Jim Stroud, who solves recruiting puzzles using data and imagination, gives us practical advice on what to do when an unsolicited email from an unqualified candidate lands in the your inbox.

Hey recruiters, how many times a week do you get unsolicited emails from unqualified jobseekers? How do you typically respond? Do you ignore them? Send them a “thanks, but no thanks” email?

May I remind you that there is a large population of people who hate recruiters?

As such, we (as recruiters) must go out of our way to be helpful and professional when possible. After all, today’s jobseeker may be tomorrow’s client.

That being said, I would like to offer to all a template that can be used when responding to unqualified candidates who send unsolicited emails to you. It goes a little something like this:

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Jobseeker,

Thank you for contacting me and for your interest in [insert company name here]. With respect, I am not recruiting for opportunities that meet your qualifications. At least, not as of this moment.

This is not to say that I cannot place you in the future. That being said, please assist us both by considering the following:

As you know, I recruit for [insert client name here]. Our focus is on the [insert industry here]. The people I tend to recruit generally have the job title of:

# Job title I
# Job title 2
# Job title 3

More than likely, I will place those individuals in one of the following locations:

# City 1
# City 2
# City 3

In order to save us both some time, please review the collection of job descriptions that I recruit for everyday. These job descriptions are posted on my LinkedIn profile. [add a link to your LinkedIn profile or attach the job descriptions to your email]

I would also encourage you to visit our careers page for more opportunities. [add a link to your company careers page]

Thank you again for your interest in [insert company name here]. It really is a great place to work! Check this out! [link to something that proves that the client is a great employer]

Sincerely,
John Q Recruiter

P.S. You might have an interest in this.
[link to a jobhunting resource with useful jobhunting tips]

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So, what do you think of this approach? Leave a comment below. Operators are standing by.

Jim Stroud is the RPO SR recruitment strategies and support director at Randstad Sourceright US, and the author of several books and several blog posts. He has consulted for companies such as Microsoft, Google and Siemens – apart from a number of startups.

Image: Shutterstock