This article explains how to create custom email templates for candidate communication. You can create as many templates as you need for different stages of the recruiting process.

With templates, you can speed up sending recruiting messages and cut down on manual work. You can also make sure your communication with candidates stays consistent.

Here are examples of templates you might create:

• Application acknowledgment
• Interview invitation
• Application rejection
• Interview rejection
• Offer letter
• Employee referral

 

Before you start

To create email templates, you need access rights to the Recruiting company settings.

Other employees can access this feature if they have the appropriate recruiting role access rights. For example, if they have access to the Messages tab, then they can email a candidate using a template.

 

Create an email template

To create a new email template:

1. In Settings, go to Recruiting > Email templates.
2. Click the button to add a new template.
3. Enter the name of the new template and save.
4. Enter a subject line and email message.
5. [Optional] To personalize the communication with your candidates, insert placeholders, an email signature, and gender variables.
6. [Optional] Add an attachment to the message.
7. Apply your changes.

 

Use placeholders

You can use placeholders to populate your email with relevant data. This lets you cut down on manual effort and personalize your recruiting emails.

We recommend typing placeholders into the template (instead of copying and pasting). This is to avoid errors and incorrect formatting.

 

General placeholders

Refer to the table below for an overview of general placeholders. You can also view an example of an email using placeholders.

Example:
Dear {{first_name}},
Thank you for applying for the position of {{position_name}}.
We appreciate your interest in our company and the time you invested in this application. We’re carefully reviewing applications and will contact you soon.
Kind regards,
HR team

 

Placeholder	Description
{{first_name}}	The candidate's first name.
{{last_name}}	The candidate's last name.
{{position_name}}	The name of the advertised job.

 

Interview placeholders

Tip:
For interview placeholders, the inserted language is always taken from the job's default language. Learn more in our dedicated troubleshooting article.

You can only use interview placeholders in emails sent from the Interviews tab of the candidate profile. This ensures Personio can insert the specific date and time into the email.

Refer to the table below for an overview of interview placeholders. You can also view an example of an email using interview placeholders.

 

Example:
Dear {{first_name}},
Thank you for applying for the position of {{position_name}}.
We’re impressed by your qualifications and experience, and we believe that you could be a valuable addition to our team. Are you available for an interview on {{interview_date}} at {{interview_time}}?
The interview will be held online. Please join using the following video link {{interview_video_conferencing_link}}.
Kind regards,
{{interview_participants}}

 

Placeholder	Description
{{interview_date}}	The scheduled date of the interview.
{{interview_weekday}}	The scheduled weekday of the interview.
{{interview_time}}	The scheduled time of the interview.
{{interview_participants}}	The first and last names of the interviewers.
{{interview_participants_with_job_title}}	The first and last names of the interviewers, and their respective job titles. Example: John Doe (Marketing Manager) and Jane Doe (CEO)
{{interview_video_conferencing_link}}	The link to the videoconference. This only works if you set up the videoconferencing feature.
{{smart_interview_scheduling_link}}	The link for the smart scheduling of the interview. This only works if you set up the smart scheduling feature.

 

Use signatures in email templates

There are two ways to use signatures in email templates. These are outlined below.

 

Set up a personalized email signature

Employees who regularly send emails to candidates can set their own personalized email signature. They can do this from their Personal Settings. Personio automatically adds the signature to both free-form emails and messages you create from email templates. Learn how to set an email signature.

 

Add a signature to an email template

You can add an email signature to an email template. For example, you might add your company’s general HR signature to an “Interview invitation” template.

If you or other employees have also set a personalized signature, then it’s important to avoid duplication. Otherwise, both sets of signatures appear in the email. 

To add a signature to an email template:

1. In Settings, go to Recruiting > Email templates.
2. Open the relevant template.
3. In your email provider, copy the contents from your existing email signature.
4. In your email template, paste the content into the email body.
5. [Optional] Click More text and select Code view to edit the HTML code.
6. Apply your changes.

 

Use gender variables

You can use gender variables for automatic grammatical adjustments. For this feature to work, you need to configure your career page settings. In Settings, go to Recruiting > Career page and add Gender as an application form field.

This feature is useful if you want to address a candidate using a title. For example:

||Dear Mr.|Dear Ms.|| {{last_name}}

Learn more about how to use gender variables in documents and templates.