Cold outreach is one of those things everyone says you should do, but nobody tells you how to do it without looking desperate or spammy. “Just network!” they say. Brilliant. Thanks for the tip, mate.

As a recruiter hiring for GTM roles across the world, I see hundreds of cold emails and LinkedIn messages every week. Most are forgettable. Some make me want to reply. Here’s how to craft outreach that actually works, based on what I’ve seen firsthand.

What Most Candidates Get Horribly Wrong

Most messages I get are, frankly, a mess. They’re usually:

• Generic and lazy: “Dear Recruiter, I’m passionate about sales.” Did you even look up my name?

• Irrelevant flexing: “I closed £20M in deals.” Impressive, but we’re a startup in edtech. Do you know what we do?

• Too long: Paragraphs about your entire career. I’m not here to read your autobiography.

• CV in disguise: A wall of text listing your resume. Just send the file, please.

Here’s one I got recently (names changed):

“Hi James, I would love to join your team! Career highlights. 15+ years EXP, $22M in SaaS sales sold in the past 10YRS, president club for past 9 years… Chat TMR? Phone Number"

No context. No clue about our company. Just a phone number like I’m booking a taxi. Straight to the bin.