January 2019 Release Notes

Custom Hiring Team roles

To complement our Custom System Roles for global actions in SmartRecruiters (posting jobs, etc), in the January 2019 release we've added Custom Hiring Team roles to allow our customers to precisely configure the access and actions allowed for each hiring team member. 

Admins with the SmartGlobal add-on will see the Hiring Team Roles link in the Permissions list of Settings / Admin. The configuration page includes two major tabs:

• Configure default roles: Modify the set of permissions available to each default role
• Additional Roles: Create up to 5 custom roles, and configure the permissions for each role independently

Before we dive into the process of configuration, let's examine how SmartRecruiters defines permissions:

• Actions for each role
• Access levels for each action

Actions

Each custom and default hiring team role's permissions is defined as a list of actions they can or cannot perform in relation to the job or candidates on the job.

For example, job actions include:

• Publishing/unpublishing/cancelling a job
• Editing the job's status manually (without moving the candidate forward or back in the process.

When added to a job's hiring team and assigned a role, the user is assigned the role's list of allowable actions for that job and any candidate applications to that job. 

Access levels

Each role is assigned an access level for each action. The access level determines exactly what a user who is assigned that role can do in relation to that action.

Some actions have three levels:

Write	User can see and modify information
Read	User can see but not modify information
None	User cannot see or modify information.

Others have only two:

Yes	User can perform this action
No	User cannot perform this action

Job actions

The following sections specify configurable actions related to a job, the access levels available for each action, and any dependencies between them, i.e., which levels/actions must be assigned together. 

The following actions will be available with the Jan 31st release. More will follow in February.

Hiring Team

Controls access to list of hiring team members in Hiring Team tab of the job.

Write	Can add new hiring team roles and edit existing hiring team's roles
Read	Can see hiring team but cannot take any actions
None	Cannot see hiring team

Internal Notes

Controls access to Internal Notes section in Job Details tab on the job

Write	Can see and write internal notes
Read	Can see internal notes
None	Cannot see internal notes

Post/Unpost/Cancel

Controls ability to publish, unpublish, or cancel a job.

Yes	Can publish, unpublish or cancel job. User must have ability to create job.
No	User cannot see or modify information.

Job Status

Controls ability to manually change job status.

Yes	User can manually change job status
No	User cannot change job status.

Activity Tab

Controls access to Activity tab on job's profile.

Yes	User can access Activity tab
No	User cannot access Activity tab

Candidate Actions

Here's a list of all the configurable actions related to a candidate, the access levels available for each action, and any dependencies between them, i.e., which levels/actions must be assigned together. 

This list of actions will be available with the Jan 31st release. More will follow in February.

​​​​​Consent

Controls ability to request consent and view consent status.

Yes	Can request consent and see consent status
No	Cannot request consent or see consent status

​​​​​Attachments

Controls ability to view and add attachments to application.

Write	Can add/see attachments
Read	Can see but not add attachments
None	Cannot see or add attachments

​​​​​Hire

Controls access to the Hire form and confirm hiring

Write	Can access and edit Hire form, and confirm hiring
Read	Can access but not edit Hire form, and cannot confirm hiring
None	Cannot access Hire form

​​​​​Reject/Mark as withdrawn

Controls ability to reject/mark a candidate as withdrawn and choose/view reason.

Write	Can reject/mark as withdrawn and choose a reason
Read	Cannot reject/mark as withdrawn but can see the reason
None	Cannot see the reason

Edit Status

Controls ability to edit a candidate's status in the hiring process.

Yes	User can change candidate status
No	User cannot change candidate status

Delete Attachments

Controls ability to delete attachments from application.

Yes	Can delete attachments
No	Cannot delete attachments

Tags

Controls access to view and edit tags on application.

Write	Can see and add tags
Read	Can see but not add tags
None	Cannot see or add tags

Interviews

Controls access to Interviews tab ability to view, schedule, and edit interviews. Any hiring team member may be invited to an interview, regardless of their access level to Interviews.

Write	Can see previous interviews and schedule an interview
Read	Can see previous interviews and but cannot schedule an interview
None	Cannot see Interviews tab

Offer

Controls access to Offers tab and ability to create/edit/send offers, send/view offer approvals, and view offer information.

Write	Can create an offer, send it for approvals, see previous offers and approvals, and send offer to candidate
Read	Cannot create an offer or send it for approvals or to candidate, but can see previous offers and approvals
None	Cannot see Offer tab or offer-related messages and attachments

Profile Edit

Controls ability to edit personal, experience, or education information on profile

Yes	Can edit personal, experience, or education information
No	Cannot edit personal, experience, or education information

Add/Reactivate/Remove from this job

Controls ability to add or remove candidate from job, or reactivate them

Yes	Can add candidate to job, reactivate candidate on job, or remove candidate from job
No	Cannot add candidate to job, reactivate candidate on job, or remove candidate from job

Other Applications

Can view a candidate's other applications, even if the user is not assigned to those jobs.

Yes	Can see all of a candidate's applications
No	Can only see candidate's application to a job if member of hiring team on that job.

Emails

Controls access to Message tab and ability to send emails to candidate and read emails sent to candidate.

Write	Can send emails to candidate and see sent emails in Messages tab.
Read	Can see sent emails in Messages tab, but cannot send new emails to candidate.
None	Cannot see Messages tab

Edit Source

Controls ability to edit application source

Yes	Can edit source of application
No	Cannot edit source of application

Configure default roles

On the the Configure default roles tab are two tables: Job and Candidate permissions. Each row in the tables is a specific action; each column, a specific default role.

To configure the permissions of a particular default role:

1. Find the action in the Job Actions or Candidate Actions table.
2. Hover over the row for an action, and click Edit.​​​​​​
3. Choose the role's correct level of access for that action from the list, and click Save.

Changes take effect immediately.

Additional roles

To create and configure custom hiring team roles:

1. Click on the Additional Roles tab.
2. Click Manage additional roles.
3. Click Add a role.
4. Give the role a name, and click Save.
5. In the Job and Candidate Actions tables, go through each action and assign an access level. When you create a new role, SmartRecruiters defaults all of the role's access levels to None.Make sure to click Save!
6. Repeat as needed for both tables.

Admins can add up to five custom roles. Just click Manage additional roles to add another.

If you've added more than one, you can update each at the same time:

To delete a role, click Manage additional roles, then click the Delete icon for the role.A few things to keep in mind:

• Admins cannot deactivate a custom hiring team role if the role is currently being used in an existing approval chain
• Admins cannot delete a custom role or if there is at least one user assigned that role on a hiring team.
• There are some interdependencies between actions. SmartRecruiters will resolve these interdependencies as needed. For example, assume an Admin has granted a user Write permissions for Offers, but None permissions for Messages. The user will need to be able to send an offer, so SmartRecruiters will ignore the Messages permission. In the future, we may add deconfliction rules, but this is the current logic.
• SmartRecruiters will automatically update candidate status based on user actions, even if the user doesn't have the ability to edit status.
• Our Hiring App will follow the same permissions as the web app.

Custom Consent Request Email Templates

In the January 2019 release, we've further globalized our GDPR management tools by adding the ability to create a library of custom templates for the consent request email, and send the right template based on the company's GDPR Setting.

This new feature is found in the Templates list of Settings / Admin. By default, the feature is set to use SmartRecruiters' default templates. Admins can choose deactivate the Use SmartRecruiters Default Template option to activate Custom Request Email Templates and create their own templates.

Creating templates

1. When the Default Templates option is deactivated for the first time, Admins will be prompted to select a default language for the custom templates. This language will be the default for any new template at time of creation, but can be changed during the customization process.
2. To add a new template, click Add Template.
3. In the editor, choose the template's type and language, and add its content. Available languages correspond to the list of candidate-facing languages so that SmartRecruiters can match templates to job ads by the job ad language.  ​​​​​​

   Like other email template editors in SmartRecruiters, the Consent Request template editor supports rich text formatting, merge fields, and links, and allows customization of the text in the email's call-to-action button.

There are three types:

• Two request template types: No Deletion and Deletion after 30 days.
• One reminder type: Reminder

Request template types

The two request template types correspond to the two default request template types:

Default type	Custom type	Sent when:
GDPR Setting On	Deletion after 30 days	A user requests consent from the candidate, and the company has activated the GDPR setting for that candidate's country.
GDPR Setting Off	No Deletion	A user requests consent from the candidate, and the company does not have the GDPR setting activated for that candidate's country.

SmartRecruiters will send a specific template based on three factors:

• Job Ad Language (latest application; if no application then language of default job ad, if general application then English)
• Company's GPDR setting for the candidate's country

Let's look at an example:

• The company has a Custom Request Email template with the type Deletion after 30 days and Polish language.
• The candidate has a location in Poland, and applied to a job ad in Polish (i.e., the job poster chose Polish when creating the ad).
• The company has a Global Compliance configuration for Poland. In this configuration, the GDPR setting is active, and the candidate's profile would be deleted if they did not provide consent within 30 days of the request.
• When a recruiter at the company requests consent from the candidate, the candidate would receive the Deletion after 30 days template in Polish. 

If there is no matching Custom Request Email, then SmartRecruiters will send the appropriate default email. 

​​​​​​For reference, here are the GDPR default request templates:

• GDPR Setting On: Sent when a user requests consent from a candidate, and the company has activated the GDPR Setting in Global Compliance for the candidate's country.

  Hi [Candidate First Name] [Candidate Last Name],
   
  We’d like to consider you for employment at [Company name]. Your privacy is important to us, so please review our privacy policy and confirm that we may use your information for recruiting purposes. If you do nothing, your profile will be deleted in 30 days.
   
  [Review policy] 
   
  You can view, update, or delete your profile at any time.
   
  Thank you, 
  [Company] Recruiting Team 

• GDPR Setting Off: Sent when a user requests consent from a candidate, and the company has not activated the GDPR Setting in Global Compliance for the candidate's country.

  Hi [Candidate First Name] [Candidate Last Name],
   
  We’d like to consider you for employment at [Company name]. Your privacy is important to us, so please review our privacy policy and confirm that we may use your information for recruiting purposes.
   
  [Review policy] 
   
  You can view, update, or delete your profile at any time.
   
  Thank you, 
  [Company] Recruiting Team

Reminder template type

With the Custom Request Email option active, Admins can choose the Reminder type for each template to set up a custom reminder email on a country-by-country basis.

As with the two request email types, SmartRecruiters will choose the correct template based on the candidate's country, and will fall back to the default reminder emails if there is no matching custom reminder email.

​​​​​​For reference, here are the two default reminder emails:

• Reminder: 7 Days before deletion

  Hi [Candidate First Name] [Candidate Last Name],
   
  We’d like to consider you for employment at [Company name]. Your privacy is important to us, so please review our privacy policy and confirm that we may use your information for recruiting purposes. If you do nothing, your profile will be deleted in 30 days.
   
  [Review policy] 
   
  You can view, update, or delete your profile at any time.
   
  Thank you, 
  [Company] Recruiting Team 

• Final Reminder: 2 days before deletion

  Hi [Candidate First Name] [Candidate Last Name],
   
  We’d like to consider you for employment at [Company name]. Your privacy is important to us, so please review our privacy policy and confirm that we may use your information for recruiting purposes.
   
  [Review policy] 
   
  You can view, update, or delete your profile at any time.
   
  Thank you, 
  [Company] Recruiting Team

 

Mass Status Change

The January 2019 release includes one of our most (120 votes on UserVoice) requested features: the ability to change status for multiple candidates at the same time!

There's a new item in the Actions menu on the Applicant list of a job: Change Status of # candidates.

As with the other actions:

1.  Select two or more candidates
2. Open the Actions list 
3. Click Change Status

Users will be able to move multiple candidates to any stage or step in the hiring process. That means it's possible to mass-hire a number of candidates. 

A few things to remember:

• Mass status change is only available to users who can manually change status.
• For users whose permissions do not include certain actions (see above in Custom Hiring Team Roles), SmartRecruiters will skip candidates during a mass status change. For example, if a user without the ability to convert leads changes the status of a group of candidates in Lead and New status, SmartRecruiters will skip the candidates in Lead status.
• Moving a group of candidates to a hiring step with an assessment will not trigger the assessment. 

Apply with SmartProfile

SmartRecruiters is always investigating more ways to improve the candidate experience, and in the January 2019 release, we've made it easier than ever for candidates to apply to jobs in a single click with their SmartRecruiters SmartProfile.

Candidates can get started by clicking Apply with SmartProfile in the Import your profile window.

• Candidates who are currently logged into the Candidate Portal will immediately go to the application.
• Candidates who aren't logged in will be prompted to log in.

Once the candidate is logged in, SmartRecruiters will pre-fill the fields in the application with information from the SmartProfile. The candidate will be able to verify and change any information as they choose.

Extended Lead Capture Forms

Our January 2019 release also extends our Lead Capture Forms to collect more information from prospects, including screening questions and their CV.

Additional profile fields

When creating a new lead capture form, SmartCRM users will be able to add one or more of the following fields:

• Phone
• Location
• LinkedIn profile link
• Facebook profile link
• Twitter profile link
• Website

It will also be possible to mark the fields as optional and change the order they appear in the form.

Community screening questions

SmartCRM users with admin rights will be able to create screening question sets for their communities which can be used in lead capture forms.

Creating a community set

In Settings / Admin:

1. Click Screening Questions in the Configuration section.
2. Click on the Community Questions set tab. 
3. Click on New Set to enter the wizard.
4. Add a name to the new set.
5. Select the questions you want to add from your Question Library.
6. After adding the questions you want, drag them change the order they will appear in the form.

Diversity questions and the following default questions can’t be added to a community screening questions set:

• Additional attachment
• Work shift
• Languages

They won't be available for selection when you create or edit a community set.

Adding a set to a form

To add a screening question set to a form:

1. On the Forms tab of a community, click Create Form.
2. In he Form section, select the Add a page for screening questions checkbox. 
3. From the dropdown list of community question sets, select one.
4. Once the form is published, the selected set will be shown to prospects. The screening questions set will be shown as a new tab after the profile tab.

Upload resume from forms 

In the Form Creation wizard is a new option called Allow CV Attachments. 

With this feature active, prospects will be able to upload their CV when they register to a community from a lead capture form. 

When a prospect uploads their CV, SmartRecruiters will parse the file to fill their profile information in the form. After that, they will still be able to edit the information in the form or remove the file. Once they finish registration and a profile is created in the back office, the file will be available in the Attachments section of their profile, and the education and professional experience fields will be filled with the information in the resume.

Candidates may have many more than one file attached to their profile. If the same candidate registers to the same or another community using the same or another form and uploads another file, SmartRecruiters will not replace the initial file.

Filter by Screening Questions

Recruiting at scale and with speed is all about efficiency, and an effective screening process is critical. In the Janaury release, we're adding the ability to filter candidates by screening questions so that recruiters can quickly identify candidates by their answers.

Supported types

Choosing filters

Field Recruiting App Management

To help companies better coordinate access to the Field Recruiting App for particular on-site recruiting, we've added the ability to authorize access for specific users to use the App over a defined period, or indefinitely.

Managing access

There's a new page in Settings / Admin called Field Recruiting App Management. Here, Admins can choose to activate the Field Recruiting App Management tool and authorize specific users.

By default, the feature is not active, and all users are able to log into the App with a valid username/password. Activating the feature will log out all users who are currently logged in, and users will only be able to log in once authorized individually.

Once the feature is active, Admins will be able to search for users by name or email, and set their duration of access: either limited (start/end dates) or unlimited (start date only) duration

• ​​​​​​Limited duration: Leave the No end date box unchecked and choose start and end dates from the Date Range picker.
• Unlimited duration: Check the No end date box, and choose the start date.

When the Admin clicks Authorize, the user will receive an email that notifies them they've been granted access and describes the duration of their access period (with appropriate start/end dates). 

Each authorized user is added to the Access List below the authorization tool. This list will contain all users with a currently valid or future-dated access period. 

Admins can cancel access for any of these periods by clicking Revoke. If a currently logged-in user's access is revoked, they'll be logged out of the App immediately. 

Requesting codes and logging in

Users will be able to request a code from within the App at any point during their access period. They'll just need to enter a valid usernam, and SmartRecruiters will automatically generate an access code.

Users will receive this email, which contains the code:

Once the user has the code, they'll be able to return to the App and enter the code to log in. Each code is one-time-use, and will expire in 30 minutes if not used. Users can then request a new code as long as their access period is still active.

URLs and Inline Attachments in emails

All of our Email editors now allow users to add inline URLs and attachments. 

To add either when writing an email, click the Link icon:

SmartRecruiters will open the Link editor:

To add an inline URL:

1. In the Display Text field, enter the text that you'd like to be visible for the URL itself.
2. Leave the Link Type as "URL".
3. Leave the Protocol as "http://".
4. Enter the actual URL in to the URL field, and click OK.

To add an inline image:

1. Click the Upload tab in the Link editor.
2. Choose a file from your computer.
3. Click Send it to the Server.
4. SmartRecruiters will generate a URL that points to the location of the image on our servers. You'll be able to see this URL in the Link Info tab:
5. Click OK. SmartRecruiters will add the URL to the body of the email. 

When SmartRecruiters generates and sends the actual email, we'll replace the URL that points to the image with the image itself. The recipient will see the image in the email they receive.

Delightful Improvements

Here's a list of smaller but no less delightful things are are part of our January 19 release.

Screening Question Set Limits

We've increased the limit on the number of a sets that a company can have from 100 to 200.

Parsing Scanned or picture resumes

We've added support for parsing images of CVs to the application. Previously, we parsed only text and PDF files. Now, candidates can upload .jpgs, .pngs, or any other supported image file. Please note that if you try to parse a picture with poor quality, low resolution or blurry wording, the technology will have a hard time extracting the right information. We recommend 150dpi, greyscale or color scans, preferably in lossless TIFF format in order for the technology to work well.

Upload files in Live Docs

Users can now test API calls for uploading files in our Live Docs and verify the responses.

Pagination for Candidate API

We've updated the GET:/ Candidates endpoint to use cursor pagination. This improves the performance of the endpoint when paging through results, for example, allowing customers to jump to the 100th page of results out of 1000 pages much more quickly. 

The Add Candidate workflow stays exactly the same, but we've removed the Add Candidate button from the main People page.

New Languages

We've added 14 new user-facing languages:

• Bulgarian (български) 
• Croatian (hrvatski)
• Danish (dansk)
• Dutch (Nederlands)
• Finnish (suomi)
• Greek (ελληνικά)
• Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia)
• Italian (italiano)
• Romanian (română)
• Serbian (српски)
• Slovenian (slovenščina)
• Thai (ภาษาไทย)
• Turkish (türkçe)
• Vietnamese (tiếng Việt)