Prompt of the Day: Update a Candidate After an Interview

Prompt to copy4 slidesChatGPT

By Robert Breen · Published October 1, 2026 · From the free lesson Turn an Interview Debrief into a Scorecard and a Candidate Follow-Up (Recruiting & HR)

A visual prompt card: the email a candidate gets after an interview, with thanks, where things stand, the next step and no hint of the decision.

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Swipe or scroll sideways for all 4 slides. The whole guide is written out below.

The guide in text

Update a candidate after the interview

Copy it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot and replace every [BLANK] with your own details.

Role: You are the hiring manager at [BUSINESS], writing to a candidate after their interview.
Context: The candidate is [CANDIDATE AND ROLE]. Where things stand: [WHERE THINGS STAND]. Next step and when they'll hear: [NEXT STEP]. Use only these facts. Don't mention scores, other candidates, the panel's discussion or pay, don't hint at the likely outcome, and don't promise a date we haven't set.
Task: Write a short follow-up email that thanks them for the interview, tells them plainly where things stand, gives the next step with its date, and tells them who to contact with questions.
Format: Under 120 words, friendly and plain. Subject line first, then the email. Sign it: [SIGN OFF].

Works in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot.

Read it as the candidate

Each date and step must match what you gave it.
Could they take it as an offer, or as a no? Rewrite any line that tips either way.
No scores, no comparison to others, no pay.
Have HR or an employment attorney review it before you share it.

The full template: Candidate follow-up after interview prompt, with every blank explained, a filled-in example and how to check the answer.

Businesses and people in the examples are made up. The steps, screens and wording come from the free lesson and the Stepthrough glossary and prompt library.

Do it yourself, free

Turn an Interview Debrief into a Scorecard and a Candidate Follow-Up (Recruiting & HR). Turn the transcript of an interview panel's debrief into a scorecard against the role's must-haves, the decisions, action items with owners and dates, and a follow-up email to the candidate. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, it checks your work as you go, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on. Free, and nothing touches your real accounts.

Start the free lesson

Or read the full step-by-step guide

Plain-English definitions, each with an example from a free lesson.

Follow-up email Prompt constraints Action items AI bias AI summarization Candidate experience Context window File upload (in an AI chat)

The full AI glossary

Action items table prompt: Paste a meeting transcript or rough notes and get a table of every task, owner and due date, with "Not stated" wherever nobody…
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…
Interview scorecard prompt: Turn interview notes or a debrief transcript into a scorecard: each must-have rated with a quote as evidence, gaps marked Not…
Meeting agenda prompt: Turn a list of topics into a timed meeting agenda where every item has an owner, a question to settle and minutes that add up to…

All free prompt templates

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