Interview Invitation Emails and Texts: 12 Templates, Including for AI Interviews

A good interview invitation tells the candidate what the interview is, how long it takes, when and how to join, who they'll meet and how to prepare, in a message they can act on in under a minute. Everything else is optional. Below are 12 templates you can copy, covering phone screens, video and on-site interviews, AI interviews, reminders and reschedules, with an email and a text version where both are useful.

Replace every [bracketed] part before sending. A template with "[Name]" still in it tells a candidate exactly how much attention their application is getting.

What should every interview invitation include?

Check each invitation against this list before it goes:

Phone screen invitations

Template 1: Phone screen invitation (email)

Subject: Phone call about the [Role] role at [Company]

Hi [Name],

Thanks for applying for the [Role] role at [Company]. I'd like to set up a 15-minute phone call to learn about your background and tell you more about the role.

Could you pick a time that works for you here: [scheduling link]? If none of those work, reply with two or three times that do.

I'll call you at [phone number]. If that's not the best number, just let me know.

Best,
[Your name], [Title], [Company]

Template 2: Phone screen invitation (text)

Hi [Name], it's [your name] from [Company] about the [Role] job you applied for. Could we do a quick 15-minute call this week? Pick a time here: [link]. Or reply with a time that suits you.

Keep texts under about 300 characters and always say who you are and which job it's about. A text from an unknown number with a link in it looks like spam unless the first line says otherwise.

Video and on-site interview invitations

Template 3: Video interview invitation (email)

Subject: Interview invitation: [Role] at [Company], [day and date]

Hi [Name],

Thanks for speaking with me last week. [Hiring manager name], our [hiring manager's title], would like to interview you for the [Role] role.

When: [day, date, time and time zone], for [length]
Where: video call at [link]. No download needed; it opens in your browser.
Who: [names and titles]
What to expect: [for example, questions about your experience with X, and time for your questions]

Please reply by [date] to confirm, or let me know if you need a different time.

Best,
[Your name]

Template 4: On-site interview invitation (email)

Subject: Your interview at [Company], [day and date]

Hi [Name],

We'd like to invite you to an in-person interview for the [Role] role.

When: [day, date and time], for about [length]
Where: [address]. [Parking or public transport details, and which entrance to use.]
Ask for: [name] at reception
Who you'll meet: [names and titles]
Bring: [ID, portfolio or anything else]

If you need any adjustments to take part, or need to change the time, reply to this email or call me at [number].

Best,
[Your name]

Template 5: Panel interview invitation (email)

Subject: Panel interview for the [Role] role, [day and date]

Hi [Name],

You're through to the next stage for the [Role] role. This one is a panel interview with three people from the team:

[Name], [title]: [what they'll ask about]
[Name], [title]: [what they'll ask about]
[Name], [title]: [what they'll ask about]

It lasts [length], at [time and place or link]. Each person will ask about a different part of the role, so you won't be answering the same question three times.

Please confirm by [date].

Best,
[Your name]

Telling the candidate what each panelist will cover is a small courtesy that also keeps your panel honest. If two people plan to ask the same thing, you'll notice when you write the email.

AI interview invitations

An invitation to an AI interview has one extra job: telling the candidate plainly what they're about to do. Many don't get told. In Greenhouse's May 2026 survey of 1,200 US job seekers, a vendor survey, 70% said they were never clearly told up front that AI would be evaluating them, and 46% wanted the option to request a human interview instead.

Five things belong in every AI interview invitation:

1. That an AI runs the interview, in the first lines, in plain words.
2. That a person reviews it and makes the decision, if that's true of your process.
3. How long it takes and the deadline, so they can choose a good moment.
4. What they need: a quiet place, a microphone, a camera if the interview uses video, and a browser.
5. A person to contact for help, or to ask for another way to interview.

Template 6: AI interview invitation (email)

Subject: Next step for the [Role] role: a 15-minute interview you can take anytime

Hi [Name],

Thanks for applying for the [Role] role at [Company]. The next step is a short interview, about 15 minutes, that you can take at any time before [date].

The interview is run by an AI interviewer. It will ask you about your experience and the role, and may ask a follow-up question or two. A recruiter on our team reviews every interview, and a person makes every decision.

You'll need a quiet place, a device with a microphone and a web browser. [Add "and a camera" only if the interview uses video.] Start here: [link]

[If your AI interviewer answers candidates' questions:] At the end you can ask your own questions about the role. If anything goes wrong, or you'd prefer another way to interview, reply to this email or call me at [number].

Best,
[Your name], [Title], [Company]

Template 7: AI interview invitation (text)

Hi [Name], it's [your name] from [Company]. Thanks for applying for [Role]. Next step: a 15-min interview with our AI interviewer, any time before [date]. A recruiter reviews every interview. Start here: [link]. Questions? Reply here.

Template 8: Reminder for an interview not started yet

Subject: Reminder: your [Role] interview closes on [date]

Hi [Name],

A quick reminder that your interview for the [Role] role is still open until [date]. It takes about 15 minutes, and you can do it whenever suits you: [link]

If something's getting in the way, such as a technical problem, a question about the interview, or you'd rather talk to a person, just reply and I'll help.

Best,
[Your name]

Send this about two days after the first invitation, and once more the day before the deadline. Interviews a candidate can take at any time are easy to put off. One or two reminders help; more than that starts to feel like pressure.

Self-scheduling and next-round invitations

Template 9: Self-scheduling invitation (email)

Subject: Pick a time for your [Role] interview

Hi [Name],

We'd like to interview you for the [Role] role. The interview is [format] and takes about [length]. Please choose a time that suits you here: [scheduling link]

The slots run until [date]. If none of them work, reply with a few times that do and I'll make one fit.

Best,
[Your name]

Template 10: Next-round invitation (email)

Subject: You're through to the next round for [Role]

Hi [Name],

Thank you for your time on [day]. The team enjoyed hearing about [something specific from their interview], and we'd like to invite you to the next round.

This round is [format and length] with [names and titles], and focuses on [what it covers]. [Any preparation, such as a short task.]

Please choose a time here: [link], or reply with times that work for you by [date].

Best,
[Your name]

The specific detail in the second line does real work. It tells the candidate the last interview was listened to, which matters more than any compliment.

Reminders and reschedules

Template 11: Reminder the day before (text or email)

Hi [Name], a reminder of your interview for [Role] tomorrow, [day] at [time], [by video at link / at address]. You'll meet [name]. If you can no longer make it, reply here and we'll find another time.

The last sentence matters most. A candidate who can't make it will often just not turn up rather than call to cancel; an easy way to say so turns a no-show into a reschedule. Our guide to interview no-shows and candidate ghosting covers the rest of the fix.

Template 12: Rescheduling an interview (email)

Subject: New time needed for your [Role] interview

Hi [Name],

I'm sorry, but we need to move your interview on [original day and time] because [short, honest reason, such as the interviewer being unwell]. Here are three new times: [time 1], [time 2], [time 3]. Or pick any open slot here: [link].

Thank you for your flexibility, and apologies again for the change.

Best,
[Your name]

When you're the one rescheduling, offer specific new times in the same message. Asking the candidate to suggest times puts the work on the person you just inconvenienced.

Subject lines that get opened

Candidates scan their inbox for the job title and the word "interview". Put both near the front:

• Interview invitation: [Role] at [Company], [day and date]
• Next step for your [Role] application at [Company]
• Pick a time for your [Role] interview
• Reminder: your [Role] interview is tomorrow at [time]
• You're through to the next round for [Role]

Avoid subject lines that could be anything: "Following up", "Quick question", "Opportunity". They read like sales email, and candidates applying to many jobs ignore them.

When and how should you send interview invitations?

Send within a day or two of the decision. Strong candidates are talking to other employers. In data Employ published in January 2026, the average time from application to a first screening interview in 2025 was 7.2 days; every day you remove from that is a day another employer doesn't get first.

Use the channel the candidate uses. Email carries detail and calendar invites. A text is read faster, and for hourly roles it is often the message that gets seen first. When in doubt, send the email and a one-line text pointing to it.

Send from a person, not a no-reply address. Candidates reply to invitations with questions, and a reply that bounces costs you the candidate's trust and sometimes the candidate.

Add a calendar invite to scheduled interviews, with the link or address in the invite itself, so the details are in one place when the time comes.

Where does DIO fit?

Candidates join a DIO interview from a link, in the browser, at any time that suits them, so Templates 6 to 8 are written for exactly that kind of interview. DIO tells every candidate before they start that an AI runs the interview and a person makes the decision, and asks them to agree to that notice; your invitation should say the same thing first, so nobody is surprised when they click. If you use DIO, link candidates to our page on what to expect in a DIO interview. For what else shapes how candidates feel about AI interviews, see our guide to candidate experience in AI interviews, and for the first conversation itself, our phone screen script.