# Candidate Messages

The emails and texts your candidates receive — the invitation and the reminders.

HRMLESS ships sensible defaults, so you do not have to touch any of this to get
started. Change them when you want the wording to sound like you.

## Where they live

Two places, and they do different jobs:

- **Organization → Communication Templates** — your defaults, used everywhere
- **On a position → Candidate Communications** — overrides for that one role

A position says *Using HRMLESS defaults* until you change something on it.

## The six messages

![Candidate Communications on a position](/imgs/guides/02-position-communications.png?v=2)

| Message | When it goes out |
|---|---|
| **Initial Email** | First email, when a candidate enters the pipeline |
| **Initial SMS** | First text message to the candidate |
| **Daily Reminder Email** | Follow-up email reminders |
| **Daily Reminder SMS** | Follow-up text reminders |
| **Passing Email** | Email to candidates who passed |
| **Passing SMS** | Text to candidates who passed |

Each row has an **Enabled** tick box and a **Template** dropdown.

- **Leave the template as `HRMLESS Default`** and our standard wording is used.
- **Pick your own template** to replace the wording for that one message.
- **Untick Enabled** and that message is not sent at all.

**The reminders are daily.** A candidate who has not started will hear from you
every day until they do. Worth thinking about before you switch them on for a
large batch — and worth switching off if you would rather chase people yourself.

## Writing your own template

![Creating a template](/imgs/guides/03-template-edit.png?v=2)

Give it a **Name**, pick **Email** or **SMS**, then write the **Subject** and
**Body**.

- **Available Variables** lists the placeholders you can drop in, written as
  `{{ like_this }}` — so a subject can read *"Your Interview with
  {{ org_name }}"* and come out personalised.
- **Upload HTML** takes a designed email if you have one.
- **Preview** shows the message with real values filled in. Use it. A stray
  variable name is obvious in the preview and invisible in the editor.
- **Set as default template for this type** makes it the one used everywhere,
  rather than picking it per position.

## Writing messages people actually open

**The invitation matters more than anything else in HRMLESS.** If it does not
get opened, nothing downstream happens. A few things that help:

- **Say who you are in the first line.** People get a lot of recruiting spam.
  Your company name early is the difference between opened and deleted.
- **Say how long it takes.** "About ten minutes" removes the main reason people
  put it off.
- **Say what it is.** "A short interview you can do from your phone" is clearer
  than "complete your application".
- **Keep the text message short.** It is a text. One or two lines and the link.

## If candidates are not starting

Check your **Completion Rate** on the [Analytics page](/docs/analytics). If
people are not starting at all — as opposed to starting and giving up — the
invitation is usually the thing to change, not the interview.

## Common questions

**Do I need to set these up before adding candidates?**
No. The defaults work. Change them when you want to.

**If I change a position's messages, does it affect other positions?**
No. Position messages only apply to that position. Change the ones under
Organization to affect everything.

**Do candidates get both a text and an email?**
Yes, both, for the invitation.

## What next

- [Your numbers](/docs/analytics)