So here's the deal. For the past couple of months, customers using our applicant tracking software have been asking for an efficient way to acknowledge candidates that don't make the cut. At first blush, this seemed easy enough. But, as our product team began researching and designing the feature, all sorts of complexities became evident.

Some interesting questions were raised. Questions like:

• What if a candidate has applied to or is assigned to more than one job? And. What if she is active on multiple other jobs?
• Who should send thank you letters? Should hiring managers be able to? Only HR?
• Thank you letters should be stage specific. How can we make them more intelligent?
• Should thank you letters come from HR or an individual's email account?
• What if you've already sent a thank you letter to someone in the past? Should you send another?
• If hiring managers are not permitted to send thank you letters but your company still wants to send them, how should you store them to be sent later?
• What if you source passive candidates? Will Newton help you determine whether you've spoken with someone before sending a thank you letter?

Yeah, some stuff to think about huh? So, what we thought would take a couple of weeks to design, has taken nearly three solid months and a lot of brain cells. But, the good news is Newton's Thank You Letter feature is super thoughtful and will ultimately improve life for both employers and applicants. That's the goal of smart recruiting software right?

Right now, we're just making sure everything works great. Look for Newton Thank You Letters in two weeks. Your recruiters and applicants will thank you.