Every application has its own email conversation. You write to the candidate from their page, and their reply comes back to the same place, so the whole exchange sits next to their scorecard instead of in someone's personal inbox.
The conversation
Every candidate's page ends with Conversation: the emails between your team and the candidate. Open the candidate and select Conversation in the bar under their name to jump there. You see:
- Email history with the number of messages, oldest first. A dark circle with an arrow pointing in marks a message from the candidate; a light one with an arrow pointing out marks one from your side.
- Each message's sender, date, subject and the first words of the message. The latest message starts open. Select any message, or the arrow on its right, to open or close it; Expand all opens every message at once.
- A paperclip with a number on a message that carries attachments. Open the message to see them.
- An AI label on any message written by AI, such as the Opener's questions, so nobody has to guess whether a person wrote it. See Opener: the first contact.
- First questions with the Opener's progress, when Opener is on for the job.
- A label on a message that did not go out: not delivered, or logged (email off) when email sending is not set up for your workspace.
Write to a candidate
- Open the candidate and select Conversation in the bar under their name.
- Check the subject. It starts as "Re:" and the subject of the latest message, or "Your application:" and the job title for a first message.
- Write your message and select Send reply.
The email goes out from your company with this conversation's own reply address. A message that could not be delivered is still kept in the thread, marked not delivered, so you know to follow up.
Candidates imported without a real email address can't be emailed; the app tells you so when you try.
Replies come back to the thread
Each application has a unique reply address. When the candidate answers, their email lands in this thread, the team gets a notification, and the dashboard's Needs you counts them as waiting on a reply until someone writes back. See Needs you and notifications.
Each reply from the candidate also re-scores them, so what they write counts as evidence next to their CV. Replies sent close together are read in one re-score. An automatic reply, such as an out-of-office message that the candidate's mail system marks as automatic, is kept in the thread with an Auto-reply label but changes nothing: no notification, no re-score, and it does not answer an Opener round. A message that only looks like one, for example "Out of office next week, can we move the interview?", is treated as the candidate writing. See How AI screening works.
Only mail from the candidate's address on file counts as their reply. Mail from any other sender is not added.
Mail from your own inbox
Sometimes you will write to a candidate from your normal email, on your phone for example. Keep the conversation complete by copying the thread in:
- Under Conversation, find BCC to capture replies and copy the address with the copy button.
- Add that address as BCC when you email the candidate from your own inbox. You can also forward an email to it afterwards.
Your message then appears in the thread as sent by you. This works when you send from the email address you sign in with; mail from other addresses is ignored.
Attachments
Files a candidate sends, a portfolio or an updated CV for example, are saved with the application in private storage. Select a file in the message to download it; the link it opens expires after a minute. Up to ten files per email are kept, each up to 10 MB. Larger files are skipped.
A copy in your own mailbox
A company can nominate one mailbox that receives a copy of every email sent to its candidates, for teams that want a record in their own email system. Go to Settings, then Branding, and fill in Copies of candidate email.
Copies of candidate email
Enter the address and select Save. Remove turns the copies off. The mailbox is blind-copied, so candidates don't see it. It receives your replies, rejection emails, interview invitations and Opener messages. Owners and Admins can change this setting.
Rejections
When someone rejects a candidate, with Reject on their page or Confirm rejection in the review queue, the candidate is emailed a short, polite rejection: "Update on your application" and the job title. It carries the same reply address as the rest of the conversation, so if the candidate answers, the reply lands in their thread.
The rejection email itself is not listed under Conversation. The rejection is recorded in the activity log. See The review queue.
Emails the app sends for you
Besides the messages you write, the app sends a few standard emails on your behalf, in one shared layout. Emails to candidates are written in the job's language, or the company's when the job has none, and signed by your company.
| Who receives it | |
|---|---|
| Rejection | The candidate, when a person rejects them |
| Interview invitation, updated time, cancellation | The candidate, when you choose to email them. See Schedule interviews |
| Opener questions and one reminder | Applicants, on jobs with Opener switched on |
| Apply verification code | Applicants, while they apply |
| Team invitation | People you invite to the workspace |
| Usage and payment notices | Owners and Admins |
| Scheduled analytics reports | The people you choose. See Reports, exports and schedules |
The wording of these emails is fixed; you can't edit it.
Who can email candidates
Everyone who can see a candidate can read their emails. Owners, Admins and Recruiters see the reply box. See Roles and permissions.