A good one-way video interview invitation email does five things in under 150 words. It names the role, says what the candidate will do and how long it takes, gives a firm deadline, includes one link, and names a real person to contact if something goes wrong. Below are eight copy-and-paste templates for the whole sequence, from the first invite to the rejection. Each one has a subject line, a body and a note on when to send it. After the templates you’ll find guidance on deadline length, the notice line about recording and AI, accessibility, and how to track who has submitted so reminders only go to the people who need them.
Keep the invitation under 150 words: the role, what the candidate will do and how long it takes, a firm deadline with a time zone, one link and a real person to contact. Then follow up with two reminders at most, only to people who haven’t submitted, and close the loop with every candidate.
- A one-way video interview invitation should name the role, explain the task and time needed, give one deadline with a time zone, include one link and name a real contact.
- Three to five business days is the right deadline for most roles, and it should include a weekend for hourly or shift workers.
- Send no more than two reminders, one 24 hours before the deadline and one on the deadline morning, and only to candidates who haven’t submitted.
- Offering audio, text or extra time in the first email means no one has to disclose a disability to get a fair shot.
- Tell candidates before they record who will watch their answers, what tools process them and how long recordings are kept.
Replace everything in [square brackets] before you send. The templates assume you send from your own inbox or ATS and that the candidate answers in a browser link. That is how most async video interview software works, RecRam included. If you’re new to the format, start with our guide to how one-way video interviews work.
The email sequence at a glance
| # | When to send | Goal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First invitation | Within 1 to 2 business days of the application passing your first filter | Get the candidate to open the link |
| 2 | 24-hour reminder | 24 hours before the deadline, only to people who haven’t submitted | Recover candidates who meant to do it |
| 3 | Last chance | Morning of the deadline day | A final, low-pressure nudge |
| 4 | Tech-help reply | As soon as a candidate reports a problem | Unblock them, and protect their deadline |
| 5 | Accommodation offer | Same day as a request, or proactively in email 1 | Offer audio, text or extra time |
| 6 | Extension granted | As soon as you approve a new deadline | Confirm the new date in writing |
| 7 | “What happens next” | Within 24 hours of submission | Set expectations and stop “did you get it?” emails |
| 8 | Rejection | As soon as a decision is made | Close the loop |
The 8 templates
1. First invitation
When to send: Within one or two business days of the application. The longer you wait, the more likely the candidate has moved on. Send it from a named person, not a no-reply address.
Copy and adapt:
Subject: Next step for the [Job Title] role at [Company]: a short video interview Hi [First Name], Thanks for applying for the [Job Title] role. We'd like to learn more about you, so the next step is a short recorded video interview you can complete whenever suits you. What to expect: [Number] questions, recorded by [Interviewer Name], our [Interviewer Title]. You'll have up to [X] minutes per answer, and you can play back each answer and record it again before you submit. Most people finish in about [Z] minutes. Deadline: [Day, Date] at [Time + Time Zone] Your link: [Interview Link] You don't need an account or an app. It works in a browser on your phone or computer. If you'd rather answer by audio or in writing, or need more time for any reason, just reply to this email. Asking won't affect your application. [Notice line: see the "Notice and consent line" section below] Questions? Reply here or call me at [Phone]. Best, [Your Name] [Title], [Company]
2. Reminder: 24 hours before the deadline
When to send: Exactly one day before the deadline, and only to candidates who haven’t submitted.
Copy and adapt:
Subject: Reminder: your [Job Title] video interview closes tomorrow Hi [First Name], A quick reminder that your video interview for [Job Title] closes tomorrow, [Day, Date] at [Time + Time Zone]. It takes about [Z] minutes, and you can do it from your phone: [Interview Link] If you've hit a problem or need more time, reply to this email and I'll sort it out. Thanks, [Your Name]
3. Last chance
When to send: The morning of the deadline day. Keep it short; one last-chance email is enough.
If your tool doesn’t close links automatically (RecRam doesn’t), decide in advance whether you’ll still review late answers, and word this email to match.
Copy and adapt:
Subject: Last day to record your [Job Title] interview Hi [First Name], Today is the last day to complete your video interview for [Job Title]. The link closes at [Time + Time Zone]: [Interview Link] If the timing doesn't work or you're no longer interested, no problem. A one-line reply helps us plan. [Your Name]
4. Tech-help reply
When to send: As soon as a candidate tells you something isn’t working.
Copy and adapt:
Subject: Re: Problem with the video interview Hi [First Name], Sorry about that, and thanks for letting me know. These steps fix most problems: - Open the link in an up-to-date Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox. In-app browsers (for example, opening the link inside a social or email app) sometimes block the camera. - When the browser asks for camera and microphone access, choose "Allow." If you clicked "Block" earlier, reset it in the site settings next to the address bar. - Try a different device. A phone often works when a work laptop doesn't. If it still doesn't work, you can answer by instead. Just reply and I'll send that option. I've also moved your deadline to [New Day, Date, Time + Time Zone], so you're not rushed. [Your Name]
5. Accommodation offer (including audio and text alternatives)
When to send: The same day a candidate asks for an accommodation or adjustment. Better still, offer it upfront in email 1, as the first template does. In the US, the EEOC says employers must provide reasonable accommodation so applicants with disabilities can be considered, including during interviews (EEOC: Job Applicants and the ADA). In Great Britain, Acas notes that the Equality Act 2010 requires reasonable adjustments for job applicants (Acas: Reasonable adjustments).
Copy and adapt:
Subject: Options for your [Job Title] interview Hi [First Name], Thanks for telling us. We want this interview to work for you, and you don't need to explain the reason. Here are the options we can offer. Pick whatever helps, or suggest something else: - Audio-only answers instead of video. - Written answers instead of recording. - More time: longer time limits per question and/or a later deadline. - The questions in writing in advance, so you can prepare. - A live conversation instead of a recorded interview. Your answers will be reviewed against the same criteria as everyone else's, and your request won't count against you. Reply with what works and I'll set it up within [one business day]. [Your Name] [Phone / Email]
6. Extension granted
When to send: As soon as you approve more time. Always confirm the new date and time zone in writing, so there’s no confusion later.
Copy and adapt:
Subject: New deadline for your [Job Title] video interview Hi [First Name], No problem. Your new deadline is [Day, Date] at [Time + Time Zone]. Your link is the same: [Interview Link]. [If a new link: "Please use this new link, as the old one has closed: [New Link]."] Good luck, and let me know if anything else comes up. [Your Name]
7. Post-submission: “what happens next”
When to send: Within 24 hours of the candidate submitting. In one industry survey of 2,500 workers in the US, UK and Germany, 61% of job seekers said they had been ghosted after a job interview (survey report, December 2024). Only promise a date you can keep.
of job seekers said they had been ghosted after a job interview
Source: industry survey, December 2024
Copy and adapt:
Subject: We've received your video interview for [Job Title] Hi [First Name], Thanks for recording your interview. We've received it, so there's nothing else you need to do. What happens next: - [Reviewer name/team] will watch every answer by [Date]. - If we'd like to move forward, the next step is [a 30-minute call with the hiring manager / a short follow-up question by video / an in-person interview]. - Either way, you'll hear from us by [Date]. If anything changes on your side in the meantime, just reply here. [Your Name]
8. Rejection
When to send: As soon as the decision is made, and no later than the date you promised in email 7.
Copy and adapt:
Subject: Your application for [Job Title] at [Company] Hi [First Name], Thank you for taking the time to record your video interview for the [Job Title] role. We've reviewed every answer, and we've decided to move forward with other candidates whose experience more closely matches what this role needs right now. [Optional, one specific line: "Your answer about [topic] stood out to the team."] [Optional: "We'd like to keep your details for similar roles over the next [6] months. Reply 'no' if you'd prefer we didn't."] [Optional: "We're working to improve our hiring process. If you have two minutes, we'd value your feedback: [Survey Link]."] We wish you the best in your search. [Your Name] [Title], [Company]
That optional survey link is worth adding. Our candidate experience survey questions include a ready-made set for rejected candidates.
Best practices for one-way interview invitations
How long should the deadline be?
We recommend three to five business days for most roles, and always one that includes a weekend for hourly or shift workers. Shorter deadlines filter out people with jobs and caregiving duties, not unmotivated ones. Longer ones drift, and your timeline slips with them.
A few rules that help:
- Always include a time zone. “Friday at 5 p.m. ET” is clear. “End of week” is not.
- Put the deadline on its own line, in bold, so it survives a skim.
- Treat extensions as normal. Grant reasonable requests without asking for a reason.
The notice and consent line
Candidates should know, before they record, who will watch their answers, what tools process them and how long recordings are kept. Under UK GDPR, the ICO says people must be told your purposes, retention periods and who data is shared with at the time you collect it (ICO: The right to be informed). In Illinois, the Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act (820 ILCS 42) requires employers that use AI to analyze applicant videos to give notice, explain how the AI works and obtain consent before the interview. It also requires them to delete videos within 30 days of a request (Amundsen Davis summary of the Act).
Here is a starting point to adapt with your counsel. This is not legal advice.
Your recorded answers will be watched only by the [Company] hiring team for this role. We use [Tool] to host the interview and to create a written transcript and short summary of your answers, which help our reviewers. A person on our team reviews every answer and makes all hiring decisions. We keep recordings for [X days/months] and then delete them. You can ask us to delete your recordings sooner by replying to this email. Full details: [Privacy Notice Link].
Also put a consent question at the start of the interview itself, not only in the email. Our guide to contact, consent and GDPR fields shows how to add a required consent checkbox to a RecRam form.
Accessibility
- Offer alternatives before anyone asks. One line in email 1 (“If you’d rather answer by audio or in writing, just reply”) removes the need to disclose a disability to get a fair shot. With RecRam you can let candidates choose video, audio or text on each question. See how to choose reply modes and offer a text fallback.
- Write out every video question as text too. W3C’s accessibility guidance notes that captions help people who are deaf or hard of hearing and anyone who takes in written information more easily (W3C WAI: Captions/Subtitles).
- Use plain language and short paragraphs.
- Be generous with time limits, and let people re-record. Two to three minutes per answer suits most screening questions, and the chance to watch an answer back and record it again takes a lot of pressure off. In RecRam, candidates always have “Record again” before they submit. Our help doc on reply modes and recording time limits covers the trade-offs.
Never judge camera setup, lighting or background. Tell your reviewers this explicitly, in writing.
Setting up the interview behind the email
In RecRam, the first-round video interview template is a ready starting point, and our guide to launching your first video form walks through the setup. You can record your questions as short videos and set a minimum and maximum recording time for each one (up to 10 minutes). Candidates can answer by video, audio or text, play an answer back and record it again, and follow conditional logic to the questions that apply to them. They need no account or app, partial answers are captured if they drop out, and every paid plan removes RecRam branding.
RecRam doesn’t set deadlines, limit retakes or send emails to candidates, which is why the templates above carry the deadline and reminders.
For review, every answer is transcribed automatically (110+ languages) and gets its own short summary. You can search transcripts by keyword, and reviewers score each answer against your rubric; the AI never scores or ranks candidates, and your team makes the decision. If you want to ask a candidate a quick follow-up without booking a call, Room lets you send an async video message and get a recorded reply in the same thread. You can also put an interview link on your careers page with Video Magnet; see Magnet on career pages.
Track who has submitted, so reminders go to the right people
Emails 2 and 3 should only reach candidates who haven’t finished. The simplest way to know who has:
- Give each candidate a personal link. Add a candidate ID to the interview link as a URL parameter, for example
?cid=1042, and capture it in a hidden field. Use an ID from your ATS or spreadsheet rather than an email address, so personal data stays out of the link. Every response then arrives already labelled. See URL parameter prefilling and hidden fields. - Send every submission to one list. RecRam’s native Google Sheets integration adds a row per response. Put your invite list in the next tab and a simple lookup shows who is still missing the day before the deadline.
- Tell the hiring team as answers arrive. The Slack integration posts each new response to a channel, so reviewers don’t wait for a weekly digest.
- Automate email 7 if you want. RecRam is not an ATS and doesn’t email candidates itself. A Zapier “New Form Response” trigger, Make, n8n or signed webhooks can send the “we’ve received it” email from your own mailbox, or update the candidate in your ATS.
Plans start at $29/mo (Starter) and $99/mo (Professional), with a 28-day free trial and no card required. See pricing. If you’re hiring for support roles, our customer service video interview questions pair well with these templates.
Frequently asked questions
What should a one-way video interview invitation email include?
The job title, number of questions, time limits, whether answers can be re-recorded, total time, a deadline with time zone, one link, a real contact, an offer of audio, text or extra time, and a short notice on who reviews recordings and how long you keep them.
How many days should candidates get to complete a one-way interview?
Three to five business days works for most roles. Include a weekend for hourly and shift workers, and grant reasonable extensions without asking why.
How many reminder emails should I send?
Two at most: one 24 hours before the deadline and one on the morning of the deadline day. Send them only to candidates who haven’t submitted yet. A personal link per candidate, plus a sheet of submissions, makes that list easy to build.
Do I need to tell candidates that AI is used on their video interview?
Yes, and in some places it’s the law. Illinois’ AI Video Interview Act requires notice, an explanation and consent before AI analyzes applicant videos, and UK GDPR requires telling people how their data is processed. Check with counsel, and say plainly what the tool does: “creates a transcript and summary; a person decides.”
What if a candidate can’t or won’t record video?
Offer audio or written answers, more time, or a live conversation. Review their answers against the same criteria as everyone else’s. In the US and Great Britain, employers must make reasonable accommodations or adjustments for applicants with disabilities.
Should I send a rejection email after a one-way interview?
Yes. Candidates have put in real effort. Send a short, respectful note as soon as you decide, ideally with one specific line and an optional feedback survey link.
