Permissions: Site Admin, and Job Admin who can create, edit, and delete stage transition rules

Product tier: Available for Advanced and Expert subscription tiers

Stage transition rules allow you to configure candidate-related actions that occur immediately when any member of your team moves a candidate to a specified stage. 

Create a new stage transition rule

Click Jobs from the navigation bar and select a job from the list.

Screenshot of all jobs tab

Click the Job Setup tab and select Stage Transitions from the left-side menu.

Screenshot of stage transitions menu option.png

Click Create a rule.

Screenshot of create rule button.png

On the next page, enter the following details for the new rule:

Stage

The stage where the rule is triggered.

For details on available stage transition rules visit Stage transition rules overview.

Note: Rules applied to the Application Review stage only trigger if a candidate is moved into Application Review via the Move Stage button. Stage transition rules do not trigger when a candidate initially applies to a job.

Then...

The action that occurs when the rule is applied.

In the Action dropdown, select the stage transition rule to be triggered when a candidate is moved to the specified stage. The available types of rules are based on the selection you made in the Stage dropdown.

Note: Selecting Send Calendly request populates additional dropdown menus for Calendly Interviewer and Calendly Event Type. Click here to learn more about scheduling through Calendly.

User credited with this action

The user who should be logged in the candidate's Activity Feed as executing the action (for example, the user who is logged as sending the availability request email).

While this user's name will be logged in the Activity Feed, you can still configure the email itself to be sent from a global email address (see the From section below).

Note: You can configure the action to be credited to either yourself or to the user who moved the candidate. You cannot configure the action to be credited to another specific user.

Template (optional)

The email template used for candidate emails sent by this rule.

The available templates are based on the type of rule you selected. For example, configuring a candidate email rule allows you to choose only from Candidate Email templates.

From

The email address from which the automated emails should be sent.

You can choose to send the emails from a verified global email address, or from the email address of the user committing the action by selecting the {{MY_EMAIL_ADDRESS}} token. If this token is used, the user taking the action must have a verified email address.

Subject

The subject line for the automated email.

If you chose a template, this field will be completed automatically. If you did not choose a template, enter a subject line in the field.

Body

The body text for the automated email.

If you chose a template, this information will be filled in automatically. If you want to enter custom text or edit the email body, you can do so in this field.

When to send

The timing of the email or request.

Once you select a delay, you'll need to choose the specific time that the message is sent. For information on canceling a pending communication, review the section on delaying or canceling a stage transition rule.

Once all details are provided, click Save at the bottom of the page.

Screenshot of create a new stage transition rule

Your stage transition rule is configured and appears in the job's Stage Rules list.

Screenshot of stage transition rule

Repeat these steps as needed to add stage transition rules to additional stages in the job's interview plan.

Stage transition rule icon

When a stage transition is applied to a stage, a lightning bolt icon is displayed next to the stage name.

Trigger a stage transition rule

Once your stage transition rule is configured, it is triggered immediately when any member of your team moves a candidate to the stage.

Note: Stage transition rules only trigger via the Move Stage button. Stage transition rules do not trigger when a candidate initially applies to a job or is transferred from another job in Greenhouse Recruiting.

When a stage transition rule is applied, an update will be added to their activity feed. A note will also be added if a stage transition rule isn't able to run.

Note: For Greenhouse Recruiting to execute a stage transition rule, the candidate must have a valid email address provided and cannot be marked as Do Not Email. For more information, click here.

Delay or cancel a stage transition rule

When you create a new stage transition rule, you can add a buffer to the action by choosing a time from the When to send dropdown menu.

Screenshow of the when to send field

Note: If a candidate is moved out of the specified stage before the rule is scheduled to run, the rule will not run.

If a rule has triggered, but the action hasn't yet happened, you can cancel it by navigating to the Pending tab of the Tasks section in the candidate profile and clicking Cancel.

Additional resources

To learn more about stage transition rules, check out the following articles: