Interview no-show email template
There are many reasons why candidates won't show up to interviews. Most will let you know beforehand, but sometimes they might not. When one candidate doesn't inform you, you might want to send them an email to learn what happened and if they're still interested in the position and decide whether they're worth a second chance.
Here are a few reasons why you should consider sending an interview no-show email to candidates:
- Candidates had a personal emergency and couldn’t inform you, but feel embarrassed to contact you later. Things happen. If candidates proactively communicate with you to apologize and ask to reschedule, then that’s great. But sometimes, they might feel bad for standing you up and waver about whether they should reach out (they might even assume that you wouldn’t accept their apology). By contacting them, you show that you’re open to an explanation and could potentially reschedule.
- There was a misunderstanding about the time, day or place of the interview. Before rejecting candidates who didn’t show up at an interview, make sure it’s not a miscommunication issue. Sending multiple back-and-forth emails to schedule an interview can cause confusion. For example, when you’re interviewing remote candidates, there could be a mix up because of different time zones.
- You rescheduled too many times and candidates are now disengaged. Candidates might have already accepted another job offer if you originally scheduled the interview a long time ago. Also, you might have put off candidates if you’ve canceled and rescheduled the interview multiple times. In this case, a no-show email could help end things on a more positive tone.
Note that if you’re interviewing EU candidates, you need to store and process their data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Learn more about how to be compliant with GDPR in our guide.
Sample interview no-show email
Subject line: Interview with [Company_name] / Interview for [Job_title] at [Company_name]
Dear [Candidate_name] / Hi [Candidate_name],
We had scheduled [an interview at our offices / a video call] today [at 11 am] but you didn’t make it. I hope everything is well.
Could you let me know if you’re still interested in the [Job_title] role? If so, we can reschedule the interview. Otherwise, I’ll be deleting your information from our database.
Thank you,
[Your name]
[Your email signature]
More advice on how to handle interview no-shows.