What's included in this guide:
- Overview
- Adding a Private Job
- Inviting candidates to apply
- List of Jobs
- Access rules
- Making a Private Job public for external advertising
- Candidate process
- FAQs
Overview
Introducing an exciting feature in Jobtrain: Private Jobs! Ideal for secondment opportunities and redeployment needs, Private Jobs provides a discreet advertising and application method.
Invited applicants can access the job via the private link, enabling them to apply without the job being publicly advertised on any other candidate sites. This feature offers enhanced flexibility and confidentiality in your recruitment processes.
Private Jobs is an optional system feature, if you would like to enable this feature please contact our support team to request activation.
Adding a Private Job
Select Add a Job and work through the relevant pages as you normally would when adding a job to the system.
To keep things simple private jobs are added to the system in the same way any other job is added with only a few exceptions which are detailed below.
Job details
- The closing date field can be disregarded as it is irrelevant for private jobs. They remain open for invited candidates to apply as long as the job’s status is Live.
- Bulk Jobs functionality is not compatible with Private Jobs so can be disregarded.
Adverts
- Use the External & Internal toggles to decide if external, internal or both types of candidates can be invited to apply
Private Jobs cannot be released to agencies.- The Private Jobs toggle will not appear on the Post the Job page until either External or Internal advert has been chosen.
Assessment
- Application Form: Select the relevant Application Templates for candidates to complete.
- Pre-assessment / Killer questions are not compatible with Private Jobs so can be disregarded.
Searches and Alerts
- Searches: The search sections of this page such as categories, locations etc are not relevant as these jobs are not advertised on the candidate portals.
- System Alerts: System alerts templates can be attached to private jobs so any internal email alerts that have been created can be attached here by selecting the relevant template from the drop-down.
Post The Job
The Post The Job page is where you mark the job as a private job using the Private Job toggle.
Private Job
Once this is enabled, an on-screen message will be displayed:
- The ‘Advert Live’ toggle will default to ‘Advert Closed’
- The Internal / External / Agency portals sections will disappear along with the closing date as this is irrelevant for jobs in ‘Private Job’ mode
- An additional Invite Candidates button will display
Please note: The job status must be ‘Live’ for invited candidates to apply. When candidates are invited, the job status automatically updates to live. However, changing the job status later will prevent further applications.
Private Jobs is linked to the existing 'Post the Job' page's Job Status feature. Users who can already post jobs to candidate sites can also make the job private and invite candidates to apply.
Inviting candidates to apply
After choosing Invite Candidates you will be presented with the page below:
Inviting existing candidates to apply for a Private Job
Use the To field to search for existing candidates by name and email address and click on the candidate’s name to add to the list of invitees.
The system checks if the job is configured correctly for external or internal candidates, providing onscreen error messages for any necessary adjustments, such as enabling the advert and attaching the required application forms.
Adding and inviting new candidates to apply
To invite a candidate who doesn’t already have an account, select Add a new candidate and add in the candidate’s details.
The system checks for existing candidates using the email just added. If a match is found, an onscreen message notifies that the candidate already exists and provides the option to invite the existing candidate.
New candidates are automatically added as external, except for internal-only private jobs, where they are added as internal candidates.
Emails
Two emails display for existing and new candidates and will be pre-populated with the default ‘Private Job Email’ configured in System Customisation.
Each email includes a link to the private job advert with the relevant external/internal copy. The new candidate email features a password link for password creation so they can access their account.
You can easily edit and preview both emails. The preview button will show the merged email fields of all candidates in a list.
You can CC or BCC system users into the invites sent to the candidates. Doing so means they will be copied into every invite email and this will be logged in the candidates’ sent emails
Send invite
After pressing Send the following actions will occur:
- The email inviting a candidate to apply will be sent and logged in their history and sent emails
- The candidate will be added to the Invitation History tab
- The candidate will automatically be added as an Incomplete Application against the job
- Any new candidates added will have a record created based on their email address
- The Job Status automatically updates to ‘Live’
Once candidates are invited and you have clicked Save on the post the job page, the Job Status will auto-update to Live (or equivalent).
You can invite more candidates to apply at any time by clicking Invite Candidates and following the steps above.
Invitation history
View the invitation history for a private job by clicking Invite Candidates and navigating to the Invitation History tab.
Click View Applications to see the full list of candidates for the job. This includes incomplete applications which are hidden from the standard view when accessing via the list of jobs / search jobs page.
To access a candidate's application quickly, click on their name to go to their record.
List of candidates
There are no changes to this page for private jobs and you can manage candidates through the process as standard.
Candidates who are invited to apply for a private job will remain at the incomplete application status until they have submitted their application.
Incomplete applications are hidden from the standard view when accessing via the list of jobs / search jobs page. They can be accessed using the Search / Filter option.
Source Tracking
Source tracking is in place to track invited candidates and is reportable on in both the standard reporting suite and Advanced Insights reporting.
This is also displayed in the Advert Source Report on the homepage dashboard where the source is listed as Jobtrain Private Invite.
List of Jobs
Private Jobs are identified in the list of jobs page by the padlock icon in the Is Live column.
In Advanced Insights reporting, private jobs are identified by checking the 'Visible to' data field which indicates the role's visibility status.
Access rules
Create Private Jobs and Invite Candidates
The Add Job – Private Job toggle in Security Roles controls whether users can invite candidates to apply for private jobs.
Once enabled, users have access to the Private Job and Invite Candidates button on the post the job page.
Visibility of Private Jobs
Visibility for private jobs follows the same principles as all other jobs. Users with assigned job access, division/location access, or 'List all Jobs = Yes' can see the Private Job icon, job details, candidate list, etc.
Making a Private Job public for external advertising
If a job is initially added as a private job, it can be advertised at a later date through the standard channels by following the steps below.
Change the Advert Closed toggle to green to open the advert or deselect ‘Private Job’.
- The Private Job toggle will then be disabled
- The internal, external and agency portals will display as per configuration on the advert copy page
- The closing date will become active
Once the job is made live, the closing date will be activated. Therefore any incomplete applications created by using the ‘invite candidates’ button will be subject to normal processes around editing / submitting applications within the closing date.
Candidate process
The invitation email includes a link which directs them to the relevant advert copy of the private job. From here they can select apply now and login / create a password and complete their application.
Candidates can view the job on their 'My Jobs' landing page, allowing them to save and return to their application content before submitting, just like any other job.
Once the candidate has submitted their application, the application status will update to ‘Submitted’ (or equivalent) and the standard acknowledgement emails will be sent.
FAQs
Can I restrict who has access to create and invite candidates to private jobs?
Yes, you can control which user groups have access to make a job private and invite candidates to apply.
To determine which user groups should have access go to Settings > Security Roles > Jobs & Talent Pools.
If this is enabled, then users will have access to the Private Job and Invite Candidates button on the post the job page.
Can I release private jobs to an agency?
No, only external and internal candidates can be invited to apply for a private job. If a job is marked as Agency only within the advert copy page, then the ‘Private job’ option will not be visible on the post the job page.
Functionality already exists to allow jobs to only be released to agencies – simply add a job as usual and use the advert copy page to mark the role as agency only.
The Private Jobs toggle is not appearing when expected.
Private Jobs must have an external and/or internal advert displayed (your invitees need to be able to view the job advert). Make sure that you have added an external and/or internal advert and try again.
Can I attach killer questions to a Private Job?
No, killer questions are not compatible with private jobs.
Can I close a Private Job?
Yes, for invited candidates to be able to apply the job status must be ‘Live’. To prevent further applications simply change the job status.
If the Private Jobs status is not live and a candidate with an incomplete application attempts to submit their application they will be presented with a 'Job is closed' error.
I have invited a candidate to apply for a Private Job, but they are being presented with a 'Job is closed' error – why is this?
The Job status must be ‘Live’. If the Private Jobs status is not live and an incomplete candidate attempts to submit their application they will be presented with a 'Job is closed' message.
Will private jobs be advertised externally?
No, jobs in ‘Private Job’ mode will not display on any candidate sites or search results when candidates are viewing either external or internal candidate sites. Nor will they appear in any job feeds (e.g. Indeed, Adzuna, Appcast etc).
Can I restrict who has access to this functionality?
Private Jobs functionality is connected to the existing Post the Job page ‘Job Status’ functionality. This means those users who can already post the job to candidate sites, are also able to make the job private and invite candidates to apply for private jobs.
Can invited candidates only apply for the job via the link in the email?
No, if they are an existing candidate, they will be able to see the job listed on their ‘My Jobs’ page when they log in, so they can edit and apply from here.
For any newly added candidates, they can follow the forgotten password link to create a password and log in.
Can I advertise a job externally etc and then make it private?
No, once a job has been advertised externally it is not possible to make it a private job.
Should a user attempt to make a 'Live' job private, an on-screen message will appear: "This job has already been publicly advertised and cannot be made private."
Can I report on Private Jobs?
Yes, you can report on private jobs in the same way you would report on any other vacancy.
In the Advanced Insights reporting tool, private jobs are easily identified by checking the 'Visible to' data field, which indicates the role's visibility status.
Source tracking is in place to track candidates who were invited to apply for private jobs and is reportable on in both the standard reporting suite and the advanced insight reporting tool.
I have followed the guidance notes and have further questions.
For any questions about using this feature (or any other Jobtrain functionality), please contact our Support Team on +44(0)161 850 2004.
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