The recruitment process for opportunities is set up when the role profile is added to Assemble. This means that all of the key processes and decisions have already been made. As well as making sure that all applicants follow the same process with all of the right checks being carried out, it reduces work for managers. All of the required emails are automatically sent out with the complete information included, although managers can see these and add personal messages too if they want.

If you have permission¹ to manage applications you will see the application widget on your dashboard. The widget keeps you informed about how many applicants you have at each stage of the process and selecting any of them will redirect you to the application listing page with the selected filter applied.

This widget is affected by "Me" "My team" and "All" filters at the top of the Dashboard page.

You’ll also receive notifications when new applications are made against an opportunity you are managing and if an applicant has moved to the next stage of the process.

As default, the application listing page will sort applications by last updated and you will only see applications for opportunities that you manage or supervise. Click on ALL to applications for all opportunities below you in the team structure.

You can also use the filters and the sorting option to refine your search.

To help you prioritise applications, the coloured dot next to applicants name indicates when SSAFA's ideal time limits for that recruitment stage have been reached (yellow dot) or exceeded (red dot). These help to show that an action may be required from the opportunity manager. For example, Maria is at the Checks stage so it could be that the references have been received last week and you need to read them to make a decision on them.

Organisations can set their own ideal time in stage/SLAs. The default SLA(s) timeframe for each stage are:

Referee without an email address - SLA will be flagged as soon as the application hits the check stage as you will need to take a phone reference.

Once an application reaches the ideal time frame set to application current stage, a yellow (warning) dot will be flagged. The dot will change to red (danger) once the application has reached the max timeframe, and no action has been taken.

All the decisions about an applicant are made in the application screen.

You can see the role details at the top-right corner, including role manager and a link to the role profile.

The Overview provides you with a detailed progress map of the application. Clicking on the box in the overview will take you to that step in the process, so you don't have to scroll down to the right place.

Different roles may have additional checks or processes to complete. Assemble will guide you through each step and stage, and if a step is not required for the specific opportunity, it will move the applicant through automatically.

E.g. if no parental consent is required, then Assemble will automatically mark it as completed.

At the very top of the application under the applicant's name, you will find the actions button. Click on it to reveal what actions you can perform to an application depending on the permissions your role holds.

After the application is cleared, the action button will only show the "View applicant record" option.

Send auto-close email

If you are waiting for certain documents/information from an applicant and they have not responded in due course, you can set the system to send them a reminder email and then automatically close within X weeks if they do not respond.

If you set the application to close automatically, a banner will appear on the application screen above the "Role details" stating the date it will close with the option to cancel the closure. And on the application listing page, there will also be a yellow warning marker next to applications which will automatically close.

Move application

You can move an application to another available opportunity for the same role profile. You cannot transfer an application to an opportunity created from a different role profile (even if it's just a different version of the same role profile) as there may be different questions, checks or even minimum ages.

Close application

Applicants might inform you that they want to withdraw the application, therefore you should close it.

At each stage in the process you're presented with the option to close an application due to the applicant not being selected, withdrawing their application or, in exceptionally rare cases, being unsuitable to volunteer in any capacity with SSAFA. With the relevant permission you can also close applications at any point using this Actions option.

Closing applications will send an email to the applicant; the email can be customised.

Turn off application email

Turning emails off stops an applicant receiving system emails and notifications. Typically this is used when overriding the recruitment process to allow an application to bypass a stage or be reset to the beginning of a stage. Automatic emails may be triggered during this and could be confusing to the applicant

If you forget to turn emails back on again, you will be warned when an email is due to be sent but cannot be.

Notes and touchpoints

During the clearing process, you might have some information that needs to be kept on the user record after the applicant is cleared to start the volunteering role.

Notes or touchpoint added to the application will show on the "User details" page, but if they are added from user/applicant details page then it won't show on the application screen. 

Application

At this stage, you can see the details of the applicant and their answers to any application questions, custom fields (set to be visible on the application form) attributes and referee details. If you have the relevant permission⁶, you can also edit the form on behalf of the applicant.

You won't be able to amend applicant details after the application has passed the first stage.

Details

Displays applicant basic information along with any other applications and/or role(s) the applicant may have or had within SSAFA.

Selection

Set up a selection meeting (interview) with the applicant. If you select the meeting day for today or in the past the system won't send the email inviting the applicant.

• You can download and print the application form for you to refer to. Store and dispose of it carefully as this contains personal information.
• An selection meeting template is also available for you to download and print. This includes the applicant's name, time, date and location of the meeting so can be useful if you're meeting applicants in your local community
• After the meeting, you can add a note or upload a scan of paper notes.

Checks

This stage allows you to carry out checks against the applicant. These could be documents, references and vetting (such as a criminal records check). These are determined by the settings of the role profile. If the applicant is below minor age, parental consent is required at this stage.

1. Managing references:

• Referees must have an email address (preferable) or phone number. If the applicant only has provided the referee phone number, you must complete the reference form over the phone by selecting the "fill out" references option from the Actions button next to the referee details
• A completed reference form will not be required from a referee in the following situations: they state they are not happy to provide a reference; they say they've known the applicant for less than 6 months; they are a "relative or partner" of the applicant.

Assemble will automatically notify the applicant and ask them to provide details of a new referee through the applicant portal. If you have the appropriate permission, you can also add new referee details on behalf of the applicant.

• When adding a new referee, if they have an email address you can select to send the reference request form to the referee automatically.
• You can also resend the request by clicking the action button next to the referee details.

If an email is returned as undeliverable, you will see this information on the application but will not receive a notification.

2. Parental consent

• Assemble will automatically request parental consent if this is required. However, you can also manually request/re-request this.

Clearance

The volunteer is good to go!

• The clearance stage won't open until all required steps and decisions are completed.
• If you've created an application on behalf of an applicant they will need to log on to complete the terms and consents before their application can be cleared. They will have been sent an email automatically from Assemble and can complete the process at any point.
• The "Yes" button for "Clear volunteer to start?" will be blocked to you if a step has not been completed. Hovering over it will show a help text with the reason why the application can't be cleared.
• You can resend the complete application email from the "Action" drop-down at the top of the page.

Completing application on behalf of an applicant

It is possible for you to complete an application on behalf of the applicant (if you have the right permissions), but this should only be done on very rare occassions. It is important that volunteers sign up to the consents and terms so your administrator is likely to have strict rules for when this step can be bypassed.

To do this select the "View user record" from the Actions drop-down and on the user record select the assume identity functionality.

On the applicant portal click on the "Click here to complete your application" link on the banner, add the applicant email address on the form and proceed to complete the application.

If an application you manage is stuck at any stage you can override (reset or bypass) any actions necessary to allow you to move forward with the application. Also, you can re-open closed applications. Please note you must have the permission to perform any of these actions and should always follow your administrator's guidance for when this is allowed.

Reset

At any stage, including after it's been cleared or closed, an application can be reset to the current or previous stage.

If the application is cleared, the role will be removed from the volunteer until the application is cleared again.

To reset the application click the override decision at the stage you want to reset.

Bypass

If you bypass a step the application will move forward without the need to complete the step.

Re-open

You can select to re-open an application from the actions drop-down menu. The application will open at the stage it was before being closed without resetting the step.

You can only re-open rejected applications (withdrawn, not selected and unsuitable), successfully cleared applications cannot be re-opened.

This action will show on the application history logs.

Applicants don't have access to Assemble until they have been cleared to start their volunteer role so you won't be able to send them a message from the message centre. However, the applicant's portal has the same contact messaging functionality that is available to applicants. This is not live chat but applicant will be alerted in their email to a new message being received and can reply from their chat window within the applicant's portal.

During the application process, the system will automatically send some emails to applicants. If they reply to any of those emails, the opportunity manager will receive the message.

All messages sent to the applicant either through the chat or by replying to an applicant’s email will be sent to the applicant’s personal email address.

You must have permission to send external emails to reply to applicants. Click here for more info on sending external emails.

 Required permission(s)

• Supervisory permission:
  • Manage applications
  • Close application at any stage
  • Move an application from one opportunity to another
  • Toggle application emails
  • Override application actions
  • Edit application
  • View applicant user record
  • Log in as another user