# Candidate Outreach That Connects: practice workbook
Talent Engineering Academy | An education initiative by Vitae
Edition 2026.09 | Updated 2026-09-24
Course: https://talentengineering.org/courses/candidate-outreach

Write relevant, accurate outreach, manage follow-up respectfully and learn from response quality.

## Your deliverable
A three-step outreach sequence and reply-handling guide.

Use fictional information. Keep your completed work in your own secure notes. Exercises and capstone work are self-directed, not independently assessed.

## 1. Verified reason for contact

Your notes:



## 2. Role facts and unresolved details

Your notes:



## 3. Candidate value and realistic next step

Your notes:



## 4. Contact permission, channel and preferences

Your notes:



## 5. Follow-up stopping rules

Your notes:



## 6. Reply categories and learning

Your notes:



## Lesson exercises

### 1. A useful first conversation

Draft a message of fewer than 100 words for a fictional quality leadership role. Include one evidence-backed reason for contact, two useful role details and a simple question.

Your response:



### 2. Earn relevance with specific evidence

Draft a first message of fewer than 100 words using two confirmed role facts.

Your response:


Worked example: A fictional message references a candidate’s published work on production traceability and a role responsible for that outcome. It asks whether a short role summary would be useful and does not assume the person wants to leave.

Self-review guidance: Underline each factual claim and link it to your research notes. Remove invented urgency and unsupported praise. The recipient should understand the work and be able to decline without pressure.

### 3. Make the next step small and honest

Write two calls to action: one for a confirmed role and one for a market conversation.

Your response:


Worked example: A recruiter has market knowledge but no live mandate. The message invites a market conversation and says that plainly. It does not advertise a fictional vacancy to gather candidate details.

Self-review guidance: The confirmed-role request can offer a brief. The research conversation must identify its actual purpose. Neither should imply a guaranteed interview, offer or confidential client mandate without evidence.

### 4. Design follow-up around information and choice

Design a three-contact sequence with a stop rule and a withdrawal scenario.

Your response:


Worked example: A candidate asks not to receive further role messages. The recruiter records the preference in the shared system and checks that queued follow-ups are cancelled, rather than merely removing the person from one spreadsheet.

Self-review guidance: Each follow-up should add something material. Show how a decline, reply or preference change stops queued actions. Do not treat a platform change as permission to restart an unwanted sequence.

### 5. Measure conversation quality and improve

Classify twelve fictional replies and propose one improvement to the sequence.

Your response:


Worked example: Variant A gets ten replies, including six asking what the role actually is. Variant B gets seven replies, five of which lead to informed conversations. The team examines relevance and clarity rather than declaring A the winner by reply count.

Self-review guidance: Separate informative interest from confusion and opt-outs. Explain the denominator and uncertainty. A useful revision may clarify location or scope rather than adding more persuasive language.

## Portfolio review
Check that your work is internally consistent, distinguishes facts from assumptions, names decision owners and explains its limitations. Revise gaps before using the method in real work.

## Further reading
- [CIPD: Recruitment](https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/factsheets/recruitment-factsheet/): Professional context for the recruitment lifecycle.
- [ICO: Recruitment and selection](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/employment/recruitment-and-selection/): UK guidance. Check its current status and updates before implementation.

Original educational scenarios. References provide further reading and do not imply endorsement. Check current official rules and appropriate professional advice for real legal, financial or regulated decisions.