How to Cold Email Recruiters New Grad / Intern Roles

How to best cold email recruiters for new grad and intern roles for big tech

Overview

In my how to actually get the interviews at big tech, one of the effective mechanics can be cold emailing a first-point-of-contact-recruiter for new grad / interns. But I wanted to dive deeper into it here

How to actually "get interviews" at big tech as an intern / new grad

So why cold email? Well, because cold emailing can be an effective way to expedite your job application process. CSCareersDev has a helpful guide on how to cold email recruiters. Additionally, the Mailpanion Chrome extension can be useful for tracking whether your emails are being opened, which essentially lets you track people opening your emails.

The only note is do not go reading your own emails after you send it by looking on a different device and triggering that initial read notification. But even if you do, it still displays all the open times later on! Highly recommend this extension so you know if your email was even opened and if you need to follow up etc! And at least you aren’t working off of blind information.

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

Common Mistakes

1. Make sure you already apply to the company’s website first. This is b/c they need to have you in the system. So you can always be like, “hey, I applied under this email + name”, but here is my resume again, could you help me expedite this process.

2. A big thing is do not say you have a “deadline” when you are just trying to get an interview. B/c depending how you phrase it, maybe a company cannot meet a deadline. Ex. you already have an offer and you need to get this done in two weeks - that just doesn’t make sense to how the company is able to move you so fast (unless you really are under such a time crunch then I guess you can risk it). Instead just say you are in the process, and would like to interview with them. If they ask you further you can just say, “I have no current deadline, but I am still in the process with other companies. If a hard deadline comes up, I will let you know”.

   1. Being able to say you are in “process with other companies” later on during negotiations also let’s you open yourself up to bluffing that you are “finishing up” with other companies and are still “waiting to hear back” from the other company’s recruiter.

3. Do not rush on cold emailing. For example, if you applied in September, most applications don’t really start getting processed till October 15th. So it can be okay to wait until maybe November range, maybe mid-October if you want to push it a bit early (or just see if others are hearing back at a high rate already) before you start cold emailing.

   1. My other article on CSCareers shows you how to take advantage of group sourced data points

      How to know when to do something... CSCareers!

4. Don’t beat around the bush with cold emailing. Just be as direct and forward as possible. A lot of people always think its about “building a connection”, and having a “talk”, which all of that is a waste of time and can often have you ignored or the recruiter not even sure what you are asking for.

How to Email

Personally, I like to be straight forward:

Subject Line: 2025 Summer Intern | NYU | Justin

Hi _,

My name is [Name] and I am a [insert year] student at [insert school], studying [insert major] with a specialization in [insert specialization e.g full-stack web development]. I am currently in the process of interviewing with other companies, including [company name], (optionally: and have also previously interned with [insert company e.g. Bloomberg / Amazon]).

I was wondering if there was a possibility to expedite my process to get an OA or phone interview, or get an approximate timeline for when I can expect to hear back. I would greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide.

Best,

[Insert Name]

Concise

To be honest, I even like it more concise.

SUBJECT LINE: NG 2025 | NYU | Justin

Hi _,

My name is [Name] and I am a [insert year] student at [insert school].

I am currently in the process of interviewing with other companies, including [company name], (optionally: and have also previously interned with [insert company e.g. Bloomberg / Amazon]).

I was wondering if it be possible to expedite my process and get an OA or phone interview to better align the process with other companies. I would greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide.

All the best,

[Insert Name]

Can attach your resume as: [Process, school, name].pdf

File: NG_2025_NYU_Justin.pdf

Pivot to a different recruiter:

If the recruiter you are emailing, you are unsure if they are the best point of contact, maybe you haven’t confirmed they are first-point-of-contact you can also ask them to redirect you:

**SUBJECT LINE:**

Hi,

My name is [Name] and I am a [insert year] student at [insert school], studying [insert major] with a focus on [insert specialization/skillset]. I am currently going through the interview process with several companies, including [insert company name].

I am wondering if I could expedite my process or get an approximate timeline for when I can expect to hear back. I have applied for the position [position title/ID] with the email [email address] and have attached my resume for reference.

If you are unable to assist me, would you be able to forward me to a recruiter who may be able to help expedite my application or update me on the status of my application as I would love the opportunity to interview.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best regards,
[Name]

What is the thought process?

1. The first thought process is to introduce myself and speciality.

2. The second is to try to give a reason as to why I am trying to expedite the process (b/c I am in process with other companies) + also try to name drop a decent company so that they think this person is at least somewhat legitimate and has a chance to get through the interview process.

3. Also, if I have any name-brand experience before to drop those names

4. And finally, in a new line / paragraph, so that it isn’t mixed in as a big paragraph say my ask: which is to get an OA or phone interview.

   1. If not, can I get an “approximate timeline” so I may follow up in the future.

5. If the recruiter tells you that “oh the process hasn’t started”, etc etc. and actually gives you a timeline (tbh I usually just get ghosted or get expedited)then you can follow up with:

   1. Great! I’ll follow up in a month or whatever timeline they give you.

   2. You can also ask at this point, is the best way to just contact them through this email? Do they also potentially have another recruiter you could also get the email of or a team catch-all email, in case you lose contact with them?

When to Email

So as I said above, I would follow up once you have applied and the season is actually going on. So for example, if you applied in September, then most people probably start getting OAs / interviews in October, double check with CSCareers though since every company can obviously be a bit different. Just don’t get so overly anxious to jump on to email immediately as soon as the job drops, you apply, and then suddenly turn around and ask if you can have an interview.

If you are already later in the process though, I would follow up in a week’s time. Example, I had a mentee we cold emailed Meta on December 10th, and followed up around December 15th. This is b/c we had just received a first-point-of-contact email from a different friend, and b/c is so late in the season / close to holidays / seems to be picking up, we decided to just immediately after a few days email. (Which then resulted in a response > an interview > team matching > and offer!)

If you are in industry, I think 1 week to 1.5 week waiting is fine. You don’t need to wait so long.

When to send the email actually:

Personally, anytime during the work week is fine. If you have the option, scheduling it on Monday at 8 am I think is good. Keeps you at the top of the inbox, 5 work days for them to potentially look at it, and a bit before someone usually starts working.

Success Rates for Emailing

Emailing is hit or miss, for some companies they are better, for some companies they are worst. For example, I found that for Meta the first-point-of-contact emailing tended to work 80% of the time for mentees, with some mentees being ghosted but many hearing back.

Some other companies like Microsoft almost never work. With Google, extremely hit or miss, usually doesn’t work.

I’ve seen someone chase down 4 different Doordash recruiters and actually get an interview.

So these things do depend! So if you fail once, don’t feel discouraged and can always try again / try a different email.

I try to keep this article below updated, with recruiter emails I have + experiences I have with them + notes on them. So feel free to check this out. As the season progresses more into season (right now is August when writing this) so when September - December, I’ll naturally get more data points.

Insider Recruiter Emails

Personal Examples that Worked:

Example is an email I wrote to Facebook below when I had a Google offer. Not saying that you need to do it this way, and the way I wrote it was a bit needy, but I was in a hurry to try to get a counter offer to Google.

**New Grad | SDE I @Amazon | Google Team Matching | Bloomberg Offer**

Hi _,

My name is Justin, and I applied to Facebook / Meta for the software engineer new grad position. I only graduated from _ in late May _, but have been working at Amazon as an SDE I since _.

I'm also currently in the product area/team matching phase for Google new grad and have an offer from Bloomberg for a new grad position too.

I was wondering if there was any way to schedule a phone interview or final round with Meta as I am interested in the opportunity, and I thought I had applied (but just applied again in case if the first application didn't go through) and been awaiting a response, but it seems like I haven't gotten any.

I'm ready to interview ASAP if it is possible, or whatever it is that I would need to do if I could have the opportunity. I have no hard-deadline right now, but would love to go through the process as fast as possible.

Thank you for your time,

Justin Lin

Potential Rewrite if I had the opportunity:

Hi _,

My name is Justin and I recently applied for the software engineer new grad position at Facebook / Meta. I graduated from _ in May and have been working as an SDE I at Amazon since _. I'm currently in the product area/team matching phase for a new grad position at Google and have received an offer from Bloomberg.

Is it possible to schedule a phone interview or final round with Meta? I am very interested in the opportunity and would be available to interview as soon as possible. I have re-applied to ensure my application was received.

Thank you for considering my request.

Best, Justin Lin

Mentee Emails:

Interview Status New Grad? | Company A & Company B Finals 

Hi ___, 

My name is ____, and I applied to Meta for the software engineer new grad position under ____. I graduated(or graduating) in ____, [(if applicable) and I am currently working at (company) as an (SWE)] with previous internship experience at (COMPANY A) and (COMPANY B).

B/c I am currently in the process with CompanyA and CompanyB, I would like to know if it is possible to schedule an OA / phone interview with Meta or know the status of my application. 

Attached is a copy of my resume that I had applied with. 

Thank you for your time, 

NAME NAME

Other great resources:

https://www.nicksingh.com/posts/cold-email-tips-to-land-your-dream-job-with-examples

https://www.cscareers.dev/blog/landing-software-engineer-interviews-through-cold-emailing