Hiring guideRead at source, 28 September 2026
How to Re-engage Past Applicants in Your ATS: Segments, Consent, Templates and Cadence
To re-engage past applicants, segment your ATS: silver medalists, people who withdrew, no-shows, seasonal alumni and rehire-eligible former employees. Confirm you have consent for each channel, then send a short email and, where consent covers it, a text that says when they applied and what is open now. Follow up twice, then stop. Measure replies and hires by segment, and buy new applicants when the pool runs thin.
Why re-engage past applicants before buying new ones
Every applicant in your ATS cost money to get, and most were never hired. When a similar job opens six months later, many still live near your site, still do similar work, and already know your name. Contacting them costs a message.
The catch: old lists decay. Numbers change hands, people take other jobs, and consent covered a specific purpose. Treat the list as segments, not one blast.
Segment your past applicant database first
Your past applicant database is every candidate record that did not end in a current hire. Split it before writing a word; each group left for a different reason.
Silver medalist candidates
Finalists who were qualified but lost to one other person; the only problem was headcount. This is the highest-value segment in any ATS. Filter for candidates who reached the final interview or offer stage with a disposition like “position filled” or “not selected, qualified.”
Withdrew
Candidates who pulled out, usually for pay, schedule, commute or another offer. If you know the reason, lead with what changed: a new shift, a pay increase, a closer site. If nothing changed, skip them.
No-shows
People who booked an interview or first shift and didn’t appear. Some lost a ride or had a sick kid. One polite message is fair; a sequence is not. Keep this consistent with your no call no show policy for employees, and see candidate ghosting for why it happens.
Seasonal alumni
Last year’s peak crew: harvest, holiday warehouse, summer hospitality, tax season. They know the work and the site. Contact them before the season starts, not when it’s already short-staffed. See peak season staffing.
Prior hires and rehire-eligible former employees
Former employees who left in good standing. Check the eligible-for-rehire flag before anyone reaches out, and have your rehire policy answer the questions they’ll ask about seniority, pay and benefits.
Everyone else
Applicants who were screened out, never contacted, or applied for something unrelated. Re-engage only those never actually evaluated, for roles they would plausibly want.
| Segment | How to find it in the ATS | Lead with | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver medalists | Reached final interview or offer; disposition “filled” or “qualified, not selected” | “We wanted to hire you. The role is open again.” | First |
| Rehire-eligible former employees | Employee records with rehire flag; separation reason voluntary | Welcome back, what’s changed, start date | First |
| Seasonal alumni | Hired for a seasonal requisition last year; completed the season | Season dates, pay, returning-worker perks | Before season |
| Withdrew | Disposition “candidate withdrew”; reason code if captured | What changed since they withdrew | Second |
| Never contacted | Applied, no activity logged | An apology and a direct question | Second |
| No-shows | Interview or first shift marked no-show | One message, no pressure | Last |
Candidate rediscovery: finding the right people in your ATS
Candidate rediscovery is searching the applicants you already have for a new opening before you advertise it. Many ATS platforms sell it as an AI feature; filters do most of it.
- Match the role family, not the exact title. A CNA opening should pull past CNA, caregiver and home health aide applicants. A forklift job should pull warehouse and material handler applicants.
- Filter by distance. Frontline candidates rarely commute far. Use the applicant’s ZIP or city against the site.
- Filter by recency. The last 12 months first. Older records have more dead numbers and changed circumstances.
- Filter by stage reached. Anyone who passed a phone screen has already been partly vetted.
- Remove do-not-contact records: opted out, not eligible for rehire, or already in process for another job.
- Deduplicate. The same person often applied three times. Message them once, about the right job.
If your ATS can’t filter by stage or disposition, recruiters are closing requisitions without disposition codes; fix that now. For what to expect from integrations, see ATS integrations for hourly hiring.
Keep retention rules in mind too. 29 CFR 1602.14 requires employers to keep application forms and other hiring records for one year from the date of the record or the personnel action, whichever is later. That is a minimum, not a license to message everyone in the database forever.
Consent and the TCPA: can you text old applicants?
Email is the low-risk channel for an old list. Texting is where the rules are, and where penalties are per message: 47 U.S.C. 227(b)(3) lets a recipient recover actual loss or $500 per violation, whichever is greater, and more if the violation was willful or knowing.
Prior express consent for automated texts
Under 47 CFR 64.1200(a)(1), a call to a cell phone made with an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice requires “the prior express consent of the called party,” unless it is for emergency purposes. The FCC’s rules apply this to text messages; the revocation rule in the same section refers to “calls or text messages.” Whether a particular texting platform counts as an autodialer, especially after the Supreme Court’s 2021 decision in Facebook v. Duguid, is a question for your counsel. Plan as if consent is required.
A candidate who put a mobile number on an application has generally given consent to be contacted about that application. The open question with an old list is scope: does consent for last spring’s forklift job cover a text about this fall’s forklift job? Maybe. Does it cover a text about an unrelated role, two years later? Much weaker. Three ways to close the gap:
- Fix the application going forward. Add consent language that covers future openings: “I agree to receive calls and texts, including automated texts, from {company} about this application and future job openings. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out.”
- Email first to re-permission the rest. Ask older applicants to reply or click to get texts about openings.
- Keep the message about jobs. Informational recruiting messages are generally not telemarketing, so the prior express written consent standard for marketing in 64.1200(a)(2) doesn’t usually apply. Add promotional content and that can change.
Opt-outs: any reasonable method, within ten business days
Under 64.1200(a)(10), a person may revoke consent “by using any reasonable method.” A reply of “stop,” “quit,” “end,” “revoke,” “opt out,” “cancel,” or “unsubscribe” is a valid revocation per se, and so is any other reply a reasonable person would understand as one. Revocations “must be honored within a reasonable time not to exceed ten business days,” and you may not designate an exclusive means to opt out. Before a re-engagement send, suppress every number that ever opted out, in any channel.
What happened to the FCC one-to-one consent rule
The FCC’s 2023 “one-to-one consent” rule would have tightened prior express written consent for telemarketing. It never took effect. The FCC postponed it on January 24, 2025; the Eleventh Circuit vacated it in Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC, with the court’s mandate issued April 30, 2025; and the FCC removed it from its rules effective August 29, 2025. It concerned marketing consent in any case, not texts about a job someone applied for.
Carrier registration and state laws
Business texting in the US also requires A2P 10DLC registration with The Campaign Registry, and carriers cap throughput, which matters for a large re-engagement send. Some states have their own texting laws. See the consent section of our recruiting text message templates for more.
An application is consent to talk about that application. Re-engaging an old list starts with checking what each person actually agreed to, then asking again where the answer is unclear.
Re-engagement message templates: email and SMS
Every message should say who you are, when they applied, what is open now, and one easy next step. Merge fields are in braces.
Email: silver medalist
Subject: The {role} job at {company} is open again
Hi {first_name}, you interviewed with us for {role} in {month}. We picked another candidate by a narrow margin, and our team wanted to stay in touch. The role is open again at {site}, {pay}, {shift}. If you’re still interested, reply to this email or pick an interview time here: {link}. If you’ve found something else, congratulations, and no reply needed.
{recruiter_name}, {company}
Email: general past applicant
Subject: New {role} openings near {city}
Hi {first_name}, you applied to {company} for {previous_role} in {month}. We’re hiring {role} at {site} now: {pay}, {shift}. It takes about two minutes to apply: {link}. Want to hear about openings by text? Reply “TEXT” and we’ll add you. Not interested? Click here and we won’t email you about jobs again: {unsubscribe_link}.
{recruiter_name}, {company}
Email: former employee
Subject: We’d like you back, {first_name}
Hi {first_name}, you worked with us as {role} at {site} until {month_year}. We’re hiring for that team again, and returning employees skip most of the onboarding. Pay for the role is now {pay}. If you’d like to talk, reply here or call me at {phone}.
{recruiter_name}, {company}
SMS templates
Silver medalist: Hi {first_name}, it’s {recruiter_name} at {company}. You interviewed for {role} in {month}. It’s open again at {pay}. Want to talk this week? Reply STOP to opt out.
General: Hi {first_name}, {company} here. You applied with us in {month}. We have {role} openings at {site}, {pay}. Want the details? Reply STOP to opt out.
Seasonal alumni: Hi {first_name}, {company} here. {season} starts {date}. Returning crew get first pick of shifts. Coming back? Reply YES or STOP to opt out.
Last touch: Hi {first_name}, last message from {company} about the {role} job. If the timing’s wrong, no problem. Reply STOP to opt out.
For rejection messages that set up a future re-engagement (“can we keep you in mind?”), see the candidate rejection email templates; the recruiting email templates cover the rest of the funnel.
Cadence: how many touches, and how far apart
- Day 0: email to the segment.
- Day 1: text, only to people whose consent covers it.
- Day 4: one follow-up to non-responders, by their preferred channel.
- Day 10: the last-touch message. Then stop and leave them alone until a genuinely new opening.
Send during local working hours, and stagger large sends so recruiters can answer replies the same day; a reply that waits a week wastes the effort.
How to measure a re-engagement campaign
Track by segment, so you learn which groups are worth the effort:
- Delivered: messages sent minus bounces and undeliverable numbers. A high bounce rate tells you the list is stale.
- Replied and opted out, as a share of delivered.
- Re-applied or scheduled: the number that actually moved.
- Hired and still employed at 90 days.
- Cost per re-engaged hire: tool cost and recruiter hours divided by hires. Compare it with the cost of the same hire from new applicants.
Your first campaign sets your baseline; published reply rates come from other companies’ lists. For the stage-by-stage view, see candidate pipeline.
When to pay for new applicants instead
Re-engagement is not free just because the messages are cheap. Buy new reach when:
- The pool is thin. Few past applicants within commuting distance for this role family.
- It’s old. Most records are more than a year old and bounces are climbing.
- You need volume fast, such as a new site or a seasonal ramp.
- The role changed: a new license, shift or location, so the old pool doesn’t fit.
In Boostpoint’s 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark, across 891 managed campaigns on Meta, the median campaign cost $13.88 per applicant. CNA and nursing assistant campaigns had a median of $7.72; CDL truck driver campaigns $26.86, with a middle 50% of $17.00 to $42.31 (benchmark data). The higher the cost of a new applicant for your role, the more a working re-engagement program saves.
Boostpoint Connect, a paid add-on to Boostpoint Attract, texts applicants from Attract campaigns with the consent captured on the application, and can re-engage past applicants when a similar role opens, filtered by job, location or last reply, with opt-outs handled automatically. See text recruiting software; for how the wider category fits together, see candidate engagement platform. Hiring crews who prefer WhatsApp? Read WhatsApp recruiting first.
Frequently asked questions
How do I re-engage past applicants in my ATS?
Segment the ATS into silver medalists, people who withdrew, no-shows, seasonal alumni and rehire-eligible former employees. Remove anyone who opted out. Email each segment a short message saying when they applied and what is open now, text only where their consent covers it, follow up twice, then stop.
What are silver medalist candidates?
Finalists who were qualified for a job but lost out to one other candidate, usually only because there was a single opening. They have already interviewed and been vetted, which makes them the first people to contact when a similar role opens.
What is candidate rediscovery?
Candidate rediscovery is searching the applicants already in your ATS for a new opening before paying to advertise it. You filter past applicants by role family, distance, recency and the stage they reached, then contact the best matches.
What is a past applicant database?
The candidate records in your ATS that did not end in a current hire: finalists, withdrawals, no-shows, applicants never contacted, and former employees. Federal rules at 29 CFR 1602.14 require employers to keep application records for at least one year.
Can I text past applicants?
Automated texts to cell phones need prior express consent under 47 CFR 64.1200(a)(1). A number given on an application generally covers messages about that application; whether it covers a different job later is less clear. Use consent language that covers future openings, or email first to ask permission to text.
Is the FCC one-to-one consent rule in effect?
No. The rule never took effect. The Eleventh Circuit vacated it in Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC, the mandate issued April 30, 2025, and the FCC removed it from its rules effective August 29, 2025. It concerned consent for telemarketing, not recruiting messages.
How quickly must I honor an opt-out from a recruiting text?
Within a reasonable time not exceeding ten business days, under 47 CFR 64.1200(a)(10). Replies such as stop, quit, end, revoke, opt out, cancel or unsubscribe count automatically, and so does any other message a reasonable person would read as a request to stop.
When should I pay for new applicants instead of re-engaging old ones?
When the past pool is thin for the role and location, mostly more than a year old, the job requirements have changed, or you need volume quickly. Run one re-engagement campaign to measure your own response before deciding.
Can Boostpoint text our past applicants?
Boostpoint Connect, a paid add-on to Boostpoint Attract, texts applicants from Attract campaigns using the consent captured on the Attract application, and can re-engage those past applicants when a similar role opens. It handles opt-outs and A2P 10DLC registration.
Work the list you have, then fill it again.
We put your openings in front of local candidates on Facebook and Instagram with a short mobile application, and Connect keeps talking to them by text long after they apply.
Book a DemoSources: 47 CFR 64.1200 (eCFR, version current September 2026); FCC Order DA 25-90 (January 24, 2025); FCC, Federal Register document 2025-16641 (August 29, 2025); 47 U.S.C. 227(b)(3); 29 CFR 1602.14 (eCFR); Boostpoint 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark. General information, not legal advice. Read at source 28 September 2026.