Starting onboarding for a hired candidate

How to start a new starter's onboarding by hand or automatically when they accept an offer, and what happens next.

Onboarding can be started in two ways: by an Admin or HR user from the candidate's profile, or automatically at the moment the candidate accepts their offer. Either way, the candidate needs an active application at the Offer or Hired stage, and your organisation needs at least one onboarding template.

Before you start

Only Admin and HR users can start onboarding. Members see the Onboarding tab in view-only mode, with the message "You have view-only access. Only HR/admin can start onboarding or update task states."
Onboarding must be switched on for your organisation. If it is off, the Onboarding tab and the Onboarding page in the main menu are hidden. An Admin can change this under Settings, Onboarding (the Enable onboarding switch).
You need an onboarding template. Templates are created under Settings, Onboarding templates. See the article Setting up onboarding templates.
The candidate must have an active application, and that application must be at a stage of type Offer or Hired (or a stage named Hired).
The candidate needs an email address on their profile, because that is where the welcome email goes.

Start onboarding manually

Open the candidate's profile and select the Onboarding tab. The heading reads "Onboarding has not been started for this application."
If the job the candidate applied for has no onboarding template, choose one from the Onboarding template list. If the job already has a template, this list does not appear and the job's template is used. If your organisation has no templates at all, the tab says "No onboarding templates are available. Create one in Settings first."
Optionally, fill in Reporting Manager (optional). This is a free text box, but see the section on the reporting manager below before you type a name.
Select Start Onboarding. The button stays greyed out until a template is available.

Onboarding is kept for each application. If the candidate has applied for more than one job, choose the application you want on the profile first. The Onboarding tab follows the selected application, and onboarding is started and followed for that application only. If the selected application is still a draft, the tab says "Onboarding can start once this application has been submitted." If it is no longer active, it says "Onboarding can only start on an active application."

The tab then switches to the progress view for that candidate. See Tracking onboarding progress for how to follow it.

Which template is used

The job's template always wins when the job has one. To use a different template for one candidate, change the template on the job's Onboarding tab first. When the job has no template, the template you pick on the candidate's tab is used.

The candidate's onboarding is built from a copy of the template taken at the moment you start. Editing the template afterwards does not change onboardings that are already running. To apply a corrected template to a candidate, cancel their onboarding and start it again, bearing in mind that cancelling cannot be undone.

Stage check

If the candidate is not at an eligible stage, the tab shows "Candidate must be at the offer or hired stage to start onboarding." The Start Onboarding button is still visible, but selecting it fails with an error saying the candidate must be at offer or hired stage. Move the application to the Offer or Hired stage and try again. If the candidate has no active application, the start fails with "No active application found for this candidate".

Start onboarding automatically

Automatic start begins onboarding when the candidate accepts their offer, with no action from you at that point.

Open the Send Offer dialog for the candidate.
Switch on Auto-start onboarding on acceptance. The helper text reads "Onboarding will start automatically when the candidate accepts."
Choose an Onboarding template. It is required once the switch is on, and the dialog shows "Choose an onboarding template" if you leave it empty.
Send the offer.

The dialog fills in the template for you where it can. A template set on the job takes precedence, then the default template of the offer type. An Admin can set these defaults under Settings, Offer Setup, Offer Types, using Start onboarding automatically and Default onboarding template. Recruiters can still switch auto-start off on an individual offer.

The candidate's application must already be at an Offer or Hired stage when you create the offer with auto-start on. If it is not, the dialog refuses with a message telling you to move the candidate to the offer stage or turn auto-start off.

The offer takes a copy of the template when it is sent, so later edits to the template do not affect that offer. Automatically started onboardings have no reporting manager, and the activity list shows the entry "Started onboarding (auto, on offer acceptance)" by System.

Automatic start does nothing, and gives no error, if onboarding has been switched off for your organisation before the candidate accepts, if the candidate's application is no longer at an eligible stage, or if an onboarding is already running for that application. If a candidate accepted and nothing started, check their Onboarding tab and start it by hand.

The reporting manager field

Reporting Manager is only used by Email tasks in the template whose Send to option is set to Reporting manager. That email goes out only if the field contains an email address. If you type a name such as John Smith, the email is skipped. Enter an email address if your template has an email like this.

What happens when onboarding starts

The candidate receives the Onboarding Welcome email with their personal onboarding link. They do not need an account to use it.
The hiring manager on the job receives an internal notification that onboarding has started.
Tasks with no prerequisite become available straight away. Tasks that depend on another task start as Locked, showing "Waiting on prerequisite", and unlock when the earlier task is finished.
Email tasks that are available immediately are sent at once.
Due dates are set from the start date using each task's due offset.
An activity entry, "Started onboarding", is recorded with the name of the person who started it.

Problems you may hit

Onboarding has already been started for this application. Only one active onboarding is allowed per application. Open the Onboarding tab to see it.
Start Onboarding is greyed out. No template is selected yet, or your organisation has none.
No Onboarding tab. Onboarding is switched off for your organisation. Ask an Admin.
The candidate did not get the welcome email. Check the candidate has an email address. A template with no tasks completes immediately and sends no welcome email, so add tasks to the template before using it.
Template changes not showing for a candidate. The candidate's onboarding uses the copy taken at start. Cancel and restart to use the new version.