Assigning an onboarding template to a job

How to choose an onboarding template for a job, adjust its tasks for that job only, and what the job's copy does and does not affect.

Every job can carry its own onboarding template. You pick one from your organisation's templates on the job's Onboarding tab, and the job gets its own copy that you can change without touching the shared template. That copy is what a new starter's onboarding is built from when you start it by hand from their profile.

Who can use the tab

Admin and HR users can choose a template and change the copy.
Members can open the tab if they can open the job, but it is read-only. A banner reads "You have view-only access to this onboarding configuration". If no template has been chosen, they see "No onboarding template assigned".
Hiring managers who have no other role on the job do not see the tab. A hiring manager who is also a recruiter on the job, or who is an Admin or HR user, does.
Agency users see a different view of the job and have no Onboarding tab.

The tab only appears once the job has finished setup, so it is not there while a job is a draft, waiting for approval or waiting for setup. It is also missing for everyone if onboarding has been switched off for your organisation (an Admin controls this under Settings, Onboarding). You need at least one template to choose from. See the article Setting up onboarding templates.

Choose a template for a job

Open the job and select the Onboarding tab.
Open the Select onboarding template list and pick a template. The choice is applied as soon as you select it. There is no separate save step.
Wait for the message "Template assigned successfully". The tab now shows an Onboarding Configuration panel with the template name, its Phases and every task grouped under its phase.

If the message "Failed to assign onboarding template" appears, nothing has changed. Try again.

Choosing a different template later replaces the job's copy with a fresh copy of the new one. Any changes you made to the old copy are lost. This cannot be undone.

Change the tasks for this job

Once a template is assigned, Admin and HR users can edit the job's copy directly on the tab.

Phases: one box, with the phase names separated by commas. Rename a phase by editing its name. If you remove a name, its tasks move into the first phase.
Task: the task title.
Type: Content, Form, Email Trigger or Internal.
Due (days): days from the start date. A negative number means before the start date, a positive number after it.
Depends on: another task that must be finished first, or No dependency.
The bin icon (Remove task) removes a task from this job.
Add Task adds a new task called "New Task" to the first phase, as a Content task. Give it a title, type, due days and dependency in the same way.

As soon as you change anything, a Save changes button appears. Nothing is stored until you select it. You will see "Onboarding configuration saved", or "Failed to save onboarding changes" if it did not go through.

This tab changes the structure of the job's copy. It does not open a task's content, form or email settings, and it does not change who a task is assigned to. Those come across from the template as they were when the template was chosen. To change them, edit the template itself and choose it again on the job.

What is copied and what is linked

Choosing a template copies it onto the job. There is no live link back to the template.

Editing the shared template afterwards does not change any job that already has a copy. To pick up template changes, choose the template on the job again, which replaces the job's copy and any edits you made to it.
Editing a job's copy never changes the shared template or any other job.
If you duplicate a job, the new job starts with the same template and the same copy, including your edits.

What happens to candidates already in onboarding

Nothing. When onboarding starts for a candidate, it takes its own copy of whatever the job holds at that moment. Later changes to the job's template, the job's copy or the shared template do not alter tasks, due dates or forms for anyone already partway through. To move a candidate onto the updated version, cancel their onboarding and start it again. See Starting onboarding for a hired candidate.

Candidates whose onboarding has not started yet are affected. The next time you start onboarding for them from their profile, it is built from the job's copy as it stands.

Starting onboarding and automatic start

When you start onboarding by hand, the job's template is used if the job has one. The template list on the candidate's Onboarding tab only appears for jobs that have no template.

Automatic start works differently. When you send an offer with Auto-start onboarding on acceptance switched on, the Send Offer dialog pre-selects the job's template (or, if the job has none, the default template of the offer type). The offer then takes a copy of that shared template at the moment it is sent. Changes you made to the job's copy on the Onboarding tab are not included, so if you rely on automatic start, make the change in the template itself.

Automatic start only happens if:

onboarding is still switched on for your organisation when the candidate accepts,
a template was chosen when the offer was sent,
the candidate's application is still at an Offer or Hired stage, and
no onboarding is already running for that application.

If any of these is not true, nothing starts and no error is shown. Check the candidate's Onboarding tab and start it by hand.

Problems you may hit

No Onboarding tab on the job. The job is still in setup or approval, onboarding is off for your organisation, or you are a hiring manager with no other role on the job.
The template list is empty. Your organisation has no templates yet. Create one under Settings, Onboarding.
The Onboarding tab is view-only. Only Admin and HR users can change it. Ask one of them, or ask for your role to be changed.
My changes have gone. Choosing a template again replaces the job's copy, and edits are only kept once you select Save changes.
A candidate's onboarding does not show my changes. It uses the copy taken when it started. Cancel it and start it again.