This article explains why some recruiting emails might appear in the wrong place. This includes:

• Why emails from candidates might land in your Unassigned Messages.
• Why your emails might land in a candidate’s spam folder.

We will look at different issues and examples and explore potential solutions.

 

Before you start

There are two options for communicating with candidates via Personio. You will already have set up one of the following:

1. The Personio email service option (default): In this case, candidates send emails to your Personio recruiting email address. This looks like: yourcompany-jobs@m.personio.com
2. A connection using either our Google and Microsoft direct integration, or SMTP. In this case, candidates send emails to your custom recruiting email address, for example, jobs@yourcompany.com. If you are having trouble setting up a connection, refer to our dedicated troubleshooting article.

 

Candidate emails appear in your Unassigned Messages tab

Emails from candidates should appear in the Messages tab of the respective candidate profile. However, some emails can land in your unassigned messages. You can access this area via Recruiting > Unassigned Messages.

There are several reasons why your candidate emails may appear in your unassigned messages. We recommend you try the steps below.

 

Create an application for the candidate

Issue:

You receive an email from a candidate, but there is no existing application with their email address. Therefore, their email lands in your unassigned messages.

Solution:

You must manually create an application for the candidate.

 

Issue:

When a candidate is rejected or withdraws from a job, their old application is closed. If they reapply for a different job, the message is not linked to the previous application. This applies to candidates who were rejected or withdrew 14 or more days ago.

Solution:

You must manually create a new application.

 

Assign the message to the candidate's profile

Issue:

If a candidate uses a different email address, the new email address is not linked to their application. Therefore, their email lands in your unassigned messages.

Solution:

You must manually assign the message to their candidate profile.

 

Issue:

A candidate has applied for two or more different jobs. Therefore, their email address is linked to different jobs. Learn more about multiple applications from the same candidate.

Solution:

You must manually assign the message to the candidate profile.

 

How to assign a message or create an application

You can either assign the message to the correct candidate profile or create a new application. Go to Recruiting > Unassigned messages.

▶︎ To assign a message to an existing candidate, click Assign and select the correct candidate.
The original email now appears in the Messages tab of the candidate profile.
▶︎ To create a new application, click Create application and fill in the required information. A new candidate profile is created.

 

Your emails land in the candidate’s spam folder

There are several reasons why your recruiting emails may land in a candidate’s spam folder. We recommend you try the steps below.

 

Check your DNS settings

Issue:

There are some DNS configurations, like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, that contribute to an email sender's “quality”. If these configurations are not available, emails are more likely to be marked as spam.

Possible solution:

Use a spam test tool to get more details on the root cause.

▶︎ If you are using your own email address and an SMTP connection, ask your IT department to check your DNS settings.

▶︎ If you are using the company recruiting email address provided by Personio, the necessary configuration is already set up by Personio.

Check if your email address is listed on a public spammer list

Issue:

There are several public spammer lists available online. If your sender email is listed in one of those lists, your emails may end up in the candidate's spam folder.

Possible solution:

Use a spam test tool to get more details on the root cause. If your email is blocklisted, contact the spammer list and ask them to remove you from the list.

 

Check whether the email content looks like spam

Issue:

Email messages may look like spam to spam detectors. For example, if the email contains executable files as attachments.

Possible solution:

Use a spam test tool to get more details on the root cause.

Did the candidate mark similar emails as spam?

Description:

If the candidate marked similar emails as spam in the past, the new emails end up in their spam folder.

Potential solution:

Ask the candidate to mark the email as “not spam” to ensure further emails are sent correctly.

 

How to use a spam test tool

You can use a spam test tool to test your spam score. We use Mail-Tester in this example. Follow these steps:

1. Open a test application in Personio. Go to Recruiting > Applications and click Create application. Leave the email field blank for now.
2. Open Mail-Tester and copy the test email address provided. Return to Personio and paste it into the email field of your test application.
3. Finish creating your test application. A candidate profile is automatically created. You can delete this later.
4. In the candidate profile, go to the Messages tab.
5. Send a message to your test candidate. Ideally, use a message that you know is landing in candidates’ spam folders. Include attachments if necessary.
6. Return to Mail-Tester and click the button to check your score.