Using bulk actions and tags
Select several candidates or applications and act on all of them together, and use tags to group candidates for filtering and flags.
Select several candidates or applications and act on all of them together, and use tags to group candidates for filtering and flags.
Bulk actions are available in two places: the Candidates page, which works on people, and the Pipeline tab of a job, which works on that job's applications. Tags sit on the candidate, so they are shared across every job the candidate has applied for.
Selecting candidates
Tick the checkbox at the start of each row. A bar appears showing how many are selected, with a Clear button to drop the selection. You can act on up to 100 candidates at a time. Anything larger is refused.
On the Candidates page, the tick box in the table header selects only the rows on the page you are looking at. Changing tab (Active, Talent Pool), moving to another page, typing in the search box, or changing the Job, Pipeline Stage or Tags filter clears the selection. On a job's Pipeline tab, the header tick box in list view selects every application that matches your current filters, across all stages. In Kanban view you tick each card.
Actions on the Candidates page
The actions are grouped into three drop-down buttons: Move, Communicate and Manage. If a group has only one action available to you, it appears as a plain button instead. Reject and Withdraw are always separate buttons.
| Group | Action | Who can use it |
|---|---|---|
| Move | Copy to Job | System Admin, HR |
| Move | Move Stage | System Admin, HR, the job's recruiter. Hiring managers and interviewers only if your organisation allows it |
| Move | Move to Pool (Active tab only) | Any user who can open the candidate |
| Communicate | Send Email | System Admin, HR |
| Communicate | Send SMS (SMS add-on) | System Admin, HR |
| Manage | Download documents | Any user; the contents depend on your role |
| Manage | Download documents (redacted) | System Admin, HR |
| Manage | Add Tags | Any user who can open the candidate |
| Manage | Reopen Form | System Admin, HR |
| Separate | Reject, Withdraw | Same as Move Stage |
Hiring managers and interviewers can move, reject and withdraw only when a System Admin has switched on Allow hiring managers and interviewers to move candidates. The setting is under Settings, Roles & Permissions, in the pipeline permissions. Each stage's own visibility rules still apply.
If you cannot move candidates on any job, the Move Stage, Reject and Withdraw buttons are greyed out and the menu shows the reason: "Only admins, HR and this job's recruiter can move candidates between stages" or "Only admins, HR and this job's recruiter can reject or withdraw candidates". A recruiter on any job keeps the buttons. When you select candidates from several jobs, each candidate is answered separately, so some can succeed while others are refused.
To move an application to a different job, open the candidate and choose Reassign to another job from the Actions menu on their profile. There is no bulk action for it.
What each action does
Copy to Job
This opens a list of published jobs. Pick one and confirm. Each selected candidate gets a new application on that job, starting in its first stage. Copy to Job leaves the candidate's talent pool status alone and removes no existing applications. A candidate who already has an application on that job, active or closed, is counted as failed. The button is unavailable when you have no published jobs.
Move Stage
Choose a job, then a stage from that job's pipeline, and confirm with Move Stage. Only selected candidates who have an application on that job are moved. The rest are counted as failed, so you cannot move candidates across different jobs in one go. If you are not allowed to move candidates on the chosen job, the dialog tells you: "Only admins, HR and this job's recruiter can move candidates between stages."
Moving into a stage sends that stage's automated email, if one is set up. If the stage is an interview stage and there is no open event with slots, you see an "Interview setup needed" message with the number of interviews to set up.
Move to Pool
Enter an optional reason (up to 255 characters) and confirm. Candidates already in the pool fail. Their applications stay as they are.
Reject and Withdraw
On the Candidates page these act on every active application each selected candidate has, across all their jobs. Check the names listed in the dialog before you confirm.
Reject needs a Rejection Reason: Not Qualified, Experience Mismatch, Overqualified, Underqualified, Location, Salary Expectations, Culture Fit, Incomplete Application or Other. Additional Details is required for Other and optional otherwise. Rejection emails follow each job's own setting, and the dialog tells you when they will go out. Withdraw has an optional reason and a Withdrawal email template picker. Choose No email to send nothing.
Send Email
- Choose an email template if you want one, or leave it blank. Only general email templates are offered. If the selected candidates belong to different companies, templates are unavailable and you write the message directly.
- Fill in Subject and Message. Merge fields are filled in separately for each recipient when the email goes out. Attachments cannot be added.
- Optionally tick Send me a copy, set From (a reply-to address) or tick Schedule for later and pick a Date and Time.
- Select Review recipients. Candidates with no valid email address are marked No email and will not be sent to.
- Select Send to N, or Schedule for N if you scheduled it.
Emails are queued, not sent instantly. The confirmation reads "N emails queued for sending." If anyone was left out, a second message names up to three of them ("Name was not emailed", or "N candidates were not emailed: names"). Candidates who cannot be emailed for other reasons are left out in the same way.
Send SMS
Available if your organisation has the SMS add-on. Choose an SMS template or write a message, review recipients, then select Send SMS to N. Messages are best kept under 320 characters, and 160 characters count as one segment. Candidates with no phone number are marked No phone and left out. You see "N SMS queued for sending." and, if needed, "N candidates were not sent this SMS." A candidate can be left out because they have no phone number, the number is not a valid mobile, they have opted out, or text messaging is not enabled for your account.
Download documents
The download is prepared in the background. You see "We'll email you a link when your download is ready." The email goes to you, the link opens only when you are signed in as the person who requested it, and it works for 7 days. The download is a zip file. If none of the selected candidates has documents you receive an email saying so, and if some have none, the email gives the count. System Admin and HR also get Download documents (redacted).
Reopen Form
Emails candidates a link to update their application form. Edit the Subject and Email Body if you wish, but the body must keep the merge field, otherwise you get "Email body must contain merge field". The link is valid for 7 days, earlier links for the same application stop working, and the candidate's previous answers are pre-filled.
On the Candidates page, only candidates with exactly one active application, on a job that has an application form, can be reopened. Others are counted as skipped, so use the job's Pipeline tab for them. The result reads "Reopen emails sent to N candidate(s)", or "N sent, N failed, N skipped".
Bulk actions on a job's Pipeline tab
Once you tick applications, the bar shows a stage picker with Move to Stage, then Reject Selected, Withdraw Selected, Reopen Form, Send Email, Send SMS (SMS add-on), Download documents and, for System Admin and HR, Download documents (redacted). There is no bulk tagging here.
When you tick rejected applications, Send rejection email also appears. It is enabled only when every ticked application is rejected, and it sends the job's rejection template to them without reactivating anyone. Move to Stage is disabled if a rejected application is ticked. See Rejecting and withdrawing candidates.
The stage picker lists the job's stages that you can see, apart from Rejected and Withdrawn. Applications already in the chosen stage are skipped. Permissions are the same as on the Candidates page, and the button is disabled with the same message if you cannot move candidates. Results appear as "N candidate(s) moved successfully", "N moved, N failed" or "Failed to move candidates".
Moving into an interview stage adds a summary line: invites sent, needs setup, already pending. If none could be invited because no open interview event has slots, a Set up the interview event dialog offers Go to Events.
Reject Selected and Withdraw Selected act only on the selected applications for this job. Send Email, Send SMS and downloads work as described above. Email and SMS are for System Admin and HR. Download documents on the Pipeline tab covers only the selected applications, so a candidate's files from other jobs are not included.
Tags
Add tags to many candidates
- On the Candidates page, select the candidates.
- Open Manage and choose Add Tags.
- Type the tags in Tags, separated by commas, for example: strong prospect, nightshift cover.
- Select Add Tags. The button stays disabled until you have entered at least one tag.
Tags are added to what the candidate already has, and repeats are ignored. Each tag can be up to 100 characters, you can add up to 50 in one go, and a candidate can hold 200 in total. A candidate who would go over 200 fails. Tags are matched exactly, so "Senior" and "senior" are two different tags. You see "Tags added to candidates." or, if some failed, "N succeeded, N failed".
Remove or edit a single candidate's tags
Bulk removal is not possible. Open the candidate and select the tag icon (Edit tags) next to their name. Ticked tags are the ones they carry. Select a ticked tag to remove it, or type a new one in the custom tag box and select Add (or press Enter). Changes save immediately.
Tags that contain a comma
Bulk Add Tags treats every comma as a separator, so it cannot create a tag such as "Relocating, needs visa". Add that tag from the candidate's own tag editor, which keeps it as one tag. The tag filter treats it as one tag as well.
Filter by tag
On the Candidates page, open the Tags drop-down, search if needed, and tick one or more tags. The list shows candidates who carry any of the ticked tags. The filter applies to the Active and Talent Pool tabs alike, and it clears your selection. Tags appear in the Tags column of the table.
Tags and Custom Flags
A Custom Flag turns a tag into a small icon that shows on candidates in a job's Pipeline tab, so hiring teams spot something important at a glance. Up to four icons show on a candidate, then a "+N" badge; hover to see the names.
System Admin and HR set flags up under Settings, Job Setup, Custom Flags. Select Add Flag and complete:
- Name, shown when someone hovers over the icon, and an icon.
- Candidate tag: lowercase letters, digits and underscores only, for example disability_confident. The flag shows on every candidate who carries exactly this tag, however it was added.
- Optionally, an Application form question with Question text and a Trigger answer. When a candidate submits the application form on your careers page with that answer, the tag is added automatically.
Only System Admin and HR see flag icons. Deleting a flag does not remove the tag from candidates. They keep the tag, but it no longer displays as a flag.