Rejecting candidates with reasons and email templates

How CVViZ handles rejection — as a status change with sub-reasons, plus how to wire automated rejection emails.

Rejection in CVViZ is a status change

There's no separate rejection workflow. Rejecting a candidate is a status change to one of the rejection codes, optionally with a reason and remarks.

The rejection statuses

CVViZ ships these rejection codes in the master stage catalog (see Pipelines explained for the full list):

  • Rejected (code -99, red) — the parent rejection status.
  • Sub-reasons:
    • Phone Screen Reject (-96)
    • Interview Reject (-98)
    • Job Offer Reject (-97)
    • Not Shortlisted (-95)
    • Internal Screening Reject (-92)
    • Rejected by Client (-88)
    • Rejected by Partner (-87)
    • Rejected by AM (-89)
  • Not Interested (code -5) — for candidates who self-withdrew.

Pick the most specific sub-reason that matches reality — it's what makes drop-off reporting useful later.

Rejecting a single candidate

  1. Open the candidate.
  2. Click Change Candidate Status (or the status indicator in the header).
  3. Pick a rejection status from the dropdown.
  4. Optionally pick a Reason if your workspace hasconfigured for the chosen status.
  5. Add Remarks (rich-text — bold, italic, underline, link supported).
  6. Click Update Status.

Bulk rejection

  1. From a job's candidates list, tick multiple candidates.
  2. Click Change Candidate Status in the bulk actions bar.
  3. Pick the rejection status, reason, and shared remarks.
  4. Apply.

Useful for clearing the long tail of cold applicants in one pass.

Sending a rejection email

The status change itself doesn't send an email. To send a polite rejection email automatically:

  1. Set up an automation at Settings → Automations with the trigger old_status → -99 (Rejected) (or any specific sub-reason you want to handle).
  2. Pick (or create) an email template the automation will send.
  3. Optionally add a small delay (e.g. 2–5 minutes) so the email doesn't feel instant.
  4. Activate the automation.

Once active, every rejection of that type triggers the email.

Rejection email templates

Maintain rejection templates in your communication settings. Recommended set:

  • Early-stage rejection — short, polite, generic.
  • Late-stage rejection — warmer tone, optionally offers feedback.
  • Talent pool invite — for strong candidates you don't have a role for right now.

Use merge placeholders ({{candidate.first_name}}, {{job}}, etc.) for personalization.

Reactivating a rejected candidate

Open the candidate, change status back to an active stage. The rejection event stays on the timeline. Bulk reactivation works the same way.

Tips

  • Consistency matters. Decide as a team which sub-reason fits which scenario; document it.
  • Don't skip Remarks on close-call rejections — they help future re-engagement decisions.
  • Auto-email on Rejected only. Resist auto-emailing on every sub-reason — Phone Screen Reject (-96) often warrants a different message than Internal Screening Reject (-92).