How to Set Up Email Forwarding from Outlook to Joel

This guide will help you set up email forwarding from your Outlook account to Joel, Outhire's AI email assistant. Once configured, Joel can automatically respond to candidate inquiries about your open roles, company culture, benefits, and more. Joels escalate questions it can't answer to your talent team.

Prerequisites

Before setting up email forwarding, ensure the following:

1. Joel email assistant is enabled — In Outhire, go to Settings and confirm the Email Assistant toggle is turned on.

2. Your Joel email address is configured — Your unique Joel address is displayed in Settings under the Email Assistant section. It will look like: company-name@joel.outhire.ai If you see a message saying "Email address not configured," contact Outhire support to set it up.

3. (Optional) Escalation email is set — Under Escalation Forwarding Email in Settings, enter the address where Joel should forward questions it can't answer (e.g., talent@yourcompany.com).

Steps to Set Up Email Forwarding

1. Log in to your Outlook account.

2. Go to Settings (gear icon in the top right).

3. Navigate to Mail > Forwarding

4. Enable "Forward a copy of incoming mail to another address."

5. In the forwarding email field, paste your Joel email address (e.g., company-name@joel.outhire.ai). You can find this address in your Outhire Settings under the Email Assistant section.

6. Check "Keep a copy of forwarded messages" to retain emails in your Outlook inbox.

7. Click Save to apply your changes.

Troubleshooting

"Access denied: Your organization does not allow external forwarding"

Your Microsoft Exchange admin may need to enable external forwarding:

1. Go to https://security.microsoft.com/antispam

2. Click Edit on the anti-spam outbound policy.

3. Set Automatic forwarding rules from "Automatic - System-controlled" to "On - Forwarding is enabled."

4. Allow 24–48 hours for changes to propagate across the Microsoft Exchange system.

Emails are not appearing in Outhire

• Double-check the forwarding address

  • Ensure you pasted the full Joel email address (e.g., company-name@joel.outhire.ai) with no extra spaces or missing characters.

• Confirm you clicked Save in Outlook after entering the forwarding address.

• Verify the Email Assistant is enabled

  • In Outhire, go to Settings and confirm the toggle is on.

• Check your spam/junk folder

  • Some emails may be caught by Outlook's spam filter before forwarding.

  • If the issue persists, contact Outhire support.

Verifying the Setup

1. Send a test email to your Outlook address with a question about one of your open roles (e.g., "What positions are currently open?").

2. Wait a few moments for the email to be forwarded and processed.

3. Check the sender's inbox — Joel should reply with relevant information from your job postings and company FAQs.

4. If you have an escalation email configured, test it by sending a question Joel wouldn't know (e.g., "Can I bring my dog to the office?"). Verify the escalation email arrives at your talent team's inbox.

What Joel Can Answer

Joel uses your company's FAQs, active job postings and collected context to respond to candidate questions, including:

• Open positions and job details

• How to apply for a role

• Company information and culture

• Benefits and perks (if added to your FAQs)

• Questions Joel can't answer are automatically forwarded to your Escalation Forwarding Email so your talent team can respond directly.

Need Help?

If you need assistance setting up email forwarding or configuring Joel, contact the Outhire support team at support@outhire.ai