Create a Job Opening

Decorative header image at the top of the article. The intent is to show which BambooHR packages include the feature. The banner highlights Core, Pro, and Elite in color, with Add-on grayed out, indicating that the feature is included in Core, Pro, and Elite packages only.

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How do I create a job opening?

Purpose: Learn how to create a new job opening in the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) within BambooHR.

Table of Contents

Do you prefer hands-on learning? Our interactive guides will guide you through different aspects of your BambooHR experience. We have an interactive guide specifically designed to show you how to create a job opening. You can use the link below to access this guide. All you need to do is modify the "REPLACEME" with your BambooHR subdomain, and you can get started!

https://REPLACEME.bamboohr.com/home?pendo=pgM18jBtT8GDdweuTiTjVChVACQ&step=qi99ZgZIJoOtdwghSnrBxvlAll8

Would you like to watch a video about this topic?
Screenshot of the Hiring tab in BambooHR. The intent is to show where to create a new job opening. On the left navigation menu, the Hiring tab is selected, and the main panel shows job openings with columns for job titles, hiring leads, creation dates, and status. A green New Job Opening button appears at the top.

To create a job opening, go to the Hiring tab and click New Job Opening.

Job information

Screenshot of the Job Information page in the job opening setup. The intent is to show which fields must be completed when creating a new job. Fields include Posting Title, Job Status, Hiring Lead, Department, Employment Type, Compensation, Location (On Site, Hybrid, Remote) Job Description, and Internal Job Code. Required fields are marked with an asterisk.

Fill in the job opening details. Many of the drop-down menus will auto-fill with information from your BambooHR account (Department/Employment Type). The star icon (*) will indicate a required field you need to fill in before saving the job opening. 

There are a few important fields to note when creating a job opening: 

  1. Posting Title: An open text field that allows you to name the job opening whatever you would like for recruiting purposes. Once you hire a new employee, you can select the official job title from your list of job titles in BambooHR when you send an offer letter.
  2. Job Status*: A field that indicates the status of the posting. Selecting Open will make the posting live and allow candidates to start applying. There is no limit to the number of postings you can have in your account. However, the number of postings available to you in your account bases on the package purchased. Only job openings with the Open Status will count toward your account limit. Once you have reached your limit, you can't choose Open as the status while adding another job opening. If you need more openings, please have your BambooHR administrator go here to learn how to add additional openings. As candidates apply for the job opening, the candidate history will remain within the Applicant Tracking System, even after the closure of a job opening.
    • Once you save a job opening, you can click on the title of the opening to edit it and change it to any other status. There is no set workflow for status changes. The following options are available for Job Status:
      1. Draft: You can use this status if you are compiling information for a job opening and it is not ready yet to be available to potential candidates.
      2. Open: Use this status for any job openings that should be available for potential candidates. Any job openings with this status will appear on the Careers Website and in your embed code. Additionally, only job openings with this status count toward your account limit.
      3. On Hold: You can use this status if you have a job opening that is pulled down for a limited time but will open again to continue to receive potential candidates.
      4. Filled: When you choose this status for a job opening, it indicates that you have hired a candidate for the specific job opening, and you will not be hiring any additional candidates. When you mark a job opening as Filled, it will not be available for candidates.
      5. Canceled: If you choose to cancel your search for a job opening and do not plan to reopen the job opening any time soon, click this status.
  3. Hiring Lead: The hiring lead is the person who is primarily responsible for hiring this position, which usually means the hiring manager. However, hiring leads can be any employee who has any level of access to BambooHR, and they do not need to have full access to the ATS. Setting an employee as the hiring lead for a position will grant them permission to view and edit all candidate information relating to that specific job opening. Please keep in mind that a non-employee user cannot be the hiring lead but can be a collaborator.
  4. Job opening-specific information: Here you can fill out the Department, Employment Type, Minimum Experience, and Compensation for this position. Starred fields are required.
  5. Location: You will have three options here: On Site, Hybrid, and Remote.
    • On Site: This option shows a list of all physical locations (not marked as remote) you have added under Settings > Employee Fields > Location.  On your careers website, the location name will not be visible. Once you select the location you are hiring for, the address auto-populates. You cannot edit the address here, but if you edit the address in Settings, it updates it for all relevant job postings.
    • Hybrid: This option will also have you select a location from the dropdown, just like with the On Site option. Note that in the Location filter in the candidate list, Hybrid jobs are included with the On Site jobs.
    • Remote: If you select this option, you do not need to enter any address information. However, if later in the application you select to post to Indeed & Glassdoor and/or ZipRecruiter, you will see additional address fields appear. Starred fields are required for the particular job board.
  6. Job Description: Enter the job description in the description window. If you copy and paste from somewhere else, spacing, formatting, and lists will carry over as you expect to see them. However, the job description field does not allow for images, and any copied images will be blocked when pasted over.
    • Note: If your job description is too large, you may see an error message and may have additional spacing in your text. Remove these extra spaces, and once saved, there will not be any changes needed moving forward.
  7. Internal Job Code: The internal job code is available if you have an internal tracking method to track your job openings. This code will not be visible to candidates. If you do not use internal job codes at your organization, leave this field blank.

Click Next: Application Details to move on to the next section.

If you are ready to close a job, you will manually change the status. There is no way to automate the closing of a job.

Application Details

Screenshot of the Application Details section of a job opening. The intent is to demonstrate how to configure questions and compliance data. Options include toggles for Application Questions, Additional Questions, and EEO Data. Custom questions can be marked as required with a star icon.
  1. Application Questions: You can enable application questions by clicking the checkbox to the left of each item. Click the star icon to the right of an item to require it. 
  2. Additional Questions: You can add additional custom questions here (see below for more details). If it is a yes/no question, you can toggle to have the candidate automatically disqualified based on their response. Toggling this option on will allow you to choose which answer moves the candidate to which status and will automatically mark the question as required. You can mark it as not required if needed.
  3. EEO Data: If you would like to collect anonymous data about gender, ethnicity, disability, or veteran status, check the box to collect that data and select the appropriate job category (provided by the U.S. government) from the drop-down menu. Candidates will view voluntary questions about gender, ethnicity, disability, and veteran status. Responses are not tied to individual candidates but are viewable in aggregate through the associated reports. If you do not wish to collect this information from candidates, leave the box unchecked. 
Custom application questions
Screenshot of the Add Question menu. The intent is to show available types of custom application questions. Options listed include Short Answer, Long Answer, Yes/No, Multiple Choice, Checkbox, and File Upload.
  • Short Answer: Great for single sentences. 
    • A single-line input text box will display on the application for the candidate to complete. 
  • Long Answer: Great for detailed paragraphs. 
    • This option is like the Short Answer option. A paragraph text box will display on the application for the candidate to complete.
  • Yes/No: Provide two options to chose from on closed-ended questions.  
    • A question will display on the application with two radio button options below it: Yes and No.
  • Multiple Choice: Provide several options to choose from. 
    • Enter your question and options of answers for the candidate to complete. You can also select the box at the bottom, which will add an "Other" option and provide a text box for the candidate to add any comments. The candidate will see the options as radio buttons on their application unless there are more than five questions which will put the options in a drop-down menu.
  • Checkbox: Great for confirmation as in "I agree on..."  
    • A checkbox to the left side will display on the application for the candidate to select if they agree to the question or statement.
  • File Upload: Allow candidates to attach files. 
    • The candidate can upload files when they fill out the application. Once the candidate submits the application, these files will be available for you to view in the Candidate Info tab under Attachments. After the hiring of a candidate, the attachments will move with the resume to the Resume and Applications folder on their employee profile.
  • Add Previous Questions: This will prompt a modal with a reverse chronological list of past questions used across all job openings. You can search for a specific question, or even filter by Question Types. Simply check the box next to the question(s) you would like to add and click Add Questions. If you would like to remove a question from this list going forward, hover over the question and click the X (see below).
Screenshot of the Previous Questions modal. The intent is to demonstrate how users can reuse past questions. The modal lists older application questions with checkboxes to select them, plus options to filter by question type and add selected questions.

You can also pull from past questions by adding a custom question, and beginning to type in the question. As you type, a list with matching words will be populated. Click on the question to add it.

Screenshot of BambooHR’s custom application question editor. The intent is to show how to add or reuse a Short Answer question. A text field with a green border contains the typed phrase “What are you”. Below, a dropdown menu titled “Previously used Short Answer questions” suggests a past question.
Edit custom questions
Screenshot of BambooHR’s Additional Questions section in a job application setup. The intent is to show how to manage custom questions, including editing, revision history, deleting, and viewing archived questions. Next to the first question, three icons appear: a pencil (edit), a circular arrow (revision history), and a trash can (delete). At the top right is a Show Archived link, and at the bottom is a green Add Question button with a dropdown arrow.

Click Add Question to enter an application question. You can add as many custom application questions as you like. Once you add multiple questions, click the lines to the left of the question to reorder the questions in a preferred order. Make questions required by clicking the star to the right of the box.

1. Edit a custom question
Screenshot of BambooHR’s Yes/No custom question editor. The intent is to show how to edit an application question and manage candidate disqualification rules. The question field contains “Do you have a valid Driver’s License?”. A warning message to the right states: “This question has 1 submitted response.” Below, a checkbox option reads “Disqualify candidate based on their response.” At the bottom, there are green Save and blue Cancel buttons. A toggle switch appears at the top right of the section.

To edit a custom question, hover over the question and click on the edit icon. If the question does not have any candidate responses yet, you can edit it and save your changes. If the question has candidate responses, you will see a warning that lets you know that the question has at least one submitted response. Once you make your changes and click Save, you will see the pop-up box below.

Screenshot of a BambooHR warning dialog titled “Heads Up!”. The intent is to alert users when editing a question that already has responses. A warning icon appears above the text: “This question has 1 response submitted.” Below, an explanation states: “Earlier versions of this question will still be visible for previous applications. The updated version will be used for the job opening going forward.” At the bottom are two options: Cancel (blue text link) and a green Update Question button. A close (X) button appears in the top right corner.

The pop-up box lets you know that the updated question will integrate into the job opening application. Earlier versions of the question will still be visible for previous applications depending on what the question was when the candidate applied. This ability will automatically keep access to all question versions and responses for existing collaborators on the job opening.

If you do not want existing collaborators to see the previous version of the question and the associated responses, uncheck the box. Then, you will see the option to click Update & Remove Collaborators. If you would like to allow existing collaborators on the job opening to see all versions and responses on the custom question, leave the box checked and click Update & Keep Collaborators.

2. History of revisions
Screenshot of the Revision History modal. The intent is to show how earlier versions of a custom question are tracked. Example: the question “Where did you hear about this position?” shows two versions with timestamps, response counts, and the creator’s name.

If a custom question has at least one revision, you will see an icon for the revision history. You can click on the icon to see the previous versions of the custom question, the date of update, who updated it, and how many candidates responded to the question.

3. Delete a custom question
Screenshot of a confirmation modal labeled Just Checking…. The intent is to show the deletion options for a custom question. Buttons allow users to either Delete Entirely or Archive & Keep Response. A message warns that deleting will remove responses permanently.

When you delete a custom question, you have two options:

  1. Archive & Keep Response(s): If you choose to archive and keep responses, the question will be visible in Archived (see below), and candidate responses will still appear on the corresponding candidate profile.
  2. Delete Entirely: If you choose to delete the custom question, it will remove all candidate responses. The question will no longer appear on the job opening for past or future candidates.

Deleting a question will only delete the most recent version of the question. If a question has had several versions, deleting the question will set the previous version to the archived status. Users can edit the position and delete the previous version by showing archived questions then delete it permanently. This ability means if there were five versions of the question, you could delete each version one at a time from the edit position menu.

4. Archived
Screenshot of BambooHR’s Additional Questions section with archived items visible. The intent is to show how archived questions appear and can be permanently removed. One question is grayed out with a trash can icon, indicating it is archived. At the top right, a Hide Archived toggle is selected. At the bottom, a green Add Question button with a dropdown arrow is displayed.

Click Show Archived to view all questions that you have previously removed from the job opening. Once you are viewing the archived questions, you will see an option to delete a question.

Screenshot of a BambooHR confirmation dialog titled “Just Checking…”. The intent is to confirm permanent deletion of a custom question and its responses. A red trash can icon appears above the warning text: “Are you sure you want to delete this question and response? The question and response to it will no longer appear on candidate applications or when you edit this job opening. Poof! Like it never happened.” At the bottom are two options: Cancel (blue text link) and a green button labeled Yes, Delete Entirely. A close (X) button is at the top right.

If you choose to delete a question, you will see this pop-up box to confirm you would like to delete the question. If you delete the question, it will no longer appear on past or future candidate applications.

Screenshot of the Preview Application page. The intent is to show how the candidate-facing application form looks before publishing. Click on the Preview Application link to see the preview where fields like name, address, and custom questions are displayed as they would appear to applicants.

Click Preview Application to see what your application will look like to your candidates.

To proceed, click Next: Job Pipeline.

Job Pipeline

Screenshot of the Job Pipeline configuration page. The intent is to show how to enable and customize candidate status stages. The default pipeline includes statuses like New and Hired, with options to add more statuses using + Add Step.

Job pipelines are a great way to understand how a job is performing and where candidates are in the process. Toggle Job Pipeline on to activate the feature for this particular job opening.

There are two standard statuses you cannot move or delete: New and Hired. You will also see the Offer status, but this one will only show in your pipeline once you have sent out at least one offer letter.

Click + Add Step to add additional statuses from the list you have set up in Settings > Hiring > Candidate Statuses. You can add up to 15 additional statuses here. Once the job is active, you will see the job pipeline on the job opening's candidate overview page and will be able to quickly see how many candidates are in each status at any given time.

To proceed click Next: Automated Emails.

Automated Emails

Screenshot of the Automated Emails configuration page. The intent is to show how to automate communication with candidates. "Add Automated Email" is highlighted to show where to click to add an automation.

Automated emails is a great way to save you a lot of manual work. For each job opening, you can determine which email you would like to automatically send when a candidate is moved to a certain status. If you have set up any disqualifying questions, you will see a prompt here to set up an automated email for them. You can click on the x if you would like to disregard the suggestion.

To add a new automated email, click + Add Automated Email. This will pull up a dropdown list of available statuses. Select the one you would like to create an automation for.

Screenshot of the Automated Emails configuration page. Options include choosing the candidate status that triggers the email, selecting an email template, and scheduling the send time (e.g., immediately, 12 hours, 24 hours, or 48 hours after setting the status).
  1. Candidate Status: Make sure you have selected the right status. You can change it here if needed.
  2. *Send Email: Determine which email template you would like to send to the candidate.
  3. Scheduled To Be Sent: Select when you would like to send the email (based on when the candidate's status is changed). Any scheduled emails will show up in the Scheduled Emails section of the job opening page.
    • Immediately: There will be a 10 minute grace period for when we will send this email. That way, you have time to cancel the email if there has been a mistake.
    • After 12 Hours
    • After 24 Hours
    • After 48 Hours
  4. From: Choose from any user with access to BambooHR as the sender of the email. Note that this is just the name, not an email address. The reply to the email will not be sent to this user, but will be on the candidates record under the Email tab.

Don't forget to click Save! You can add up to 20 automated emails here.

What if a status is later deleted?
Screenshot of a confirmation modal asking “Are you sure you want to delete this status?” The intent is to show the warning that automated emails tied to a deleted status will stop working.

If you try to delete a status that is currently being used to trigger an automated email in a job opening, you will see a notification in the delete confirmation page. If you proceed, you will need to edit the affected job opening by selecting a new status to trigger the automated email, or just deleting the automated email.

To proceed, click Next: Job Boards.

Job boards

Screenshot of the Job Boards section. The intent is to show options for posting a job opening to external boards. Toggles appear for Indeed & Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, and LinkedIn.

You can toggle on the available options to publish a job opening to our free job boards: Indeed & Glassdoor, and/or ZipRecruiter. Posting information will then push towards those sites once you save the posting with the Open status. These job boards require certain address information, so if you have selected Remote as your Location option above, you will see additional address fields appear here. Starred fields are required.

You will also see an option to post premium/paid job ads on LinkedIn. If you have already downloaded the app you will be able to toggle that on. If you have not yet downloaded the app, the account owner will be able to download it and enable that here. View this guide for more information on this feature.

If you choose to push a hybrid job opening to Indeed and ZipRecruiter, we will indicate to them that it is a hybrid job. However, it is up to them to distinguish it as they will on their job boards.

Screenshot of a modal labeled Candidate Status Data Sharing. The intent is to show how BambooHR can share candidate progress with Indeed. Radio buttons allow users to select Share disposition data or Don’t share disposition data. A Save Changes button appears at the bottom.

Indeed asks for disposition data on candidates to help improve the quality of applicants that come from their site. You will be opted-out by default, but you can opt-in by clicking Learn More > Share disposition data with Indeed > Save Changes. This will send the following data for applicants contacted, offered, hired, or rejected to Indeed:

  • Application ID (received from Indeed when the candidate applied)
  • Status
  • Timestamp (when the status was updated)
What is the process for posting to Indeed?

Indeed has search quality guidelines that job postings must adhere to in order to be eligible for posting on Indeed. For a detailed look at Indeed’s “Best Practices” and disclaimers, click here.

If you are a US-based customer of BambooHR:

You will need to email the following text to [email protected] to ensure your jobs are eligible for posting on Indeed (per their guidelines,) and to receive organic views.

“I am a new client of BambooHR, an Integrated ATS with Indeed, and my jobs are included in their comprehensive XML feed. I need a CS rep to review my jobs to determine if they are suitable for organic visibility per Indeed’s Quality Standards.”

Once you’ve sent this message over to Indeed, they will review your job posting and contact you with a status update.

While our ATS still makes it easy to pass your job information over to Indeed, please note that after BambooHR sends Indeed your job opening, it can take 36-48 hours for Indeed to have it appear on their site.

After completing the review process, and waiting 48 hours for a refresh of postings, if you are still unable to see your job opening, please contact Indeed’s Success team.

Please note that new jobs are pulled from BambooHR by Indeed* and Glassdoor. Job postings will not show up on these sites immediately since the sync will not occur until 10 p.m. (MST) each day. Indeed reviews each job posting to determine posting eligibility. Keep in mind that after you close a job posting in BambooHR, it may take an additional 2 to 3 days for the job to no longer appear on Indeed and Glassdoor, although the job will no longer appear on your careers website. A job posting will remove from Indeed and Glassdoor as long as the job status does not list as "Open" in BambooHR. 

If you have a personal account with Indeed, likely, any job positions you have added in BambooHR will not transfer to Indeed. Indeed works to remove duplicate postings, and you will want to remove the job postings from your personal Indeed account before adding them to BambooHR. If you are still experiencing issues, you can send written confirmation to [email protected] that you will be using BambooHR's ATS. 

Customers who wish to sponsor a job posting on Indeed or Glassdoor will need to reach out to the respective company directly to set that up. 

*Please note if you are a recruitment-based company in the United States or Canada, you will be required to sponsor your job postings to receive visibility on Indeed. Your job postings will not show up in the organic search results.

When you are ready to post the job opening, change the status to "Open" and click Save Job. If you are not quite ready for people to start applying, make sure that the status sets to something other than "Open," then click Save Job Opening.

How do I duplicate a job opening?
Animated GIF demonstrating how to duplicate a job opening. The intent is to show the step-by-step process: 1. In the Hiring tab, the user hovers over an existing job opening. 2. A duplicate icon appears on the right side. 3. The user clicks the icon to open the duplication form. 4. The user fills out required fields like Title/Position. 5. The user changes the job status from Draft to Open. 6. The user clicks Save, creating a new duplicated job opening.

Go to the Hiring tab. Hover over a job opening that you want to duplicate. On the far right, a duplicate icon will appear. Click on the icon and fill out the required fields to copy the job opening. To post the duplicated job opening, select Title/Position and change the default status from "Draft" to "Open." Make any additional changes if needed, and click Save to duplicate your job opening.

How do I edit or delete a job opening?
Screenshot of the Hiring tab job list. The intent is to show how to edit or delete an existing job opening. When hovering over a job, icons appear on the right side: a pencil for editing and a trash can for deletion. A warning notes that deleted openings cannot be restored.

To edit a job opening, hover over the desired opening and click the pencil icon. This will give you the option to select which section of the job opening you would like to edit. Click on the section you would like to edit, make desired changes, then click Save Changes.

To delete a job opening, click on the trash icon. You cannot retrieve a deleted job opening, so if you will need it again, we recommend changing its status instead of deleting it. See here for more information on what happens when a job opening is deleted.