Why isn’t the candidate responding to my emails? How to improve your deliverability

1. Common reasons for missing replies

There are four main reasons why your communication doesn’t reach the candidate or is ignored:

• Incorrect email address: The candidate has entered the wrong address in their application.

• Ended up in spam: The email has been filtered out by the candidate’s email provider.

• Full inbox: The recipient’s mailbox is full and cannot receive more emails.

• Low interest: The candidate is no longer interested and chooses not to respond.

2. Handling incorrect email addresses

It’s surprisingly common for candidates to mistype their email address in the application. In our logs, we see hundreds of examples every day where small spelling mistakes prevent emails from being delivered – for example, @gmail.con instead of @gmail.com, or outlok.com instead of outlook.com.

Because this happens on such a large scale, it’s always worth double-checking the address if you’re not getting a response.

Do this:

1. Check the spelling: If the address looks suspicious, contact the candidate by phone or SMS instead.

2. Ask for a new application: Ask the candidate to submit a new application with the correct details. This creates a correct candidate card that you can use for future communication.

3. Remove duplicates: Contact our support team and we’ll help you remove the incorrect application so you don’t have to manage multiple cards for the same person.

3. Spam issues – why do emails end up there?

Email providers (such as Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud and Outlook) constantly update their filters to protect users from phishing and spam. Unfortunately, legitimate emails can sometimes get caught by these filters. How strictly an email is filtered depends both on the provider’s general rules and the candidate’s individual settings.

Important to know about our logs: It’s good to be aware that our insight is limited once an email has left our system.

• What we can see: We can see if an email is rejected for technical reasons, if the address is misspelled, or if the recipient’s inbox is full (a so-called “bounce”).

• What we cannot see: We cannot see if an email has been sorted into a spam folder. Once the email has been accepted by the candidate’s server, it is considered “delivered” in our systems – even if it ends up in their spam filter.

How does it work?

Think of the email system as a two-step postal process:

1. Step 1 (Our responsibility): We send the letter and make sure it reaches the candidate’s “post office” (their email server). If the post office is closed or the address doesn’t exist, the letter is returned to us and we can see the error.

2. Step 2 (Recipient’s responsibility): Once the letter is inside the post office, they sort it for the candidate. Their system decides whether the letter should be placed directly in their hand (the inbox) or thrown in the bin (the spam folder). This internal sorting happens behind closed doors, and we receive no report on where the letter ultimately ends up.

What to do if you suspect spam

• Whitelisting: If a candidate finds your email in their spam folder, ask them to add no-reply@uhigher.com to their contacts or mark the sender as trusted.

• Long-term effect: When a candidate marks your email as “not spam”, they teach their email provider that Higher is a trusted sender. This improves deliverability for all future emails – for both you and your colleagues.

4. Full inbox

If the candidate’s inbox is full, your emails will bounce immediately. In these cases, alternative communication via phone is the only way to reach them and inform them about the problem.