What's included in this guide:

• Candidate List
  • Job Card
  • Search & Filter
• Candidate View
  • List Candidates – Menu Overview
  • Candidate record
  • Changing a candidate's status
  • Viewing a candidate's application
  • Adding notes to a candidate’s record
  • Inviting a candidate to interview
• Send Bulk Email
• Communicate
  • Send Email - candidate(s)
  • Using Email Templates
  • Send Text Messages
  • Send Candidate Packs
  • Send a manual reference
  • Add or Assign
  • Manually adding a candidate
  • Assign to a Job or Move to a Job
  • Assign to a Talent Pool
• Icons

Candidate List

The list of candidates against each job can be accessed by clicking on the relevant job.

From this dashboard, you can access all functionality to manage the candidate journey.

There are several standard columns on this page:

• Candidate: 
  The name of the candidate or, for those clients who anonymise applications, the candidate number. There may also be one or more icons in this section - for more information, please see the Icons section at the end of this guide.
• Status: 
  The application status that a candidate is currently at.
• Ranking: 
  These stars can be used to support shortlisting candidates by selecting a number of stars. The list can then be sorted in descending/ascending order by clicking on the title to see the most suitable candidates. If you want to remove a star ranking, you can click on the same star numbering that's already highlighted to undo this action.

Please note: This functionality has no automation and will not carry through to another role, it's merely there to act as a visual memory aid whilst reviewing the candidate list.

• 1st / 2nd: this allows users with the correct security permissions to edit a candidate's application information on their behalf.
• Interview: this is a link to quickly book an interview for a candidate (users with the additional self-service calendar module can also add interviews here on behalf of the candidate).
• Initial sift / Screening Score: If used, these columns will show the total scoring from the screening process.
• Panel Shortlisting: If used, this column will show different icons/scores depending on whether all shortlisters have completed their shortlisting. For more information on panel shortlisting please click here

Job Card

At the top of the page, you will see some key information regarding the job:

• Job title / Job Reference number:
• Created On: the date the job was created on
• Created By: the name of the system user who created the job
• Live Date: the date the job status was updated to Live 
• Closing Date: the date the job is scheduled to close 
• No of Vacancies: the number of vacancies selected on the job details page

Depending on your levels of access, you can also perform the following actions from this page:

• Change Job Status To: this allows you to quickly update the job status
• Edit Job: this will open the job for users to edit
• Job Notes: this will allow you to see the job notes and add any new notes
• Job Details: this will give you an overview of the information inputted on the job details page

• View Job Advert: this will allow you to view the job advert as it displays on the candidate site. 

Please note if the role has closed you will still be able to view the job advert as it would have appeared, but there will be a message onscreen to advise the role has closed and it will not still be listed on your candidate site.

"View Job Advert" displays job adverts in the following order: external by default, internal if it is live internally but not externally, and agency if it is live on the agency portal but not internally.

Search & Filter

By pressing Search/Filter you can search for candidates using the following options:

• Candidate Name
• Application Status
• Pre-Assessment: search for candidates that have either passed or failed the pre-assessment questions
• Candidate Type: Internal / External or Agency
• Icon type: search for candidates that have an icon associated with them e.g. Multiple Applications
• Candidate ID number
• Application ID number
• Agency Name: search for candidates that have been submitted by a specific agency

Candidate View

Selecting the grid style option for Candidate View in the top right corner displays an alternative drag and drop view to manage shortlisting by dragging and dropping candidates between statuses.

List Candidates – Menu Overview

On the list of candidates page, the left-hand menu has options to allow you to complete several actions.   This includes bulk status updates, sending emails, texts and letters, assigning candidates to a talent pool, completing a checklist or starting the onboarding process.

Candidate record

Click on a candidate's name to display their record and application information:

Depending on your level of access and the application forms used, a number of sections will be displayed within a candidate's record.

From the top overview, you can view core contact information including:

• Update a candidate’s application status (select the relevant status from the drop-down)
• Change the star rating
• Send an SMS (if you have this functionality activated)
• Update settings information, such as email a new password, set the candidate as internal or external, unlock accounts

The core candidate record has four main sections for you to fully view an application(s), any associated CVs or documents, history and further information specific to your recruitment process.

Directly to the left of a candidate's record is a list of all applicants for the job. 

Selecting a name will display that candidate's application details without the need to return to the List of Candidates page. 

A search/filter option is also available from here. Searching by candidate name will search first name and last name.

TOP TIP:

Click the Job Reference number to open a new window showing essential job details, including the advert content. This helps when reviewing applications for easy comparison with the advert details.

Changing a candidate's status

From the candidate listing page:

Check the box next to the candidate(s) you would like to change the status for and select the drop-down Change Status To at the top of the page.

Choose the required status from the list and a confirmation window will display for you to confirm the added candidates and include any notes you may wish to add. Press Save to complete the action.

Notes added in this section will be added in the candidate history section.

Status Notes

Any status notes will be added in the candidate history section. Status changes where notes have been added will display a purple notepad icon so they can easily be identified.

From a candidate’s record:

Select the appropriate status from the dropdown menu at the top right-hand side of the page.

Select the required status from the list and a confirmation pop-up window will appear for you to confirm and include any notes you may wish to add. Press Save to complete the action.

Viewing a candidate's application

Candidate: Application/CV

Displays a candidate’s application form and CV or any additional documents required for the job. Add any further attachments to the candidate record here.

Viewing Pre-Assessment / Killer Questions

You can review candidates' responses to the pre-assessment / killer questions by selecting the three dots in the Application Form section and then selecting Pre-Assessment Form.

The green tick and orange cross icons indicate the candidates answer to the question:

• If a candidate answers correctly, you'll see a green tick  (Q1 in the image below)
• If a candidate answers a question wrong, you'll see an orange cross and the response will be highlighted in orange. (Q2 in the image below)

Please note: All correct answers in the pre-assessment/killer questions form will be shown in green. If there are multiple correct answers, they will all be highlighted in green as shown in the image below.

Multi-choice (More than one Answer) responses 

If the question allows candidates to choose multiple answers, the responses will be shown in the same format:

In the example above the candidate has selected two options:

1. GCSE which is incorrect
2. A-Level which is correct 

If configured, automatic Pass/Fail status updates and candidate emails will be sent upon receiving a Direct Apply application, depending on whether the candidates' have passed or failed

Candidate: History

Displays the history of actions on a candidate’s record, any other jobs a candidate has applied for and any communication sent to them (via email, text or letter).

Candidate: More

Selecting More provides access to a candidate's notes section along with any other options relevant to your system setup, such as onboarding and panel shortlisting.  Depending on your system setup, some sections of the candidate application form may sit in this section too, such as Equal Opps and additional info.

Adding notes to a candidate’s record

Notes can be added to a candidate’s record where required. In a candidate’s record, select More and then candidate's Notes section. Add the note information and press Save.

If required, the note can be added with a pop-up warning to all users when they view the candidate’s application/ record against the job you add the warning note to. If you would like to use this functionality, toggle on the Set As Warning button.

Notes vs Warning Notes: Notes do follow the candidate around from job to job - it’s just the warning note element that does not. 

Inviting a candidate to interview

On the candidate listing page, click the Interview icon:

A pop-up screen will be displayed confirming the candidate’s name and the job title.

To create a standard invite to an interview, click Create New Appointment.

List Available Appointments relates to the self-service calendar option. Please see our Calendar guide for full details.

You will then be presented with the below page to add the details of the interview:

If you have activated the Microsoft Teams integration please click here for guidance.

• Interview Date: Add the interview date, in the format shown (DD/MM/YYYY).
• Interview Time: Select from the dropdown options the start time of the interview 
• Interview Duration: Select the duration of the interview e.g. 1 hour 30 mins   
• Add Interviewer: Choose the interviewer(s) that you would like to receive an email advising of the interview slot

  This field pulls in the list of contacts from the Address Book.
  
  If you need to add any interviewers, you can do so in Settings by adding System Users (if the user also needs access to the system) or adding to the Address Book (if they do not need to log in).

   

• Email to Candidate: Turn this on to automatically send the selected invitation email and attachments when you 'Send Invite'.
  • Once an email template has been selected a Preview Template button will appear allowing you to preview the email selected.
  • Add document from Library: Here you can choose to attach documents from the document library to the email invite.
  • Add Calendar Meeting File (VCS):  If enabled this will add a calendar attachment to the candidates invitation email. 

If your Jobtrain system is set up with an auto-email attached to the invite to interview status, you can disregard the Email to Candidate option.

Once you have completed this page, simply change the candidate's status, and an email with the date and time of the interview will automatically be sent.

• Email to Interviewers: Turn this on to send the interviewers selected an email notification of the interview booking. 
  • Once an email template has been selected a Preview Template button will appear allowing you to preview the email selected.
  • You can choose if you would like the interviewer to receive the CV, Pre-Assessment Form or Application Form as an attachment to their interview notification email by toggling the relevant item on.
  • Add Calendar Meeting File (VCS):  If enabled this will add a calendar attachment to the notification email selected.
    

Press Send Invite.

Edit emails on status change:

If your user permissions allow you to edit emails sent on a status change then upon clicking Send invite you will be able to edit the email content prior to sending.

Once you have clicked Send Invite, this will trigger emails to the candidate and/or interviewers as selected.

These emails are logged in the candidates’ sent emails and the content can be viewed from there.

The candidate’s application status will also automatically update if you have configured this in system customisation.

To configure or check the auto status update go to Settings > System Customisation > Customise > and scroll down to Interview Statuses > Invite Sent.

Exit & Close to return to the candidate record/candidate listing page & the date and time will appear in the Interview column.

If you can't see the candidate after booking an interview, you likely don't have access to view candidates at the Interview booked status. This status is automatically assigned to candidates when an interview is booked.

Please contact your Recruitment or HR Team who will be able to rectify this for you if required.

If the interview icon turns amber, the interview invitation has been sent and is waiting for the candidate's response about their availability.

This indicates that the Accept/Decline interview feature is active on your site.

Please click here for more guidance.

Cancelling Interviews

To cancel a candidate interview, follow the below steps:

• From the candidate record/ candidate listing page click on the interview date and time
• Select Cancel Interview and then Yes 

Once the interview is cancelled:

• A standard cancellation email is sent to both the candidate and interviewer, including any VCS cancellation files if previously selected when inviting the candidate.
• The date/time is removed from the candidate list/record
• An entry is added in the candidate history confirming the interview deletion, along with the name of the user who deleted it.
• The interview will be removed from the Interview calendar on the homepage

Send Bulk Email

The 'Send Bulk Email' feature means you can send an email to all candidates at a specific application status, all at once.

After selecting 'Send Bulk Email' and you have entered the application status, you will see the total number of candidates the email will be sent to.

There are no limits on the number of candidates that can be sent emails using this feature, but it is worth keeping in mind that if there are more than two attachments of a large file size, then it may have an impact on the send.

Communicate

From the left-hand menu, select the Communicate option (available on the candidate listing page or a candidate's record) to send communications as required: Candidates Hiring Managers Agencies Referees Options such as Email Agency, Reference Request and Send Text Message will be displayed depending on your system setup.

Send Email - candidate(s)

From a candidate’s record: press Communicate and select Send Email from the sub-menu and a new window will be displayed.

From the candidate listing page: check the box next to the candidate(s) you want to email, press Communicate and select Send Email from the sub-menu for the new window to appear.

Did you know? The job reference merge field will automatically be added into the ‘Email subject’ if you are composing a new email.

If you select an existing email template, the Job Reference merge field will also pull through into the email subject here too.

Don’t worry if you don’t want to include this in your email subject – you can simply delete this out.

You can send an email to one or more candidates at once using this method. This works similarly to the BCC function in emails so the candidates will not see other recipients of the email.

Add Attachments: Allows you to attach documents from the document library, supporting documents uploaded to the candidate record, and documents uploaded by the candidate using the multi-doc upload feature (if enabled).

Using Email Templates

You can create any number of regularly used email templates to speed up the process of emailing candidates as well as improving communication consistency.

Email templates can also include merge fields. These are great for adding a personal touch to candidate communications. For more information on creating email templates, please see our Communications user guide.

Important note for clients utilising the Email & Calendar Integration:

To ensure that candidates' responses are recorded in their received emails, you must include the job reference number merge field in the email subject of all candidates' emails.

If you select an existing email template, the Job Reference merge field will automatically pull through into the email subject.

For any candidate emails that are automatically generated by the system (rather than using the Communicate > Compose Email method) then you will need to manually add this merge field into the email subject of any relevant email templates.

Please see our Communications User Guide which details which automated emails will need the {JOBS.JOBREFERENCE} merge field adding in if this is not already present.  

• From Select an Email, select the dropdown menu to choose the relevant template from the list.
• The email subject and wording will auto-populate. You can preview what the email will look like for your candidate(s) using the Preview button at the top of the page.
• Press Send.

Emails are sent in 15- minute cycles and are logged in both the candidate's history and sent emails.

Can I resend an email to a candidate?

To resend an email, go to the candidate's sent emails and click on the email subject. A window will open showing the email and any attachments. Click Re-Send" to resend the email and attachments. 

Send Text Messages

Text Messages is an add-on feature and will be dependent on your system setup.

From a candidate’s record or the candidate listing page, press Communicate and select Send Text Message from the sub-menu.

The candidate’s name will auto-populate. Select either a text message template or free type a text message - text messages have a 150 character limit.

Press Send.

Send Candidate Packs

Candidate packs are created by forwarding a collection of candidate forms and documents of a single candidate, or group of candidates, to an email address. From there the pack can be downloaded or printed.

One email will be received for each candidate, unless the selected attachments exceed the size limit (see below).

Please note: The document size for each candidate pack is limited to 16MB. If you include multiple documents exceeding this limit, the system will send multiple emails.

Similar to sending an email, you can add the intended recipient(s) email address(es), an email subject line and body text (if required).

Then select which forms and documents from the candidate record you wish to forward using the toggle switches adjacent to each.

You can send the following information using this feature:

• Application Details: Candidate application forms and any assessment forms
• Selection: Interview details and any shortlisting or screening forms
• Onboarding / Compliance: 
  • Starter forms
  • Checklist forms
  • Onboarding documents 
  • Compliance documents (including signatures on signed documents/forms)
  • Online Reference forms (completed by the referee)
• Job Advert: 
  • A copy of the Job Advert
  • Any supporting documents uploaded to the job advert

Press Send.

Please note: 

You may not see all of the above options in your site, as this is dependent on your system features and configuration. You can check which items are able to be sent via candidate packs in Settings > System Customisation > Forward Apps.

Document size: The document size for each candidate pack is limited to 16MB. If you include multiple documents exceeding this limit, the system will send multiple emails.

Send a manual reference

To send a reference request by email, click on Communicate and select Reference Request from the sub-menu.

Choose the correct referee from the To dropdown field and select the appropriate reference email template.

Press Send.

Make sure the reference section is activated in the application forms to use this functionality.

Add or Assign

The Add or Assign option in the left-hand menu of the candidate listing page or a candidate’s record allows you to complete the below actions: Manually add a candidate record Assign a candidate to a different job Assign a candidate to a talent pool From the candidate listing page, you can also move a candidate's record to a different job.

Manually adding a candidate

Depending on your security access, you can manually add external or internal candidates.

From the candidate listing page, select Add or Assign then select either Add External Candidate or Add Internal Candidate as applicable.

A non-branded version of the application form attached to that role will be displayed. Complete all information as required, then press Save and Continue to complete and continue through the application form sections.

Fields marked with an asterisk are mandatory and will need to be completed before you can move on to the next section.

On the final Declaration page, indicate agreement to the terms and conditions on behalf of the candidate and click Submit Application.

Assign to a Job or Move to a Job

From the candidate listing page or a candidate’s record, select Add or Assign and choose either Assign to a Job or Move to a Job as applicable.

• Assign to a Job will copy the candidate’s record to a different job.
• Move to a Job will move the candidate’s record from the current job to a different job.

In the pop-up window, choose the relevant job, select a target status that is a relevant application status the candidate should be at in the other job - add any notes as required.

Press Assign.

Please note: If you assign a candidate to a job that uses a different application template, it is possible that certain questions within the candidates application form may not display the candidate's responses if those questions are not present in both templates.

The candidates answer to ‘Where did you hear about this vacancy’ will not copy across to the new role. This is to ensure that this data is accurate as this can vary per role.

Assign to a Talent Pool

From the candidate listing page or a candidate’s record, select Add or Assign then click Assign to a Talent Pool. In the pop-up window, choose either a current talent pool or create a new talent pool. Add any notes as required.

Press Assign.

Icons

On the candidate listing page, you will see various icons.  A summary of these and what they mean is detailed below:

Pass - candidates who have passed pre-assessment 'killer questions' against the job.		Failed - candidates who have failed pre-assessment 'killer questions' against the job.		Additional documents are attached to the candidate’s record.
More than six months since an agency submitted the candidate for the job.		Candidate has been submitted by an agency.		The candidate is a current employee (internal application).
Candidates with multiple applications.		Candidate has been added manually.		An email has failed to send to the candidate.
Employment gap  (if this feature is in use).		Candidates with a criminal conviction(s) (if this feature is used in the application form).		Candidates who have identified they have a disability.
The candidate has applied using the Indeed Direct apply integration.