# A Candidate Follow-Up System for Recruiters > A stage-by-stage follow-up plan for recruiters: when to chase client feedback, when to update candidates, and how to keep people warm through notice periods. Source: https://www.getmindie.app/blog/recruiter-candidate-follow-up (published 2026-10-29) You have twelve candidates in play across five roles. Three are waiting on feedback, two are serving notice, one starts on Monday. Your ATS knows all of this. It just doesn't tap you on the shoulder at the right moment. The candidates who drop out rarely do it loudly. They go quiet after a few days of hearing nothing, and then take the other offer. ## The one rule: every candidate has a next date Before anything else, adopt this rule. Every candidate who is active in a process has a next contact date, written down somewhere that will remind you. Not "I'll call her soon". A date and a time. Most candidate experience problems come from gaps, not from bad news. A candidate who hears "no update yet, the client is seeing two more people on Thursday" stays engaged. A candidate who hears nothing for six days starts to assume, and starts to look elsewhere. ## Follow-ups stage by stage ### After you submit a CV - **Same day:** tell the candidate their CV has gone to the client, and what happens next. - **Two working days later:** chase the client for a first read if they haven't responded. - **Four working days later:** update the candidate either way, even if all you can say is that you're still waiting. ### After an interview This is where speed matters most. - **Within two hours:** a quick call or message to the candidate to hear how it went while it's fresh. This is also your best chance to spot concerns before the client does. - **Next morning:** chase the client for feedback. Feedback gets vaguer every day it waits. - **Within 48 hours:** give the candidate feedback, or an honest timeline for when you'll have it. If you have several interviews on the same day, set the feedback chases at the same time as you book the interviews. That way the follow-up exists before the interview has even happened. ### At offer stage - **Before the offer:** check the candidate's expectations one more time. Salary, start date, any counteroffer risk. - **On the day of the offer:** call, don't email. - **The day after:** check how they're feeling, and whether they've resigned yet or plan to. ### During the notice period The weeks between acceptance and start date are where placements quietly fall apart. Counteroffers arrive, a competitor calls, nerves set in. A simple rhythm: - **The day they resign:** a short call to ask how it went and whether there was a counteroffer. - **Every week of notice:** a light check-in. Nothing heavy; share something useful about the new team or the first week. - **Three days before the start:** confirm start time, location or login details, and who to ask for. ### After they start - **Day one, at lunch:** a quick message to ask how the morning went. - **End of week one:** a call with the candidate, and a check-in with the hiring manager. - **End of month one:** a proper conversation with both sides. - **Before any guarantee or rebate period ends:** a final check-in so there are no surprises. These post-start calls are easy to skip once the fee is in. They're also where the next role and the next referral come from. ## Closing the loop with candidates who didn't get the job The candidates you reject are your future placements. A clear, kind "no" with one useful piece of feedback is remembered for years. Silence is remembered too. - **Tell them within a day** of hearing from the client. - **Give one specific piece of feedback** if the client gave you any. - **Set a check-in for three to six months later** if they're someone you'd place again. ## Keeping client feedback moving Half of candidate follow-up is really client follow-up. Some ways to keep it from stalling: - **Agree a feedback window when you book the interview.** "Could you get me thoughts by Wednesday midday?" sets an expectation both sides can see. - **Ask for feedback on a call, not by email,** when you can. You get more detail, and faster. - **Send a weekly update on every open role,** on the same day each week, even if it's short. Clients who hear from you regularly tend to reply faster. ## Notes that make follow-ups better A follow-up is only as good as what you remember about the person. Keep short notes after every call: - Notice period and earliest start date - Salary now and what they're looking for - Must-haves and deal-breakers (commute, hybrid days, contract or permanent) - Other processes they're in - Anything personal they mentioned that's worth asking about next time Your ATS should hold the official record. Quick notes between calls are what keep the next conversation personal. ## A Friday sweep Once a week, run through every active candidate: 1. Does each one have a next contact date? 2. Is anyone waiting on feedback for more than two days? 3. Is anyone in a notice period who hasn't heard from you this week? 4. Who started recently and is due a check-in? Ten minutes on a Friday catches most of what slipped. If you want to fold it into a bigger review of your week, see [how to do a weekly review in 20 minutes](/blog/weekly-review). ## Doing it with Mindie Mindie is a reminder service in WhatsApp, which suits recruiting because most of your candidates are already there. Several reminders in one message become separate reminders, so you can set a whole stage at once: - "Remind me tomorrow at 9am to chase Fairhill for feedback on Ben's interview, and at 2pm to call Ben with an update" - "Every Monday at 10am until 3 March remind me to check in with Mia during her notice period" - "Remind me on 3 March at 12:30pm to message Mia and ask how her first morning at Fairhill went" For notes, send a voice note straight after the call: - "Note: Mia, notice is four weeks, wants three days in office max, also interviewing with one other agency" Before your next call, ask "what did Mia say about her notice?" and the note comes back. When a reminder fires, you can ask Mindie for a ready-to-send WhatsApp link with the message, then tap it and send it to the candidate yourself. Mindie never messages candidates or clients itself. If you connect Google Calendar or Outlook, interview times can go straight into your calendar from a message too. There's more on how recruiters use it on the [Mindie for recruiters](/for/recruiters) page. ## Reminders worth setting - [Interview reminder](/reminders/interview): A heads-up to read the CV before each interview you're running. - [Client follow-up reminder](/reminders/client-follow-up): A regular check-in with hiring managers on open roles. - [Weekly report reminder](/reminders/weekly-report): A fixed slot for your weekly pipeline update to clients. - [Invoice follow-up reminder](/reminders/invoice-follow-up): A nudge to check placement fees have been paid on time. ## FAQ ### How often should a recruiter update a candidate? At least every two to three working days while they're active in a process, even when there's no news. After an interview, aim to give feedback or a clear timeline within 48 hours. ### How do you keep a candidate engaged during their notice period? Check in weekly with something light and useful, ask directly about counteroffers after they resign, and confirm start details a few days before day one. Long silences during notice are when most placements fall through. ### How long should a recruiter wait for client feedback after an interview? Chase the next morning, and agree a feedback deadline when you book the interview. If a client regularly takes more than two or three days, raise it with them, because slow feedback costs them candidates.