# Candidate experience survey prompt: five questions that matter > Copy this ChatGPT prompt to write a short candidate experience survey and invitation email, sent after a hiring decision, with no scores or pay talk. Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/candidate-experience-survey-prompt · Updated 2026-10-21 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com) [Hiring and HR](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts#job-hiring-and-hr) · [Recruiting](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts#industry-recruiting) · Works in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot Updated October 21, 2026 · By [Robert Breen](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about) Use this after you fill a role, to learn how candidates found your hiring process: was the job post clear, were updates fast enough, did the interview feel fair. Fill in the role, your stages and what you want to learn, and ChatGPT writes a five-question survey plus a short invitation email. The answers show where good candidates drop out, which is usually where your time to hire leaks. Send it only after every candidate has their decision, and keep it anonymous if you can. People answer honestly when they know it cannot affect their application. **Have a professional review it.** This prompt helps you draft, not decide. Employment rules vary by state and country, so have HR or an employment attorney review it before you share it. ## The prompt Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every `[BLANK]` with your own details. It uses the four parts from [Prompt Writing 101](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompt-writing-101-role-context-task-format): Role, Context, Task and Format. Copy prompt ```text Role: You are the hiring manager at [COMPANY]. Context: We just filled the [ROLE] role. Our hiring stages were: [STAGES]. Every candidate has already heard our decision. I want to learn: [WHAT TO LEARN]. The survey is [ANONYMOUS OR NAMED]. Task: Write a candidate experience survey of five questions: three rating questions on a 1 to 5 scale and two short open questions. Then write a friendly invitation email under 90 words that thanks the candidate, explains the survey cannot change any decision, and says how long it takes. Format: The survey first, numbered, with the rating scale written out once. Then the email with a subject line. Plain words. No questions about age, family, health or anything protected, and no mention of scores or pay. ``` ## Fill in the blanks **`[COMPANY]`** Your business name. **`[ROLE]`** The job title you hired for. **`[STAGES]`** Your steps in order, such as "job post, phone screen, interview, offer". **`[WHAT TO LEARN]`** Two or three things, such as "whether the post was clear and whether our updates were fast enough". **`[ANONYMOUS OR NAMED]`** "anonymous" or "named, optional". Anonymous gets more honest answers. ## Example, filled in **A made-up example** from the free lesson [Keep Top Candidates Warm with Honest Status Replies using ChatGPT](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-candidate-status-update-email-recruiting). Willow Bend Physical Therapy is the made-up clinic in the candidate reply lesson, hiring a Front Desk Lead. In the lesson, candidate Kira Delgado had to chase the clinic for an answer while holding another offer. Here is how the hiring manager might fill in the prompt once the role is filled, to find out whether slow updates are a pattern. Copy example ```text Role: You are the hiring manager at Willow Bend Physical Therapy. Context: We just filled the Front Desk Lead role. Our hiring stages were: job post, phone screen, interview with the office manager, final interview with the hiring doctor, offer. Every candidate has already heard our decision. I want to learn: whether the job post was clear, whether our updates between stages were fast enough, and whether the interviews felt fair. The survey is anonymous. Task: Write a candidate experience survey of five questions: three rating questions on a 1 to 5 scale and two short open questions. Then write a friendly invitation email under 90 words that thanks the candidate, explains the survey cannot change any decision, and says how long it takes. Format: The survey first, numbered, with the rating scale written out once. Then the email with a subject line. Plain words. No questions about age, family, health or anything protected, and no mention of scores or pay. ``` ## What a good answer looks like - Exactly five questions, each tied to something you said you want to learn. - One open question asks what would have made the process better, which is where the useful answers come from. - The email says plainly that the survey cannot change any decision. - Nothing asks about age, family, health or other protected topics. ## How to check it before you use it An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the [Reply Faster lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-reply-to-customer-emails): check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out. - Send only after every candidate has their decision. - Read each question as a rejected candidate would. Cut anything that sounds defensive. - Have HR review the survey once before you reuse it as a template. - Look at the answers by stage, so you know which step to fix first. ## Practice it in the free lesson **[Keep Top Candidates Warm with Honest Status Replies using ChatGPT](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-candidate-status-update-email-recruiting)**: Your best candidate has another offer and wants to know if she got the job, if you'll match her pay and when she can start. Give ChatGPT the thread and the hiring facts, catch the promises you can't make yet, and send… You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts. [Start the free lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/recruiting-candidate-status-reply) Also useful: [Score Every Candidate Fairly After the Interview using ChatGPT](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-interview-debrief-scorecard) · [Write a Fair, Job-Related Job Posting with ChatGPT's Interview Prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/write-fair-job-posting-chatgpt-interview-prompt) ## Terms used here [Candidate experience](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/candidate-experience) · [Time to hire](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/time-to-hire) · [Interview debrief](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/interview-debrief) ## Related prompts - [Candidate rejection email prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/candidate-rejection-email-prompt): Write a short, respectful rejection email that thanks the candidate for the step they reached and promises nothing you won't do… - [Candidate follow-up after interview prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/candidate-follow-up-after-interview-prompt): Write the email a candidate gets after an interview: thanks, where things stand, the next step and when they'll hear back, with… - [Interview debrief agenda prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/interview-debrief-agenda-prompt): Plan a short interview debrief that goes must-have by must-have, keeps the talk on job evidence and ends with a decision, owners… - [Candidate pipeline update prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/candidate-pipeline-update-prompt): Turn an applicant tracker export into a weekly hiring update: counts by stage, what moved, next steps with owners, stalled… ## More hiring and hr prompts - [Candidate outreach message prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/candidate-outreach-message-prompt): Write a short, honest message to someone who isn't job hunting: why them, based on their work only, the real role and pay, one… - [Candidate skills task prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/candidate-skills-task-prompt): Design a short, fair work-sample task for candidates: made-up materials, a time limit, clear instructions and a scoring rubric… - [Employee departure announcement prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/employee-departure-announcement-prompt): Tell your team, and clients if needed, that someone is leaving: last day, who covers their work, a sincere thank-you and no… ## Frequently asked questions **What questions should a candidate experience survey ask?** How clear the job post was, how fast and clear your updates were, whether the interview felt fair and relevant, and one open question on what would have made it better. **When should I send a candidate experience survey?** After every candidate for the role has heard your decision, so answers cannot affect anyone's application. **What are good candidate experience examples?** A clear post with the pay range, a reply within a few days of applying, interviews that stick to the job, and a decision message either way. Kira Delgado's status reply in the lesson shows the last one. [All free prompt templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts) · [AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary)