What new starters see in the onboarding portal

The new starter onboarding portal needs no login: they open the link in their email, work through their tasks and submit forms from any device.

When HR starts onboarding for a new hire, the new starter receives an email with a personal link. That link opens their onboarding portal. There is no account to create and no password to remember. This article describes what the new starter sees, so you can answer their questions or share it with them directly.

The invitation email

The email is sent to the new starter's email address as soon as onboarding starts. It greets them by first name and contains a link to their checklist. If the candidate record has no email address, no email is sent, so check the address before you start onboarding.

The same link is used for the whole onboarding. Other emails from the system, such as a notice that a new task is available, a reminder, or a message from HR, all point to the same page. The link does not change unless HR cancels the onboarding and starts a new one.

Opening the portal

The new starter clicks the link and lands on their checklist straight away. Anyone who has the link can open it, so ask new starters not to forward it.

The top of the page reads Welcome, [first name]! followed by their checklist for the job and organisation. Below that is a progress bar showing how many tasks are done, for example "2 of 6 tasks completed", with a percentage.

Tasks are grouped into the phases HR set up in the onboarding template. Each phase can be opened and closed, and shows how many of its tasks are done. Phases with unfinished tasks are open when the page loads. Each task shows:

its title and description
a due date, if HR set one (shown day first, for example 05/10/2026)
a status label: To do, In progress, Under review, Done, Locked or Skipped

Only tasks meant for the new starter appear. Internal tasks for your own team and automatic email tasks are hidden from them.

A Locked task is greyed out and shows Waiting on: [task name]. It opens up when the task it depends on is finished. If that task was set to notify the new starter, they get an email saying a new task is available.

Content tasks

A content task is something to read, such as a welcome note or a policy. The new starter selects Read this, which opens the text on its own page. When they have read it they select I've read this. The task is marked done and they go back to the checklist.

Some content tasks have a form attached. These show Fill out form instead. The text appears above the questions so the new starter reads it first.

Form tasks

What the new starter sees depends on how HR set the form task up.

Fill out form opens a form built in Recruit, on its own page. This is the most common kind and is described below.
Open form opens an outside form in a new browser tab. The new starter fills it in there, comes back and selects I've completed this to mark the task done.
If a form has no questions in it, the task shows "This form isn't available right now. Please contact your employer." Tell HR, who need to fix or skip the task.

Completing a form

Select Fill out form on the task. The form opens on its own page with a Return to portal button at the top.
Answer the questions. Some questions only appear, or only become required, depending on an earlier answer.
If the form has several pages, a line such as "Step 2 of 3" with the page name shows at the top. Use Next and Back to move between pages. Next will not move on while a required question on the current page is empty.
Some forms have sections that can be repeated, for example previous addresses. Select the Add another button to add an entry and Remove to delete one. HR can set a minimum and a maximum number of entries. If the minimum is not met, the form says "Add at least [number] entries to [section] before continuing." At the maximum, the add button is replaced by "Maximum of [number] entries reached."
On the last page, select Submit.

If any required question was missed on any page, the form takes the new starter to the first page with a problem and shows "This field is required" under each empty question.

Uploading files

If a form contains an upload question, the new starter clicks the box or drags a file onto it. Files can be PDF, Word, RTF, plain text, ODT, PNG or JPEG, up to 10 MB. While the file uploads the box shows "Uploading…". Once it has uploaded, Replace swaps it for a different file. If a required upload is empty, the form cannot be submitted.

Three messages can appear on an upload:

"File is too large." Choose a smaller file.
"File type not allowed." Convert the file to one of the types above.
"Upload failed. Please try again." Select Retry upload.

Saving progress

A new starter who cannot finish a form in one go selects Save progress. The form shows "Progress saved", the task changes to In progress, and their answers are filled in again the next time they open the task from the same link.

Saving keeps answers to ordinary questions. It does not keep uploaded files or entries in repeatable sections, so those need to be completed and submitted in the same visit. Cancel returns to the checklist without submitting.

After submitting

What happens next depends on whether HR set the task to need review.

Without review, the task becomes Done straight away and any task waiting on it unlocks.
With review, the task shows Under review with the message "Your submission is being reviewed by the team." HR is notified. When HR approve it, the new starter gets an email saying it has been approved. If HR reset the task, the new starter gets an email asking them to complete it again, and the task goes back to their checklist.

Once submitted, a form cannot be edited by the new starter. If they made a mistake, HR can reset the task from the candidate's Onboarding tab.

If HR have switched on onboarding reminders (Settings > Automations), the new starter also gets reminder emails for outstanding tasks, based on each task's due date.

When everything is finished

When the last task is done, the portal page changes to You're All Set! with a message thanking them for completing their onboarding tasks. They also get a confirmation email, and the hiring manager is notified.

How long the link works

While onboarding is in progress the link has no expiry date. The clock starts when the last task is completed: the link then stays open for 30 days, so the new starter can still come back to it. After that it shows Link Expired and asks them to contact the organisation's HR team.

Saving and submitting stop working the moment a link has expired. If a new starter says they cannot get in, this is the first thing to check.

Extending access (System Admin and HR)

Only System Admin and HR users can change the expiry date.

Open the candidate's profile and go to the Onboarding tab.
Next to Portal expires [date], select Extend portal access.
Pick a New expiry date. Dates in the past cannot be chosen. If the link has already expired, the date starts 30 days from today.
Select Extend portal expiry.

You will see "Portal access extended". The new starter's link stays the same and starts working again straight away, so they do not need a new email. This works for finished onboardings that have expired. It does not work on an onboarding that has been cancelled, which cannot be restored.

The Extend portal access button only shows when the onboarding has an expiry date, so you will not see it while onboarding is still in progress.

Sending the link again

There is no button to resend the original invitation. To get the link back to a new starter, use Email Candidate on any task that is not locked in the Onboarding tab (System Admin and HR, onboarding still active). Write a message, or keep the suggested one, and select Send Email. The email contains a View your checklist link to the same portal, and it is recorded in the activity timeline.

Problems new starters run into

Onboarding Not Found: "This onboarding link is not valid." The link is incomplete or was copied wrongly. Ask them to open the link from the email again, or send a fresh email with Email Candidate.
Link Expired: the 30 days after completion have passed. Extend access as above.
Locked tasks: nothing is wrong. The task before it has to be finished first.
Nothing to fill in on a form task: the form has no questions. Contact HR.
"This field is required": a required question is empty. It may be on an earlier page.