Send an Email to a Candidate

This article provides a comprehensive guide on sending emails to candidates using BambooHR's Applicant Tracking System. It outlines the importance of communication in the hiring process and details the steps to initiate and create emails, including options for scheduling. Users can send individual or group emails to multiple candidates, with a limit of 75 recipients recommended to be kept at 50 for optimal experience. The article emphasizes best practices for email subject lines and body content to avoid spam filters. It also explains how candidates can respond to emails, tracking email statuses in the candidate profile, and offers tips for ensuring emails are delivered successfully. Overall, it serves as a valuable resource for effective candidate communication.

  • Oct 6, 2025
  • Knowledge

Title
Send an Email to a Candidate
Article Text
Banner at the top of the article title Send an Email to a Candidate. Package availability is shown: Core, Pro, and Elite are highlighted in green, red, and blue text. Add-on is grayed out, indicating it is not included.

How do I send an email to a candidate?

Purpose: Communicating with your candidates is an important part of the hiring process. This help guide will teach you how to send an individualized email message to a candidate or multiple candidates at once.

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Table of Contents

Initiate an email message

Two stacked screenshots illustrating how to initiate an email. Top screenshot: In the candidate overview table for the Account Executive job, each row lists a candidate such as [Employee Name]. At the far right of the row, a Send Email button provides a quick way to begin composing a message directly from the overview. Bottom screenshot: Inside the candidate profile for [Employee Name], the Emails tab is selected. The tab displays a blank message area with a New Email button in the top-right corner, allowing recruiters to start an email from within the candidate’s profile.

There are two ways to initiate an email message* to a candidate in BambooHR's Applicant Tracking System:

  1. Click on the email icon next to the candidate's name in the candidate overview table, and select Send Email.
  2. Click on the specific candidate in the candidate overview table, then click the Emails tab on the candidate's profile. Select New Email, or click the quick action button to send a message regardless of where you are on their profile.

*Anyone with access to view the candidate in BambooHR's Applicant Tracking System will be able to send an email message to the candidate.

Please note you can also set up automated emails when creating or editing a job opening. Click here to learn more.

Create an email message

Screenshot of the email composition screen with numbered annotations. Numbers identify the following elements: Email Template field for selecting a pre-made template. Subject field where the email subject line is entered. Message body area for writing and formatting the email text. Email Placeholders option to insert dynamic candidate information. Attach Files option for adding documents. Send Now button to immediately send the email. Send Later button to schedule the email.

When creating an email message to send to a candidate, you will follow these steps:

  1. Email Template: Select a template if you would like to use one or leave this field blank to create your message.
  2. Subject: Add a subject line for the candidate to see when they receive the message.
  3. Message: Add the body of the message and format it. If you copy and paste your message from somewhere else, the spacing, formatting, and lists will carry over as you expect to see them. 
    • Note: If your message is too large, you may see an error message and may have additional spacing in your text. You can easily remove these extra spaces.
  4. Email Placeholders: Do not forget to add placeholders if you would like to make it easier.
  5. Attach Files: Attach any necessary files for the candidate.
  6. Send Now: Send the email immediately.
  7. Send Later: Schedule when you would like the email to send. See below for more details on this process.

An email can be sent from the ATS, and a candidate can respond to it, regardless of the job opening's status.

Scheduling an email

Pop-up labeled Schedule Email to [Employee Name]. A calendar date is selected, and a dropdown shows time-of-day options such as Morning, Afternoon, or Evening. Text confirms the scheduled delivery date and time. Buttons at the bottom: Cancel and green Schedule Email.

If you do not want to send the email right away, you can click Send Later and schedule it for a specific date and time of day. You can select the current date as long as the time is in the future. For example, if I am wanting to send it today but it's 9:00 AM, my options will be Afternoon or Evening. Once you click Schedule Email, the email will show up at the top of your list of emails for that candidate.

This can also be a good option to put in place to give you a time buffer, as you cannot rescind a sent email.

The times the emails will be sent are: 9:00 AM (Morning), 1:00 PM (Afternoon), or 5:00 PM (Evening). These times will be based off their Location. If the user has a company location it will be based off that location's time zone. If they have a remote location, it will be based off the time zone of their address on their personal tab.

Screenshot of a scheduled email message from [Employee Name] to [Employee Name]. The email is listed with a delivery time of 9:00 AM MDT. A dropdown menu is expanded with three actions: Send Now (immediately deliver), Reschedule (change delivery time), and Cancel Send (stop delivery).

You will then have the options to Send Now, Reschedule, or Cancel Send up until the email is sent.

Screenshot of the candidate overview table for the Account Executive job. Candidates include [Employee Name] with status “New.” Above the table, highlighted is the send icon, which lists scheduled emails for the job opening, letting recruiters track pending emails across multiple candidates.

You will also be able to view all scheduled emails from the specific job opening's page.

Screenshot of the Scheduled Emails for the job opening (Account Executive). A scheduled email to [Employee Name] is listed with a delivery date of 09/17/2024. An options menu next to the email provides three actions: Send Now (deliver immediately), Reschedule (change the delivery time), or Cancel Send (stop the email from being sent). This panel allows recruiters to directly monitor and adjust outgoing candidate communication.

Clicking on that button will open the list of all scheduled emails. From there, you will have the same options of Send Now, Reschedule, or Cancel Send.

The email posts to the Emails Tab

Screenshot of the Emails tab in a candidate profile. The tab lists sent emails along with delivery statuses, such as On its way, Delivered, Opened, or Failed to Send. This allows recruiters to quickly track whether candidate communications have been successfully sent and viewed.

Once you send the email message to the candidate, it will also post to the Emails tab on the candidate's profile for future reference, and you can track the status of the message. Four statuses will show to help you track if the candidate has or has not received your email message:

  1. On its way
  2. Delivered, not yet opened
  3. Opened [Date]. The Opened status will have a tooltip hover for the date and time that the email message was originally delivered, so you can identify how long it took the candidate to open the message.
  4. Failed to Send. When an email message fails to send, we will show a different message in the tooltip basing on the reason for the failed message upon hover.
    • Bounced: Please check that the candidate’s email address is valid.
    • Unsubscribed: The candidate has requested to no longer receive these emails.
    • Dropped: The candidate’s email service provider has prevented delivery. We will keep trying.

Please note that if an email message bounces or does not get opened, it cannot be resent. You will need to send another message.

Email providers, like Gmail or Outlook, have different ways of displaying and tracking incoming email messages. We do our best to work with the information they provide us. 

More specifically, BambooHR uses a webhook to track an image in the email so that once it is opened, we can get that info back from the mail server and show that it's been opened. Some email providers disable this feature automatically. If you know an email has been opened but it is showing as unread in BambooHR, this is likely the reason why. 

You cannot request e-signatures from candidates. However, you can send e-signature requests through the New Hire Packet once they are hired. See here for more.

What does the candidate need to do to respond?

When a candidate receives an email, the sender address will be similar to: notifications-41@app.bamboohr.* 

When they click the reply button, they may notice that the email address will change to something similar to this: job+5727b11390a95dbfba0f698672e1735e43b7dd51+94553@dc1.reply.bamboo. 

This string will allow the candidate’s response to post under the correct candidate profile within BambooHR. The candidate will need to write their response above the ## line*. 

Once sent, the email response will show under the Emails tab on their candidate profile.

*If they try to change the email address to notifications-41@app.bamboohr or type below the ## line, they will receive an error message.

Click here to learn more about what happens when the candidate replies.

Do you need to send an email message to multiple candidates at once?
Screenshot of the candidate overview table for the Account Executive job. Checkboxes are selected for two rows labeled [Employee Name] and [Employee Name]. Once selected, an email icon appears in the top-right corner of the table. Clicking this icon opens the option to create a group email, where the recruiter can either write a new message or use an existing template. This enables bulk communication with multiple candidates simultaneously.

You can send a message to multiple candidates by going to a job opening:

  1. Select the desired candidates in the candidate overview table. You can send an email to up to 75 candidates at one time. However, we recommend only sending emails in bulk to up to 50 candidates at one time in order to have an optimum experience. 
  2. Click on the email icon in the top right corner of the table and select to create a new blank message or select an email template.
Confirmation pop-up window with a warning icon. Header text: Cancel Send & Delete Group Email? The message explains that if the user cancels, the email and its scheduled send time will be deleted for all selected candidates. Two buttons appear at the bottom: Cancel (to go back) and Yes, Cancel & Delete Email (to confirm cancellation for the entire group).

When sending an email to a group of candidates, you will still see the option to schedule the email by clicking Send Later. If you schedule an email and later decide to cancel it, you will see the message above asking you to confirm you would like to cancel it for all selected candidates.

Are your emails going to the candidate's spam folder? Here are some tips!

There are hundreds of factors that go into determining if an email message is marked as spam. Read below to learn some best practices for emailing candidates.

The CAN-SPAM Act establishes the legal classification of spam, but email clients act as the gatekeepers from the technical side. What specifically triggers an email client to mark an email message as spam is complex and can include many different factors which are mostly unknown. One single variable rarely defines whether an email message gets flagged as spam or moved into the promotions folder. However, the more reasons you give an email client to mark a message as spam or identify it as marketing, the more likely it is to be outside of the inbox.

Having got that out of the way, keep in mind that what you are sending is not spam, not under the legal or technical definition. You are sending single messages to a single individual. Your email is what the filters want in the inbox. Surprisingly, they want it in the inbox more than your recipient. Most of the time, the filters will get it right. The tricky part is that you are only sending one, so making sure the filters recognize it is wanted is significant because you will only get one shot. Well, more than one, but in terms of volume, it is not significant. Here are some tips to give your email message the best shot at going where it is supposed to go.

The importance of a subject line

Most modern filters weigh user engagement over everything else, so the first step is to get your email opened.

  1. SUBJECT: A clear and actionable subject line is the best way to accomplish this.
    • CONCISE: Keep it short. Nine to ten words and around 60 characters.
    • REFERRING TO: Refer to what the email is about.
    • ACTIONABLE: Include what needs to be done, or the following steps if you can.

For example, Interview for the Acme Sales position would be better than We love you! Let’s talk! Stating the relationship is easier for the recipient to establish the connection than if you imply it. Also, too much punctuation can be a bad thing.

Avoid spam buzzwords. The best way to explain this is to avoid sounding like sales and vague at the same time. We want to interview you for YOUR dream job is a spam example. There is already a lot of job spam trying to get delivered, so stay concise and specific. You will do just fine.

Email body tips

An email client can flag poorly written email bodies for varied reasons, so keep your first email simple and focused on the task at hand. Most personal communication emails are short and contain little code, which makes the email size small. “TLDR” or “Too Long, Didn’t Read” gives the email filter more content but may fall outside of the “personal” norms the filter expects for one-to-one communication. If it is your first email, introduce yourself, let the recipient know what is required next, and include your contact information. A good rule of thumb is one email, one subject, and one task. Every situation is unique, but the shorter and simpler version would be the best.

Quick tips
  • Make sure any links you send are https:// 
  • Avoid using spammy words in the subject line (Opportunity, Work from home, Not Spam, Invitation, Congratulations, etc.).
  • An email client can flag overly generic terms in the subject line as spam (i.e., Let’s Talk!).
  • Do not use emojis in the subject line.
  • Be consistent with formatting.
    • Do not use too many fonts or font colors.
    • Review your email to fix any grammar or spelling issues.
  • If you include your company domain in an email body (like an email signature), emails could go to spam if that domain is on any blacklists.
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