DM templates · Instagram
Handle job applications in your Instagram DMs
To hire through Instagram, post the role, ask people to comment a word such as APPLY, and DM each of them your application form once they reply. Use the chat for quick answers about pay, hours and location, and the form for the application itself, so every candidate is judged on the same details. These 14 templates run from the first reply to the offer, including a kind no.
Updated 6 October 2026 · 14 templates
14 messages to copy
Tap a card to copy the message. Swap anything in braces, like {name}, for your own words before you send it.
First DM for a freelance role
Hi, thanks for commenting! This reply is automatic. I'm looking for a freelance video editor for two Reels a week, fully remote and paid per video. Would you like the brief and the application form? Reply YES.
What, where and how it's paid go first. Anyone it doesn't suit can stop here, and the question at the end gets the reply Instagram needs before the form can follow.
The application form
Here's the form: {link} It takes about ten minutes, and there's space for your CV or portfolio. We'll reply to everyone who applies by {date}, whatever the answer.
Promise a reply date only if you'll keep it, and keep it for the people you turn down as well.
“Can I just send my CV here?”
Thanks! So that everyone's judged on the same things, all applications go through one short form: {link} You can add your CV there, and it won't get lost among the DMs.
A form keeps every candidate's answers in one place, in the same order. CVs spread across chat threads are easy to overlook when you sit down to shortlist.
Pay and hours
Good question. It's {pay} an hour, about {hours} hours a week, with the rota out two weeks ahead. Anything else you'd like to know before you apply?
Answer pay questions directly. A vague reply leaves candidates assuming the worst, and the ones with other options quietly move on.
“Do I need experience?”
Not for this role. We train everyone from day one, and what we look for is reliability and a friendly manner with customers. If that sounds like you, the form is here: {link}
Follow “no experience needed” with what you do need. It helps the right people apply and saves everyone else the effort.
Application received
Thanks, {name}, your application has come through. We'll read every one after we close on {date} and get back to you within a week of that, either way.
Send it the day an application arrives. A short “got it” stops people wondering whether the form worked.
Inviting someone to interview
Hi {name}, thanks for applying. We'd love to meet you for a 20-minute chat at the shop. Could you do {time} or {time}? If neither works, tell me what does.
Offer two real times and say how long it lasts. “When are you free?” starts a week of messages, and nervous candidates like knowing what to expect.
Paid trial shift
We'd like to invite you for a paid trial shift on {date}, from {time} for three hours. You'll work alongside one of the team, and we'll pay the hours at the normal rate. Does that work for you?
Say it's paid and how long it lasts. Trial shifts are common in cafés and restaurants, and candidates want to know what they're agreeing to.
Not shortlisted
Thank you for applying for the {role} role. We had a lot of applications and won't be taking yours further this time. We appreciate the interest, and we'd be glad to hear from you when we hire again.
It takes a minute per person, and it's the message candidates remember. Without it, they're left checking their inbox for weeks.
No after an interview, sent by hand
Hi {name}, thank you for coming in on {date}. We've offered the role to someone else this time, and it was a close call. If you'd like some feedback, I'm happy to share it.
Offer feedback only if you'll give it. A candidate who interviewed well this time could be your next hire, or a regular customer.
Making an offer
Good news, {name}: we'd like to offer you the {role} job. I'll email the details today, including your start date, hours and pay. Which email address should I use?
Agree in the chat, then put the terms in writing by email, where they can be kept and checked later.
The role has been filled
Thanks for asking. That role has just been filled, sorry. We post every opening on this account first, so keep an eye out for the next one.
Swap the auto-reply to this on the day you close applications, so late commenters hear it's filled instead of receiving a form nobody will read.
“Is this job real?”
Fair question, there are plenty of fake job offers around. We'll never ask you to pay a fee, buy equipment or share bank details over DM. To check it's really us, call the shop on {phone} or drop in at {place}.
Fake job offers that ask for money are common enough that careful applicants check. A number they can match against your website settles it.
Not hiring right now
Thanks for asking! We're not hiring at the moment, but we'd love to hear from you when we are. Leave your email here and we'll write the next time a role opens.
An automated DM can't reach someone weeks later, so the email is how you'll tell them. Send one email per opening, as promised, and nothing more.
Set it up in DMFast
Comment APPLY on a hiring post, get the form
Someone comments on your post
APPLYPublic reply under their comment
Thanks! The role details are in your DMs. Good luck 🍀First DM (plain text)
Hi, thanks for your interest! This message is automatic. We're hiring a part-time barista: around 20 hours a week, weekends included, paying {pay} an hour. Would you like the application form? Reply YES and it'll come straight over.Yes pleasePart-time barista: application formApply nowHours, weekends and pay sit in the one message Instagram allows before the person answers, so anyone it doesn't suit can stop there. A YES opens 24 hours, and the form arrives as a card, so every application lands in one place in the same format.
Pick a post
Connect your Instagram account, then choose the post or Reel it runs on, or every post.
Set the word: APPLY
Anyone who comments APPLY gets a reply under their comment and a DM. Capitals don't matter.
Paste the message
Add the public reply and the first DM shown here. Once they answer, your link follows as a card.
Free plan, no card. Instagram professional accounts and Facebook Pages.
Rules to know
- Each comment on your hiring post can get one private reply, sent no more than 7 days after the comment. That reply is text only, so the form link waits until the candidate answers.
- Candidates who don't follow you receive that reply in their Requests folder, where it's easy to miss. Say so in the public reply under their comment.
- After a candidate answers, automated messages can follow for 24 hours from their latest message. Updates a week or two later have to be typed by hand in the Instagram app, or sent by email.
- Meta requires automated chats to disclose it at the beginning, after a significant lapse of time, and when a conversation moves from a person back to automation, as it might after a manager has been chatting with a candidate.
- Only Business and Creator accounts can automate replies through Meta's API. A personal account can still hire through Instagram, but every answer is typed by hand.
Sources
What belongs in the DM, and what belongs in the form
DMs are good for the questions people ask before they decide to apply. The application itself works better in a form, and some details shouldn't travel by DM at all.
| Detail | Where it goes | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pay, hours and location | The first DM | They decide whether someone applies at all |
| Questions about the role | DM replies | Quick answers keep good candidates interested |
| Experience, availability, CV | The application form | Everyone answers the same questions in the same order |
| Interview times | A DM or email you send yourself | Automated messages stop 24 hours after their last reply |
| ID documents and bank details | Your normal payroll process, after an offer | Chat threads aren't the place to keep them |
Tip: Leave DMFast's “Only send to followers” switched off on hiring posts. A candidate shouldn't have to follow you to see a job.
Answer everyone, on a timeline you can keep
Hiring takes longer than Instagram's 24-hour window. A candidate who asks for the form on Monday may not hear from you until the following week, when an automated DM can no longer reach them. Decide up front how you'll contact people, by email, phone or a message typed in the Instagram app, and say so on the form.
- Post the role with the closing date in the caption and on the image itself.
- Let the auto-reply answer APPLY comments until that date, then switch it to the “role filled” message.
- Acknowledge each application on the day it arrives.
- Shortlist within a week of closing and invite people to interview by name.
- Tell every applicant the outcome, including those you didn't interview.
Keeping it fair
- Ask everyone the same questions in the form, rather than different things to different people in the DMs.
- Judge the answers, not the Instagram profile. Profiles show plenty that has nothing to do with the job, from someone's age to their holiday photos. The exception is a role where the account is the work, such as a social media manager.
- Never ask personal questions in public replies. Availability, phone numbers and anything private belong in the form.
- Don't let follower counts decide, unless growing an account is the job.
- Answer applications in the order they arrived, so the earliest aren't left waiting longest.
Mistakes that lose good candidates
- “DM for details” with no details. Pay and hours in the caption save dozens of identical questions.
- Asking for CVs by DM, then losing them in a busy inbox.
- Leaving the APPLY auto-reply on after the role is filled.
- Calling an unpaid shift a trial. Pay for the hours someone works.
- Silence after an interview. A two-line no is kinder than nothing.
- Promising updates by DM weeks later. Past 24 hours, only a message typed by a person can get through.
Questions people ask
Can people apply for a job through Instagram DMs?
They can, but a form works better for both sides. Use the DM for the first reply and quick questions, then send a form so every application arrives in the same format and nothing gets buried. Small roles, such as a few weekend shifts, can sometimes be settled in the chat itself.
Can I message all the applicants when the job is filled?
Not automatically, unless they wrote to you in the last 24 hours. Collect an email or phone number on the form and contact applicants that way, or type each message yourself in the Instagram app, which the 24-hour limit doesn't cover.
What keyword should a hiring post use?
APPLY is clear, and because DMFast matches whole words, “how do I apply?” gets the form too. Hiring for two roles at once? Give each post its own auto-reply and form, or use two words, such as KITCHEN and FLOOR, so each person gets the right one.
Is it fine to collect CVs over Instagram?
It's better to keep them out of chat threads. A CV usually includes a phone number, a home address and a work history, and a form or email keeps those in one place you control, instead of spread across DMs that several people on your team may read.
How long should the APPLY auto-reply keep running?
Until the closing date. Then switch it to the “role filled” message rather than turning it off, because old hiring posts keep collecting comments. People who comment late hear it's closed instead of getting a form for a job that's gone.
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