They’re not exactly love letters — but they just might steal your candidate’s heart. In fact, you might even fall in love with CareerBuilder.com’s My Letters tool if you’re really lonely.

The gist:

My Letters allows you to create and save up to 20 different automatic response letters to send to job seekers after they submit an application to your job. Job Postings on their own are great, but if you’re not using My Letters, you’re:

1. Sporting this style of desk (and life) organization
2. Wasting a lot of time painstakingly hand-writing response letters with your old-school quill pen, you Thomas Jefferson wannabe.
   OR…
3. Ignoring candidates altogether. And really, that’s no good. No good at all.

Also known as:

The bento box of CareerBuilder’s Free Tools You Can Use. Y’know — Compartmentalize. Organize. (Yes, that’s Mario.)

Why you need it:

Communication is one of the most important elements of both personal and business communication — and with layoffs on the rise and more job seekers searching now than in the past, it is an absolutely crucial element of your hiring process. My Letters is a particularly effective tool to use with your Job Postings, because you can automate your communication to candidates, but still make your messages relevant and targeted to the candidates applying to your job.

Why job seekers love it:

My Letters enable you to get necessary information out to candidates quickly, easily, and effectively. You can create letters concerning the job position, needed candidate information, interview status, to alert of next steps in the process, to thank candidates, and more. Basically, My Letters are your canvas. Automate as much communication as you need to, and organize your candidate communication — no quill pens necessary!

And better yet, you’re not leaving candidates in the dark. You may not realize how much those candidates applying to your jobs want and need your attention and your responses, but they do. While that job may not be the first thing on your mind, people seeking a new job are likely checking their e-mail a million times a day. They’re applying like crazy, they’re busy working on their resumes, they’re setting up interviews — and they’re counting on that communication from you. By communicating with them in even simple ways, you’re setting yourself apart as an employer, and you are taking a huge and important step forth in relationships with those candidates who may be your next employees.

How to get it:

Two Simple Steps to Create “My Letters”:

1. Go to the ‘My Letters’ selection from the ‘Manage Candidates’ tab located on the upper task bar
2. Click “Add New Letter” on the right-hand side of the page. Name your letter, select your privacy setting, and fill in your text.Utilize the My Letters feature in one of two ways: 1) Send letters directly to candidates yourself, or 2) Set letters up to auto-respond once a job seeker applies to an open position.

Big Tips:

• Once your letter is created, you can edit, copy, or deactivate/reactivate letters from your “My Letters” page.

• You can also preview the letter, send a test email out, and send letters from three locations:
  • When viewing a candidate’s resume
  • When you are posting a job
  • From the ‘Active Letters’ tab
• When a tag field is clicked on to the left the information will appear in the text box of the letter. Once the letter is sent out to job seekers, it will automatically populate with the information designated.

For step-by-step instructions, FAQs, and screen shots of “My Letters,” click here.