Candidate experience is inextricably linked with candidate communication. Get the tone and level of communication right, and your candidate experience is likely to be in similarly good stead.

So how, when and why should you be communicating with your candidates? And how can recruitment software help you deliver the positive candidate experience we’re all striving for?

  1. Tone of voice matters

Your employer brand plays a key role in attracting and engaging suitable candidates for your business. It’s likely you’ll have spent a good deal of time and effort ensuring that your brand is reflected in your careers site, from your job descriptions to your ‘About Us’ section. Don’t let it stop there.

For a fully connected, coherent and positive candidate experience, your brand needs to be reflected in every touchpoint of the candidate journey.

From the automated message that appears when they submit their CV and the login notice that welcomes them to their candidate portal, to the emails you send regarding applications, interviews and outcomes, consistent and on-brand copy, tone of voice and imagery is essential.

How can recruitment software help?

It makes it easy for you. You can choose from a selection of customised email templates, designed to reflect your employer branding.

You can phrase automated acknowledgements to suit your style – anything from ‘Thanks for submitting your application’ to ‘Wohoo! You just completed your first step to joining our team!’

And you can benefit from a professionally designed candidate portal, which again integrates seamlessly with your careers site and existing branding.

  1. Frequency – consistent and sustainable

Your candidate communication should be consistent. If the application process starts off with four separate emails thanking the candidate for their application, letting them know their CV has been accepted, is being reviewed and is in a pile, that’s not a problem in itself (albeit a little extreme!).

The problem arises if and when that level of communication drops. A candidate will expect consistency, and if you dip from ten emails at the beginning of the application process to silence midway through, it’s likely to leave them feeling bewildered and frustrated.

How can recruitment software help?

It makes it simple for you. Scheduling automated emails to candidates at specific points in the application process removes the need for you to remember to create and send a communication.

This helps you to maintain a consistent and sustainable level of candidate communication. And if your ATS offers the pre-designed and professionally branded email templates I mentioned in the above point, that process becomes even simpler.

With personalised merge fields and the chance to tweak the text before you send, you’re offering candidates communication with a human touch, without the detriment to your time and resources.

  1. Time – you probably need to save some!

If you’ve had a high volume of applicants for one vacancy, the thought of emailing them all might bring you out in a cold sweat.

Whilst candidate communication plays a vital role in positive candidate experience, it is also essential that administrative tasks don’t drain all of your time and resources.

How can recruitment software help?

A key purpose of recruitment software is to save you time. Your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) should streamline manual, administrative tasks and make them more efficient.

Candidate communication is a prime example. Instead of having to locate each candidate’s email address, compose an email and send it, you can use your ATS to send bulk candidate emails in one fell swoop – each one personalised with the candidate’s name and other details where necessary.

No need to worry about attaching documents or the fear of not Bcc’ing candidates in a mass email.

Candidate communication – it should be simple…

…yet often it can be such a time-consuming process for you. Talk to your recruitment software supplier about what your key challenges are when it comes to communicating with candidates, and find out what solutions they can propose.

Find out more

Why good candidate experience might be more important than you think 

Why it’s time to say goodbye to pen and paper

We shine a spotlight on 3 social media recruitment channels

About the author

Tristan Potter

Tristan has a decade's worth of experience writing content and copy for organisations across Bristol and the Southwest of England. He has written on a diverse range of topics, including technology, philosophy, politics, and recruitment. His writing has appeared in The Drum, HR Grapevine, and The Guardian, among other publications. He joined Hireserve in March 2022.