Salespeople have known for decades that the first email rarely gets the reply — the follow-ups do. The same is true in a job search. A cadence is simply a short, planned sequence of messages to a hiring contact, spaced out over a couple of weeks, that stops the moment they respond. Here's how to run one without being annoying.
Why one email isn't enough
People are busy and inboxes are noisy. A single message is easy to miss; a second or third, sent politely and with something useful, is what actually surfaces you. Persistence — done respectfully — reads as genuine interest, not pestering.
A simple six-step structure
- Day 0 — Intro. You applied, one reason you're a fit, a soft ask.
- Day 3 — Follow-up. A brief nudge in case the first got buried.
- Day 6 — Value add. Share a relevant example of your work.
- Day 8 — Check-in. Ask if they're the right person, or who is.
- Day 12 — Breakup. A gracious "I'll ease off" note — which often gets the reply.
- Later — Final. One last, low-pressure line to close the loop.
Adjust the spacing to taste. The key rules: keep each message short, make each one add something, and stop the entire sequence the instant they reply.
Keep it human
Send from your own email, use their name, and reference the specific role. Never automate the actual sending in a way that feels robotic — the whole advantage of outreach is that it comes from a real person who genuinely wants the job.
Where Land a Job fits
Land a Job drafts a personalized cadence for each hiring contact, schedules the follow-ups, and opens each one prefilled in your own Gmail so you press send. It stops automatically when someone replies, and you can loop several people from the same company into a single thread. You get the discipline of a sales cadence with none of the spreadsheet busywork.