Candidate Communication: Tips and Templates

Seeking the best talent can be a humbling experience. Job-seekers watch you as closely as you watch them, evaluating candidate communication to learn what it’s like to work for your organization. 

In a competitive environment, talent acquisition (TA) teams can only afford for candidate experience to be stellar. If a top candidate doesn’t get the best possible impression, they may drop out of the race. According to GoodTime’s 2024 Hiring Insights Report, 20% to 21% of TA leaders expect to see even more no-shows and dropouts during this year’s hiring process.

Quality candidate communication keeps job seekers engaged, improving the candidate experience process and enhancing the impression of your employer brand. With a better candidate experience, you can attract and retain more top candidates.

Best practices for candidate communication

Quality communication builds genuine, mutually productive connections, a key theme for today’s recruiters. Our 2024 Hiring Insights Report revealed that increasing importance of relationships was one of the biggest changes in the hiring landscape in the past year, alongside the need for quick connections and more candidate touchpoints:

Effective communication helps meet these challenges. The key is creating a regular message cadence that begins at the first application touchpoint.

Candidates want to be in the loop throughout the process. In one Indeed survey, 48% of respondents said that waiting to hear back from employers is “highly frustrating.” A CareerArc survey revealed that when candidates don’t hear back, 85% doubt a human even saw their application.

Plan to message candidates within a day or two of each touchpoint and before each next step. Each message should be:

• Concise: Straightforward language and short sentences make your emails and texts easier to read.
• Action-oriented: Clearly convey the next steps. Provide a link for any necessary candidate actions, such as scheduling an interview.
• Personalized: Address the candidate by name. Include your name and the organization’s name in each message.
• Positive: Convey excitement about the opportunity. If you’re declining the candidate, express gratitude for their time.
• Professional: Use formal language without being stilted or stuffy. Make it clear that this email or text comes from a potential employer.

Pro tip: If you use templates for your standard messages, such as application confirmations and interview follow-ups, you only have to write these messages once.

Candidate communication templates: Email and text

Templates work well for text and email. Texting has quickly become the industry standard, with 100% of respondents to our 2024 Hiring Insights Report saying they use either standard SMS or WhatsApp.

Rupesh Parikh, a talent acquisition partner at Dental Care Alliance, recently spoke on the usefulness of candidate text messages at the virtual For Recruiters By Recruiters conference. He states:

“Timely effective communication impacts the candidate experience, and reducing response time is key to staying ahead of the competition. Texting gives us a 78% better chance of a candidate responding to our outreach. That’s huge. It’s also a non-intrusive form of communication [compared to] phone calls, especially from an unknown number.”

Email is also crucial, especially for more in-depth and less time-sensitive messages. Candidates may feel more at ease taking their time with an email, and emails can be easier to refer to later.

Ultimately, the recruiting team gets to decide what platform is best for a message. These candidate communication templates each have a targeted format — two email, two text — but you can easily switch them up as needed.

Initial outreach: Email template

Email is an effective format for cold candidate messaging. Recipients can take their time to research the company and choose their next steps. 

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Subject: Exciting Opportunity at [Company Name] – Let’s Connect!

Body:

Hi [Candidate Name],

I came across your profile and was impressed with your background. We have an exciting opportunity for a [Job Title] role at [Company Name], and I think you could be a great fit. I would love to chat with you and learn more about your experience.

Please let me know if you’re available for a quick call, or feel free to suggest a time that works for you.

Best,

[Your Name]

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Pro tip: If you’re sending these kinds of messages, pay attention to your employer branding. You only have one chance to make a first impression!

Interview invitation: Text template

This text template is concise and to the point, encouraging timely action.

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Hi [Candidate Name], this is [Your Name] from [Company Name]. We’re excited to invite you for an interview for the [Job Title] position. Please let us know your availability or use this link to schedule: [Link]. Looking forward to meeting you!

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Post-interview follow-up: Email template

Most candidates understand that hiring takes time, but they still feel better with a quick message after an interview. Feel free to add a general time frame for hearing more (if you have it), but it’s not necessary.

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Subject: Thank You for Your Time – Next Steps for [Job Title] at [Company Name]

Body:

Hi [Candidate Name],

Thank you for taking the time to interview with us for the [Job Title] role. We enjoyed learning more about your skills and background. We’re currently reviewing candidates and will keep you updated on the next steps.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions in the meantime.

Best,

[Your Name]

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Rejection/offer update: Text template

Rejections aren’t anyone’s favorite, but a polite decline is important hiring etiquette. It demonstrates respect for the candidate and leaves the door open for other possibilities. Use this text template to turn them down:

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Hi [Candidate Name], thank you for your interest in the [Job Title] role at [Company Name]. We’ve decided to move forward with another candidate but will keep your profile in mind for future opportunities. Wishing you all the best!

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Leveraging technology for better communication

Technology is essential to staying competitive in the current market. According to our 2024 Hiring Insights report, technology upgrade was the top focus area for 38% of TA leaders this year: 

Additionally,  top-performing TA teams are 40% more likely to focus on improving technology in the coming year. These improvements help teams align with hiring best practices, such as elevating the candidate experience, enhancing your employer brand, and facilitating seamless communication.

Centralized communications

Centralized text and email communications are safer and more effective than personal or company cell phones, which 48% of surveyed TA leaders still use. Switching to a software solution improves the experience on multiple levels, including:

• Consistency: A centralized platform with shared messaging helps recruiters adhere to employer branding and provide a comparable experience to all candidates.
• Efficiency: Software gives recruiters shared access to message threads so they can pick up where others left off.
• Security: Personal and company cell phones are more susceptible to data breaches. Centralized platforms help keep candidate and company information safe.

According to GoodTime’s 2024 Hiring Insights Report, 52% of organizations use a centralized platform to send and receive candidate text messages. That number is 58% for enterprise-level companies. Our candidate experience platform lets you provide this higher-level experience with integrated candidate communication tools, including personalized dynamic messaging over email, SMS, and WhatsApp.

Automated messaging

With automation-enhanced solutions, recruiting teams can stay in contact with candidates throughout the application process. GoodTime’s text recruiting software lets you schedule and send SMS and email messaging and pre-built screeners, based on what you’ve learned to be effective.

As Parikh pointed out at the For Recruiters By Recruiters conference:

“You can send out messages to your candidates during business hours, so they’re not interrupted in the evening or early morning. You can really control the messaging and do three- or five-level drip campaigns. They’re not always going to respond on the first campaign you send out, but they might on the second or third.” 

A drip campaign is a sequence of emails or texts with an automated sending schedule. They work well as reminders and as a way of engaging passive candidates.

However you use automated messaging, staying in touch throughout the candidate selection process is crucial. GoodTime’s platform helps by providing a dynamic candidate portal and integrated messaging so you can take advantage of every opportunity to connect.

Implementing templates and tools to improve hiring outcomes

Effective communication takes your candidate experience to the next level. Job seekers feel much better about a company when they know where they stand, and regular candidate communication keeps that connection open.

Regularly touching base is essential, especially after key moments like application receipts and interviews. Whether someone is moving on to the next step or not, a quick message tells them, “Hey, this employer values my time.”

Templates and centralized communication platforms make this communication easy. Check it out for yourself by putting one of the above templates into action. Explore tools like GoodTime to simplify the process and wow your top talent so they choose you over the competition. Schedule your demo today to see GoodTime in action.