Whether you’re hosting a physical career fair or a virtual career fair, reaching out to potential candidates after a career fair is crucial in making your candidates feel valued and respected. Before we dive into templates that you can use for these emails, here are a few pointers to remember when communicating with candidates after a career fair.
Communicate With Candidates At The Fair About Your Follow-Up Process
During the fair itself, you should aim to explain the next steps a candidate needs to take to move forward with a position at your company, and what the candidate should expect in terms of communication.
It’s common for recruiters to be inundated with emails after a career fair, so it may make sense to also inform the candidate that it could take a few days for you to respond to their email.
Respond To Every Follow-Up Email
In many cases, candidates will reach out to you to thank you for taking the time to meet with them. Even if the candidate isn’t the best fit for your company, make sure to respond and thank them for their time.
While it only takes you a few minutes to respond to an email, as a candidate, getting a response is infinitely better than getting ghosted. This experience can also influence whether the candidate will consider your organization when a new position opens, or if they will leave negative comments about your company’s recruiting practices on review websites such as Glassdoor.
Personalize Your Emails
Making minor changes, such as referencing topics from the conversation with your candidate during the career fair, can go a long way in making your candidate feel like more than just a number.
You will see in our templates down below, we’ve allowed you to fill parts of each email template with candidate-specific information to make them feel more personalized.
Templates
Requesting an Interview
You can use this template to request a follow-up interview with a promising candidate. Make sure to be as detailed as possible about how to attend the interview and how to prepare for the interview.
Hi [candidate name],
Thank you for taking the time to visit our booth at the [career fair name].
Your experience in [candidate specific background] stood out to us and we’d like to get to know you a bit better.
You will meet with the [interviewer name]. They are a [title] at our company and have [X] years of experience. The interview will last about [X] minutes and will mainly consist of [interview content]. [If applicable: Insert information about what the candidate might need to bring with them e.g. ID to pass from the security/reception, resume or portfolio.]
Would you be available on [range of dates and times]?
All the best,
[Your name]
Requesting an Interview Assignment
You can use this template to request a candidate complete an interview assignment. Make sure to be as detailed as possible about the assignment and when the deadline is.
Hi [candidate name],
Please find attached an assignment as part of our interview process. I’m also attaching some instructions to help you complete the assignment.
This assignment is designed is to gauge your skills and give us an idea of how you approach tasks relevant to the role. It would be great if you could send this over to us [within X time frame or by Y date].
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.
Best of luck with the assignment,
[Your name]
When you receive the assignment
Hi [candidate name],
Thank you for completing the assignment. Our team will review it and get back to you with feedback as soon as possible.
I hope you enjoy your day,
[Your name]
Rejection
This is a generic rejection letter you can use for candidates that you speak with at the career fair but decide not to move ahead with them.
Dear [candidate name],
Thank you for taking the time to visit our booth at the [career fair name]. It was a pleasure to learn about [candidate specific background].
Unfortunately, our team did not select you for further consideration.
I would like to note that competition for jobs at [company name] is always strong and that we often have to make difficult choices between many high-caliber candidates. Now that we’ve had the chance to know more about you, we will be keeping your resume on file for future openings that better fit your profile.
Thanks again for your interest in [company name] and best of luck with your job search.
Regards,
[Your name]
Source: These templates are based on Workable’s email templates letter.
