Understanding Blueprint | Zoho Recruit

Understanding Zoho Recruit's Blueprint

Zoho Recruit's Blueprint lets you design, implement, and automate end-to-end hiring processes. You, the recruiter, can start with an empty board and build a complex automated process in a matter of minutes.

This is done through two main components,  States and Transitions .

What is a State?

In a Blueprint, a " State " defines the condition a record is in at a specific time. States must be dragged and dropped in the Blueprint Editor to design the process flow.

The above image shows you three different fields you can use to design a blueprint process for job openings. Let's say you pick Job Opening Status from the Choose Field dropdown. This will let you build process with the various possible statuses as states.

The Blueprint Editor lets you drag and drop the various possible field values and outline a process that you can then automate using Workflows and Custom Functions.

Custom States

You can create custom states as and when you create blueprint processes. You can manage the newly added state from the Layout Editor in Setup > Customization > Modules .

What is a Transition?

A Transition is a link between two States in a process. It prescribes the conditions required for a record to move from one state to another. For example, the conditions and actions required for a Candidate's Status to move from New to Associated are prescribed in the Transition block called " Associate Job Openings ". This is more than just a change in the candidate's status.

You can define what criteria triggers a transition and what actions will be performed when the transition is executed using the Before  and After sections.

Before Transition

In the Before section of the transition you can: 
  1. Specify users, roles, or groups who can view the transition block.
  2. Define criteria that dictate exactly when this transition should be available.
If you have no such conditions, you can skip the criteria section. The transition will be visible on all records right away.


Notes
Note:
If " Allow on interview decision made " is checked, the transition will be visible only after all scheduled interviews are completed.

During Transition

This section guides the Transition Owners in completing a particular stage in a process by prompting them to enter specific fields, notes, attachments, and other information contextually.

For example, while negotiating a candidate's salary using offer management, recruiters may be required to enter the salary percentage increase decided in the negotiation and any notes and then attach the final copy of the offer letter according to the company's policy. In such a case, all these details can be mandated in the During Transition section of the Send Offer transition.

You can mandate the following details in the During section:
  1. Mandate and validate fields from the primary module
  2. Provide transition owners with checklists
  3. Mandate Associated Items
  4. Add a message to Transition owners
  5. Make notes mandatory
  6. Make attachments mandatory
  7. Make tags mandatory


After Transition

This section lets you define actions to be automated at the completion of the Transition. Actions that can be automated in the After Transition section are:
  1. Send Email Notification
  2. Assign Tasks
  3. Make a Field Update
  4. Trigger Webhooks
  5. Trigger Custom Functions
  6. Add Tags
For example, an email notification must be automated to the candidate and interviewer when an interview is scheduled. So, choose Email Alerts and associate the required email template.
In a similar manner, you can build conditions for each Transition until the end of the process.

Types of Transitions

There are three types of transitions in Zoho Recruit's Blueprint: System, Custom, and Global.

System Transitions

System Transitions are predefined transitions present in your Blueprint Editor by default. The table below lists all the system transitions used in Zoho Recruit.

Transition Name
Associated Field
Associated Module
Action  
Submit to Client/Hiring Manager
Candidate Status
Candidates/ Applications
Submit Candidate(s)/Application(s) to Client(s)
Associate Job Openings
Candidate Status
Candidates/ Applications
Associate Job Opening(s) with Candidate(s)
Schedule Interview
Candidate Status
Candidates/ Applications
Schedule video/offline Interview(s)
Send Email
Any Field
Any Module
Send an email to any record from the selected Module.
Generate Offer Letter
Candidate Status
Candidates/ Applications
Generate Offer Letter(s)
(Corporate HR Edition only)
Withdraw the offer
Candidate Status
Candidates/ Applications
Withdraw Offer Letter.
(Corporate HR Edition only)
Edit and resend the offer
Candidate Status
Candidates/ Applications
Edit and Resend Offer
(Corporate HR Edition only)
Associate Candidates
Job Opening Status
Job Openings
Associate Candidate(s) with Job Opening(s)

Custom Transitions

Custom Transitions are a set of conditions that you, as a recruiter, create inside Zoho Recruit. Unlike system transitions, the before and after sections will not be pre-configured. You will need to decide what happens before, during, and after the transition.

Global Transitions

A Global Transition is a transition that can be executed from all states in a process. For example, a candidate can be associated with a job opening even after they are marked as Unqualified or Rejected by Client. A candidate may not be a good fit for a Java Developer, but you may still want to associate them with a different position.

Let's consider another scenario where you know a candidate who has been hired for one position was also associated with a different position. The candidate can easily be unassociated and unqualified if the client wants.

To make this possible, you must make Unqualify a Global Transition by selecting the checkbox. Once you select it, you will see the transition from all states.