence. Line 2: Why you are reaching out now, specifically. What has changed or what you have seen that made you think of them. Line 3: The proof point most relevant to what they typically place. Line 4: The ask. The prior relationship earns slightly more length. Do not abuse it. The message should still be under 100 words. --- ### Direct outreach to a hiring manager This is the highest-risk, highest-reward message type. A hiring manager who gets a direct message that reads like a recruiter blast will ignore it. One that reads like a peer who has done the work will respond. Structure: Line 1: Reference something specific about the company, the team, or the problem they are solving. Not a compliment. Something that shows you did actual research. Line 2: One proof point that is directly relevant to their specific situation, not demand gen in general. Line 3: An explicit acknowledgment that you know this is unusual and a clear, short ask. Example framing: "I noticed [Company] is scaling the GTM team after the Series B — I have been through that exact inflection point twice, most recently taking [Company] from $8M to $14M in pipeline coverage in 18 months through a combination of ABM and intent-triggered outbound. I know reaching out directly is unusual — would you be open to a 15-minute call if there is a demand gen leadership conversation to be had?" What earns the response: the specificity of the company reference, the proof point that matches their stage, and the acknowledgment that the outreach is direct rather than pretending it is normal. --- ### Follow-up after no response Wait seven to ten business days after the initial message before following up. One follow-up is appropriate. Two follow-ups is the maximum. After two with no response, the answer is no. Structure: Line 1: Reference the prior message briefly. One sentence, no guilt-tripping or passive aggression. Line 2: One new piece of information or context that was not in the original message. This is the most important part. A follow-up that just says "following up on my message" gives the reader no new reason to respond. Add something: a relevant result you did not mention, a company update that increases relevance, or a deadline that creates genuine urgency. Line 3: The ask again. Same ask as the original. Shorter. Under 60 words for a follow-up. If it is longer, cut it. --- ### Dormant contact reactivation This is the most underused message type and often the most effective. You have a contact at a target company you have not spoken to in one to three years. The message needs to re-establish the relationship before making any ask. Structure: Line 1: Acknowledge the gap. Do not pretend you were in regular contact. A brief honest acknowledgment of the time elapsed works better than ignoring it. Line 2: A genuine reason you thought of them. Something specific about the company, their recent news, or something you have in common professionally. Line 3: The soft ask. Not "are you hiring." Something that opens a conversation before making the real ask. The real ask comes in a second message after they respond. Do not front-load a job inquiry into the first message of a reactivation. --- ## Common Failures to Catch Before Sending Read the draft and flag any of these before delivering: **Opening with "I":** Almost every weak outreach message starts with "I am a..." or "I have been..." This centers the message on the sender, not the reader's problem. Rewrite the opening so it leads with the role, the company, or the reader's situation. **Proof points without specifics:** "Drove significant pipeline growth" is not a proof point. "Grew pipeline from $8M to $14M in 18 months" is. If the proof point does not have a number or a specific outcome, it will not move the reader. **More than one ask:** If the message ends with "I would love to connect, discuss the role, or just learn more about the team," the reader does not know what to do. One ask. One action. **The compliment opener:** "I have been following [Company] for some time and am very impressed by..." This is filler. Cut it. Lead with substance. **Length over 125 words for cold outreach:** Count the words. Cut to the minimum required to make the claim and the ask. --- ## Deliver the Outreach Message Output in this format: ``` OUTREACH MESSAGE Type: [cold recruiter / warm recruiter / hiring manager / dormant contact] Platform: [LinkedIn / email] Word count: [number] --- [Message] --- WHAT THIS MESSAGE DOES Proof point used: [the specific result referenced] Reader problem addressed: [the problem this message implies you solve] Ask: [the single action requested] BEFORE YOU SEND [One or two things to verify or personalize before sending. Not generic advice. Specific to this message.] ``` --- ## Output Rules - Never produce a message longer than 125 words for cold outreach. If the user's situation requires more context, use warm or direct outreach structure instead. - Never open with "I" as the first word. - Never include more than one proof point. Choosing the right one is the skill. Using three dilutes all of them. - Never include language like "I would be a great fit" or "I am very excited about this opportunity." These are signals of an unfocused message. Replace with specifics. - If the user has not provided a proof point, ask for one before producing the message. A message without a specific result is a template, not an outreach. - No em dashes. Use commas or periods.