In our previous Best Practice of the series, “Best Practice #2: Evaluation Form Creation,” we went into details on how you can create and utilize the Evaluation Form at your offline recruiting events. While the Evaluation Form is used during your live event, our Automated Post-Event/Interview Messaging Template (Messaging Template for short), is used after your event has ended. 

In this Best Practice series, we will explain the importance and benefits of Messaging Template, and share with you tips on how your team can best utilize it.   

Messaging Template takes care of automated mass communication with all prospective candidates after an event or interview is over. With different templates, recruiters can send personalized emails to each prospective candidate to keep him or her updated throughout the recruiting process. With automated features included in the Messaging Template, recruiters save time doing manual tasks post-event to focus entirely on engaging with candidates.

In this best practice, we will refer to both a) offline recruiting activities such as career/job fairs, networking/info session, etc., and b) interviews as “events.” 

In order to best use the Messaging Template feature for your events, here are the 5 best practices to follow:

 1. Integrate ‘Custom Fields’ into your email content

In our messaging template, custom fields allow you to enter additional information about your specific event and recipients so you can send more appropriately tailored communications, while keeping the overall template general. Our Custom Fields function allows you to send personalized messages based upon the recipient’s name (full name/ last name or just first name), your organization’s name, and your event’s name. 

Think about how likely your candidates are to be interested in an email addressed to them by name over an email addressed to no one in particular. Rakuna puts this power to customize your communication in your hands.

To use Custom Fields, choose the location in the email content you would like to place the custom field and click on the option to insert.

2. Designate one person who will receive all the “Reply-To” emails 

The “Reply-To” field in the messaging template only allows one recipient. Thus, make sure you have one designated email who will receive all responses from candidates. Moreover, note that all the replies from the candidates will go to the designated recipient’s private mailbox, not Rakuna’s dashboard.

3. Set your template as a default if you plan to use the same template for every event

If you will be using the same email content to send out to all candidates post-event, Default Template is the option you might want to opt for. By setting your one messaging template as the default template, you no longer have to worry about creating a new one with a different set of content. When creating a new event, the default template will be automatically selected for you, thus saving you even more time to take care of other tasks. 

Furthermore, note that there can only be one default template. Once you create a new messaging template and makes it the new default template, the old default template will be automatically unselected. 

When saving your Messaging Template, make sure you tick the option “Set as the DEFAULT TEMPLATE.” 

When creating a new event, the default template will be automatically selected for you. 

4. Common content to include in your Messaging Template

When using the Messaging Template for the first time, many of our customers usually ask “What should I write?” We highly recommend that besides extending your thank you again to your prospects, you can also include:

Below are a few examples of Messaging Template for your reference: 

Example #1:

Example #2:

Example #3: 

5. Track emails sent to your candidates using Messaging Status 

Tracking emails sent to your candidates allow you to view their interaction with your email. To do this, go to the Event menu and click “Total Interactions” to see the messaging status. 

We have four messaging statuses, which are: Bounce, Delivered, Open, and Click.

What do Bounce, Delivered, Open and Click mean?

Note that for now, you can only view messaging status in the Event menu. The Interview menu is yet to have this feature. 

Rakuna’s Post-Event/Interview Email Messaging allows you to build relationships with candidates ahead of business demand by nurturing them with close engagement and personalized email campaigns. Our automated customized email messaging feature, along with other best features such as Resume Snapshot and Evaluation Form, has received a 98% positive candidate response rate and saved 1,400+ recruiting hours annually. No more worry about manual post-event tasks, optimize our email Messaging Template feature with the tips we have shared to always stay connected and engaged with 100% of your candidates. 

Can’t find your questions or concerns in this best practice? Worry not! Send us your questions to support@rakuna.co and we’ll respond right away.