What tool can handle both hiring and candidate communication?
An ATS (Applicant Tracking System), again. But "handling hiring" doesn't mean having one prescribed process – it means you set up your own hiring flow and set it up differently for each type of role. Communication then automates itself, because you attach an email template with variables to each hiring stage: the correct salutation form for the candidate's language, text that adapts to the candidate's gender, or a dynamically inserted date of the scheduled interview. You send and sync the messages through Gmail (Google Workspace) and Outlook (Microsoft 365).
Hiring: the system should adapt to you, not the other way around
Hiring a warehouse worker doesn't look like hiring a developer, and that in turn doesn't look like hiring a sales director. In some cases a phone call and a start date are enough; in others there are three interview rounds, a technical task, and offer approval.
A good ATS therefore doesn't dictate one process for everyone. It lets you define your own hiring stages and run a different workflow for a different type of role.
Related features: Configurable custom process stages · Kanban · Rejection reasons
Communication tied to hiring stages
Once hiring has defined stages, communication can be attached to them. You assign a template to each stage – an interview invitation, a rejection after the first round, a job offer – and the system offers it the moment you move the candidate.
The effect is subtle but crucial: the reply to a candidate isn't sent by the recruiter's memory but by the process. That's exactly why, in systems with tied templates, the number of candidates who get no feedback at all drops dramatically.
Related features: Email templates · Templates for specific hiring stages · SLA on candidate processing
Variables in templates: why some languages are harder
A template shouldn't be one text for everyone. Variables (placeholders) are inserted into the text, which the system fills in based on the specific candidate.
| Variable | What it fills in |
|---|---|
| Salutation | The candidate's name in the correct form. Optionally addressing them by first name or last name. |
| Gender | Word forms based on the candidate's gender, where the language requires it. |
| Interview date | The time arranged in the interview-scheduling stage. |
| Interview location | The physical branch where the interview takes place. |
| Time zone | The interview time converted to the zone the candidate is in. |
| Recruiter signature | The signature of the recruiter handling the candidate. |
Some languages exact a price here: they inflect names or use gendered word forms, where English simply doesn't. If you hire in multiple languages, ask about templates for different languages.
Buttons in the email
Emails aren't just text. They also contain a number of buttons wired to specific system functions, through which the candidate does something directly:
- Accepting a job offer
- Giving privacy consent
- Requesting deletion of their data – usually in the footer of every email
Custom email design
The pinnacle is being able to set your own email design template following your brand guidelines, so messages to candidates match the company's visual style.
Related features: Templates with variables · Templates for different languages · Interview date
Where you handle communication from
You send messages from the ATS under your own domain, and you can also keep writing from your own mailbox – via the Outlook and Gmail plugin, or via a system email address in copy that records the conversation automatically. We cover the technical integration models and their security implications in the section on connecting an ATS to email and calendar.
Related features: Sending from your own domain · Communication sync · Outlook plugin · Gmail plugin
The complete list of questions for an ATS vendor →
This guide is published by Recruitis.io, an ATS. How we handle the points above:
- Custom workflows: every role can have different hiring stages, set up to match how you actually select.
- Templates tied to hiring stages, with variables for salutation, word forms based on the candidate's gender, and dynamic insertion of the scheduled interview date.
- Templates for different languages, including the correct foreign-language salutation form.
- You handle communication through Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, and we send email from your domain.
- Message sync via the Outlook and Gmail plugin or via a system email address in copy.
Straight up: we add the system address to copy automatically every time an email is sent from the system, so the recruiter doesn't have to think about it; but the address in copy can be removed manually by both recruiter and candidate. We don't offer a direct connection to your mailbox – for security reasons, which we cover under email integration.
Frequently asked questions
Why should an ATS have configurable hiring stages?
Handling hiring primarily means being able to build your own hiring process and not having the ATS dictate a single hiring workflow for every role. A good ATS therefore lets you define your own hiring stages and run a different workflow for a different type of role. Candidate communication can then be attached to those stages through email templates.