AI Prompts for Recruiters and Talent Acquisition

"Generate 3 complex Boolean search strings for LinkedIn Recruiter to find a Senior DevOps Engineer in New York or Remote. Mandatory skills: AWS, Kubernetes (K8s), Terraform, and CI/CD. Exclude candidates who are currently C-level (CTO, VP) or entry-level (Junior, Intern). Provide one string optimized for strict exact-matching titles, one optimized for broad skill-matching, and one optimized for finding candidates at top-tier tech companies."

"Draft a short, highly personalized cold outreach message for LinkedIn to a passive candidate currently employed at a competitor. You are recruiting for a Lead Data Scientist at a fast-growing Series A startup. Do not use generic phrases like "I came across your profile." Instead, use placeholders to reference a specific project or achievement on their profile. The CTA should be a low-friction ask for an informal 15-minute chat, not a job interview."

"Take the generic responsibilities section for a Product Marketing Manager role and rewrite them to focus on *impact and outcomes* rather than a checklist of tasks. Emphasize what the person will achieve in their first 6 months. Ensure the language is gender-neutral, avoids tech-bro jargon (e.g., "rockstar," "ninja"), and clearly communicates how the role drives company revenue and strategy."

"Create a structured agenda and question guide for a 30-minute initial recruiter phone screen for a B2B Enterprise Account Executive. Include 5 specific questions assessing: 1) reasons for looking, 2) their current quota vs. attainment, 3) their average deal size and sales cycle length, 4) compensation expectations (and how to gently ask this in compliance with salary history bans), and 5) their understanding of our product."

"Design a structured Interview Scorecard for a Hiring Manager interviewing a mid-level Frontend Developer. Define 4 core competencies to evaluate: Technical Depth (React/TypeScript), Architectural Thinking, Cross-functional Collaboration, and Product Mindset. For each competency, provide 2 specific behavioral interview questions to ask, and a distinct 1-4 rating scale defining exactly what a "poor," "average," "good," and "excellent" answer sounds like."

"Draft a comprehensive "Interview Prep" email to send to a final-round candidate for a VP of Marketing role. List the 4 executives they will speak with, the specific focus area for each 45-minute block (e.g., Block 1 with CEO: Vision & Strategy; Block 2 with CFO: Budgeting & Metrics), and provide 3 tips on what the culture values (e.g., data-driven answers, brevity, cross-functional empathy). Help them succeed."

"Draft an empathetic, professional rejection email to a candidate who made it to the final round for a Customer Success Manager role but was not selected. Acknowledge the significant time they invested in the process (3 interviews + a presentation). Provide a brief, constructive piece of feedback (e.g., we went with someone who had more direct experience with Enterprise-level implementations), and leave the door open for future roles. Do not sound robotic."

"Draft a strategy script for an offer negotiation call. The candidate wants a $150k base salary, but our hard cap is $135k. However, we can offer a $10k sign-on bonus, an extra week of PTO, and equity. Script how to lead the conversation by validating their worth, transparently explaining the compensation band logic (internal equity), and packaging the non-salary benefits to make the total compensation compelling."

"Create a 10-question intake checklist to ask a Hiring Manager when opening a new requisition. Go beyond the job description. Ask questions to uncover: the immediate business pain this role solves, what the person needs to accomplish in 90 days to be considered a success, the mandatory "must-have" vs. "nice-to-have" skills, the target companies to poach from, and their availability for interviews next week."

"Draft a LinkedIn post for the Talent Acquisition page highlighting a recent company hackathon or offsite to build employer brand equity without directly pitching a job. The post should authentically showcase the engineering culture (e.g., autonomy, cross-team collaboration, fun). End with a subtle Call-To-Action linking to the careers page for those who want to build with this kind of team."