The candidate journey

Everything an applicant sees and receives with Vakanssi, in order, from finding the job to applying, the emails, the interview, and their data rights afterward.

The other half of hiring is the person applying. This page follows them from the outside in, so you know exactly what your candidates experience. It also helps you answer the two questions applicants ask most: “did my application go through?” and “what happens to my data?”

A candidate never sees wp-admin and never needs an account. Everything they do happens on your public website and in their email inbox.

1. They find the job

Most candidates arrive one of two ways.

• Your careers page. This is the list of open roles on your own website. They can search it, filter by team (once your roles span more than one team), and show only remote roles.
• Google. Because every eligible job publishes the data Google needs, roles can appear directly in Google for Jobs, the jobs box in Google search, and link straight to your site. There is no third-party job board in between.

A job you protect with a WordPress password is private to the people you give the password to. Since v0.35.3 it is left off the careers page, and its page offers no application form until the password is entered.

2. They read the role

Clicking a job opens its own page: the description, plus a tidy facts panel with location, workplace type, salary range, and the closing date. Everything a candidate needs to decide is on one page, on your domain.

3. They apply

The application form sits right on the job page, so there is no redirect and no login. It asks for:

• First name and last name
• Email
• Phone and LinkedIn profile (optional)
• On a remote role, an optional country picker asking where they are based
• Their CV, as a PDF or Word file, up to 5 MB unless the site sets another limit (the form states the limit next to the field)
• An optional cover letter, up to 20,000 characters (since v0.37.3)
• A consent checkbox, with a link to your privacy policy, that they must tick to submit

If something is too long, such as a name or phone number past what the database can store, the form names the field instead of a vague “could not save” message (since v0.36.2).

If the site owner has turned on Show on the apply form (under Settings, then General, then Data retention), a line of small print beneath the Submit button also states how long the application will be kept, for instance “We keep your application for up to 24 months, then delete it.” Otherwise the retention period lives in the linked privacy policy.

4. They get a confirmation

The instant they submit, the candidate receives a confirmation email: a friendly note that their application was received. This is the single most reassuring thing you can send, and it goes out automatically. Like every Vakanssi email, it is written in your site’s language.

Behind the scenes, Vakanssi also recognizes returning people. If the same email applies again, it is linked to the same person rather than creating a duplicate, so their history stays in one place.

5. They hear back as things move

Candidates do not log in to check status. Instead, they hear from you by email as the recruiter moves them along:

• If the team decides not to proceed, a rejection email can go out (kindly worded, and yours to edit).
• If they get the job, an offer email can go out. This one is switched off by default, so it never fires by accident before you are ready.

Every one of these emails is a template you control, and every send is logged on the application, so there is a clear record of what the candidate received and when.

6. They interview

How a candidate books an interview depends on which tools you use.

• On the free plugin, the recruiter schedules a fixed time and the candidate receives a normal calendar invite by email.
• With Scheduling Pro feature, requires a Vakanssi Pro license, the candidate gets a private link, sees a few proposed times, and picks the one that suits them. It then lands on everyone’s calendar automatically. No back-and-forth emails.

Either way, the candidate does not need an account or an app. It all works from their inbox.

7. Their data is handled properly

This is the part candidates increasingly care about, and it is built in on the free plugin.

• Consent is on the record. They agreed before submitting, and that agreement is stored with their application.
• Their CV is kept safe. Files are stored under random names in a protected folder inside your uploads directory. Vakanssi blocks direct web access to it and warns you if your server needs an extra rule, and only permitted team members can open them.
• They can ask for their data, or its removal. Because Vakanssi plugs into WordPress’s own privacy tools, a candidate who emails you to request a copy of their data, or to have it deleted, can be handled through the standard site request process, which cleans up their application, files, notes, and emails together.
• Old data does not linger. A retention setting can automatically clear out applicant data after a period you choose, so you are not holding CVs forever.

The same story, the other way around