Applying, saving and refreshing an application form on a job

Apply a saved template to a job, save a job's form back as a template, and see what is locked once the job is approved or live.

Every job has its own copy of an application form. You can replace that copy with a template, turn it into a new template, or pull in the latest version of the template it came from. This article covers those controls on a job's application form. For building the templates themselves, see Application form templates and Building an application form.

Who can edit a job's application form

Only System Admin and HR users can edit a job's application form. Members, agencies, hiring managers and interviewers cannot, even if they raised the job or lead it. The Edit application form option does not appear for them, and if they open the page directly they see a permission message instead of the editor.

The form is also unavailable until the job has been approved. While a job is a draft, or is waiting for its first approval, nobody can edit it and the page says: "The application form is set up after the job is approved. It is not available while the job is a draft or awaiting approval."

Where to find the form

You reach the form from the Application Form step of job setup, or from the job's page. On the job's page, open the actions menu and select Edit application form. The page is headed "Edit application form" followed by the job title, and it has a Back to job link.

The form's pages appear as tabs. Above them, on the right, is a template selector. Along the bottom are Save, Heal / Auto-map, Preview and Save as Template. A counter shows how many input fields you have used out of 200. Text, images and headings do not count towards that limit.

Apply a template to the job

Open the template selector above the form (labelled Apply Template). It shows "Select template" until you choose one.
Choose a template from the list. If your organisation has none, the list says "No templates available". Templates shared with you by a parent company carry a shared badge.
Read the confirmation: "Applying a template will replace all current form fields and pages. This cannot be undone. Continue?" Select Confirm, or Cancel to keep the current form.
Wait for "Template applied successfully". The editor reloads with the template's pages and fields.

Applying replaces everything on the job's form, including any edits you had made. It is stored straight away, so you do not need to press Save afterwards. If the template leaves out the standard candidate fields, such as name and email, Recruit adds them back so the form still works.

If something is wrong with the template, you see "Could not apply template" with the reason underneath, and the job's form stays as it was.

Based on template and Customised

After you apply a template, a line appears above the form reading Based on template: followed by the template's name. It does not appear on a job that has never had a template applied. It also does not appear if the template was later deleted, or if the template you applied was shared from a parent company.

Once you save a change that makes the form differ from the template, an amber Customised badge appears next to the name. That covers changing a label, type, required setting or options, reordering fields, adding or removing pages, and changing conditions, repeatable groups or compliance packs. Unsaved changes do not count. If you put the form back exactly as it was applied, the badge goes away.

Saving the job's form as a new template does not link the job to that new template.

Update to latest

When the form is Customised, an Update to latest link appears beside the badge. Selecting it re-applies the template the job was based on. The job's form is replaced by the template's current content and your customisations are lost. There is no extra confirmation step, so check before you select it. You see "Form updated to the latest template version" when it works.

The link is only offered while all of these are true:

The job has no applications yet. Once anyone has applied, the update is refused.
The job is past its first approval and is not currently a draft or awaiting approval.
You are an Admin or HR user.

If the update fails you see "Could not update to the latest template version".

What happens when a template is edited later

Nothing happens to jobs that already use it. Applying a template copies its fields onto the job, so later changes to the template only reach jobs you apply it to from then on. A job does not turn Customised because the template changed. To bring a job in line with an edited template, use Update to latest, or choose the template again in Apply Template.

Save the job's form as a template

On the job's application form, select Save as Template in the footer.
In the Save Form as Template box, enter a Template Name (required, up to 255 characters), for example "Standard Application".
Optionally add a Description, up to 1,000 characters.
Select Save. You see "Form saved as template".

The template is a copy of the form as last saved, with its pages, fields and conditions. Save your edits first, because unsaved changes are not included. The new template appears in Settings > Application Form Templates and in the template selector on other jobs.

What changes once the job is approved or live

Admin and HR users can keep editing the form after approval, with these effects:

Approved, not yet live. Saving a change to the form, or applying a template, sends the job back into the approval process. The job returns to awaiting approval and approvers are notified again. Every approval step must still have people in its group, otherwise the change is not saved.
Live (published, scheduled or paused). Admin and HR users can still edit the form, and the job does not go back for approval.

If the job changes status while you are editing, for example it goes live, your changes are not saved and you see "This job changed while you were editing it and your changes were not saved. Refresh and try again." Reload the page and make the change again.

Preview the form

Select Preview to open "Application Form Preview", which shows how the form will appear to candidates, page by page. The preview reflects the form as it currently stands in the editor, including changes you have not saved yet. A page with no fields says "No fields on this page", and a text, image or video block with nothing set shows a placeholder.

Saving your edits

Changes to individual fields are only stored when you select Save. If you try to close or refresh the page with unsaved edits, your browser asks you to confirm. If Save is greyed out, either a field has an error to fix or the form is over the 200-input-field limit, in which case the message reads "You've reached the 200-input-field limit. Remove some questions to save".