What is Candidate Selection Process (CSP)
When a candidate applies for a vacancy, they must go through a selection process. This process typically includes the following phases:
- Prescreening: The recruiter reviews the candidate’s resume and cover letter to determine if they meet the minimum qualifications for the position.
- Interviewing: The recruiter schedules multiple rounds of interviews with the candidate. These interviews may be conducted by the recruiter, hiring manager, and other members of the team.
- Background verification: The recruiter conducts a background check on the candidate to verify their employment history, education, and criminal record.
- Hiring: The recruiter makes an offer to the candidate and, once accepted, hires them as an employee.
Each phase of the selection process can have multiple states. For example, the interviewing phase can have states such as 1.Technical Interview, 2.Managerial Interview and 3. HR interview.
Oracle Recruiting Cloud (ORC) provides a Candidate Selection Process (CSP) that allows organizations to define the phases and states of their selection process. Multiple CSP can be configured to meet the specific needs of the organization.
The CSP provides a number of benefits, including:
- Standardization: The CSP ensures that all candidates are evaluated using the same criteria.
- Efficiency: The CSP automates many of the tasks involved in the selection process, freeing up recruiters to focus on other activities.
- Transparency: The CSP provides candidates with clear information about the selection process, which can help to improve their experience.
Organizations that use Oracle Recruiting Cloud can benefit from the Candidate Selection Process by standardizing their selection process, improving its efficiency, and increasing its transparency.
What Are We Going to Configure
As we have understood that a candidate selection process is the combination of phases and states to move candidates through the hiring process, we will configure a CSP which will include following phases and stated. We will also see how can we utilize the content items that we have created earlier in the Content Library to send automated email to candidates.
Configure Candidate Selection Process
To configure Candidate Selection Process (CSP) search for the task Candidate Selection Process or follow below navigation.
Navigation : Settings and Actions » Setup and Maintenance » Recruiting and Candidate Experience offerings » Candidate Job Applications (Functional Area) » Candidate Selection Process Configuration
As you can see we have to configure multiple phases and states and configuring all of them from scratch will take some time, therefore we can copy a CSP template delivered by oracle which already has most of the phases and states we need.
Following two candidate selection processes are available to get you started.
- Candidate Selection Process Template (CSP-TEMPLATE): This is a template and can not be activated directly. We can however duplicate it to create your own customized candidate selection process (CSP).
- Default Candidate Selection Process (CSP-DEFAULT): This is a delivered copy of the candidate selection process template mentioned above. It contains the same pre-defined phases and states. We can’t make many modifications to this process. We can however use the process as-is to hire candidates but this doesn’t have all the necessary phases and states we need for our configuration.
We will go ahead create our own copy from the template CSP-TEMPLATE, for the same follow below steps
On the Candidate Selection Process Configuration page, in the search section enter value CSP-TEMPLATE for Code field and click on Search button.
In the search result section highlight the row (but don’t click on the template name), and then click on the Duplicate button. 
This will take to Duplicate Process page. On this page enter details as follows
- Name : AP Candidate Selection Process
- Code : AP_CSP_CUSTOM
- Description : Enter any description of your choice
Click on Save and Continue button, which will take you to AP Candidate Selection Process page. On this page you will see that 5 phases that we need for our requirement are already present. Only one phase is missing that is Background Check. Lets create that phase as well.
Steps to create a new phase in the CSP
To create a new phase, click on the + Create button in Phases section.
On the Create Phase page in the Properties section, enter details as follows
- Name : Background Check
- Description : Background Check
You will notice that following two states are already present. These two states you will find in all phases and you can’t remove them.
- Rejected by Employer
- Withdrawn by Candidate
Steps to create a new state in the CSP
To create our own States for the Background Check phase enter details as follows (You can refer table shared initially to know the states required for this phase)
Click on the + Create button in the States section and enter details as follows
- Name : Background Screening – Fail
- Candidate Status : Accept the default value that is – Under Consideration
Click on the + Create button again in the States section and enter details as follows
- Name : Background Screening – Pass
- Candidate Status : Accept the default value that is – Under Consideration
Click on the + Create button again in the States section and enter details as follows
- Name : Background Screening – In Progress
- Candidate Status : Accept the default value that is – Under Consideration
Once done click on the Save and Close button. This will take you back to AP Candidate Selection Process page. On this page currently order of our phases are incorrect and they need to be arranged in the proper order.
Arrange phases in proper order
You can activate the Move Left and Move Right button (double arrow) by clicking on the States hyperlink on any phase. Once these button are activated, arrange phases in the following order
New » Screening » Interview and Selection » Offer » Background Check » HR
You will notice that icon to move left-right is not available for HR phase. This is not a bug but an intendent functionality as HR phase should always be the last phase in a candidate selection process (CSP).
You will also notice that each phases are assigned a number, for example HR phase has got number 7, again these are not the number assigned to the phase but denotes the number of states within that phase. We created three new states within Background Phase and two default states were already present therefore for Background Phase you will see number 5.
Working on first phase : New
Let’s go through these phases one by one. Click on the number 6 (states) hyperlink for the first phase that is New. Scroll down to section States for Phase: New and you will notice that following six states are listed one after another.
- To be Reviewed
- Reviewed
- Under Consideration
- Selected for Screening
- Rejected by Employer
- Withdrawn by Candidate
These are the exactly same six states we need as per the requirement (shared in the table above). This is the benefit of copying delivered template so that we don’t need to configure everything from scratch and can save some time.
Send automated email notification
We want to send an automated email to candidates as soon they are part of the candidate selection process and are in state To be Reviewed within phase New. To achieve this perform below steps.
- Click on the Action button against first state that is To be Reviewed.
- Move your cursor over Add Action to get additional options.
- Select option Send Notification.
This will take you to Action : Send notification page. Under Recruiter and Hiring Manager Notifications section, enable following two checkboxes
- Recruiter
- Hiring Manager
Scroll down to Candidate Notifications section and enter details as follows
- Internal Candidate Notification: AP New – To be reviewed <Click on the search link and then search for the code : AP_NEW_TO_REVIEW. you will see this code only if you have followed step mentioned in this article » Learn Content Library In Oracle Recruiting Cloud (ORC)>
- External Candidate Notification: AP New – To be reviewed
- Delay Deliver: 1 Hours After Move Action
This will send an automated email to internal and external candidates 1 hour after they are in the state “To be Reviewed” within phase “New”.
Click on Continue button, which will take you to Action: Send Notification page. No action is required on this page. Click on Save and Close button. You will be back on the AP Candidate Selection Process page.
Assign rejection and withdrawal reason group
Scroll down once again to States for Phase: New section and click on the Reason Group icon against state Rejected by Employer and select value Select Reason Group, which will bring Search and Select: Reason Group pop up window. Select the folder Employer Rejection Reasons Group and then click on Save and Close button.
You can perform similar steps for state Withdrawn by Candidate but this time select folder that contains list of rejection reason for candidate that is Candidate Withdrawal Reasons Group.
Above two steps are optional but considered good practice to give employer and candidate option to select a reason why are they rejecting or withdrawing from the job application.
If you are wondering how to create a group or add reasons to a group then search for the task Candidate Selection Process Reasons
Working on second phase : Screening
Click on the States hyperlink for second phase that is Screening. Although there are six different phases configured as part of this CSP but a candidate need not to go though all these phases one by one sequentially. A recruiter can move a candidate directly from phase New to Interview and Selection, by escaping Screening phase as by default all phases(except offer and HR) are configured non-mandatory. If you don’t want this to happen and want a candidate to compulsorily go through a particular phase, you can make that phase mandatory in the candidate selection process (CSP) so that the recruiter cannot bypass that phase. However, its worth to note that certain user with privilege (Move Candidate Job Applications Ignoring Constraints) can bypass required phase also.
Step to make a phase mandatory
To make a phase required, click on the pencil icon in the Phase Details: Screening section.
- Change the value from No to Yes for the field Mandatory.
- Click on Save button
Scroll down to States for Phase: Screening section and you will see following eight states
- To be Reviewed
- Reviewed
- Phone Screen to be Scheduled
- Phone Screen Scheduled
- Phone Screen Completed
- Selected for Interview
- Rejected by Employer
- Withdrawn by Candidate
These states are exactly same as per our requirement. You can add the Reason Group for last two states as described earlier in this article.
Working on third phase : Interview and Selection
We have already seen how to send an automated notification when a candidates reaches to a particular state. We can also send similar notification when a candidate enters to a particular phase.
Send automate email when entering a phase
Click on the states hyperlink for third phase, Interview and Selection. Scroll below to Phase Actions: Interview and Selection
- Click on the action icon against field when entering phase.
- Move your cursor over Add Action.
- Click on Send Notification.
On Action: Send Notification page, enter details as follows
- Recruiter and Hiring Manager Notifications
- Recruiter : Enable
- Hiring Manager : Enable
- Automated Notifications : Candidate Notifications
- External Candidate Notification : AP Interview to be Scheduled – External <you will see this option only if you have followed step mentioned in this article » Learn Content Library In Oracle Recruiting Cloud (ORC)>
Click on Continue button. Click on Save and Close button.
Scroll below to States for Phase: Interview and Selection and you will see following eight states, these are exactly same as per our requirement so no action is required. You can add Reason Group for last two states as described earlier.
- Interview to be Scheduled
- Interview Scheduled
- Interview Completed
- Feedback Requested
- Feedback Completed
- Selected for Offer
- Rejected by Employer
- Withdrawn by Candidate
Working on fourth phase : Offer
Click on the States hyperlink to activate Offer phase. This phase is slightly special. You will notice a lock icon at the lower right corner of this phase, which denotes that you can’t add or remove any new state in this phase. It has following nine delivered states (again matching our requirement)
- To be Created
- Draft
- Pending Approval
- Approval Rejected
- Approved
- Extended
- Accepted
- Rejected by Employer
- Withdrawn by Candidate
Scroll below to Phase Details: Offer section and you will notice that this phase is already set to Mandatory, which means you cannot bypass this phase in the candidate selection process. You will also notice following two new addition in this section
- Bypass Extending Offer : No
- Allow Candidate Reason and Comment on Withdraw : No
Purpose of above two fields are self-explanatory. We will not discuss it. If you wish, you can add the Reason Group for last two states as we have been doing for other phases.
Optionally, you can also send an automated email to candidates if they get rejected by employer. We have created a content item “AP_RJTD_BY_EMPLR“, which you can associate here.
Working on fifth phase : Background Check
This is a completely custom phase we created in this article and has following five states.
- Background Screening – In Progress
- Background Screening – Pass
- Background Screening – Fail
- Rejected by Employer
- Withdrawn by Candidate
There are different partners who provide background verification service and you can integrate them with ORC. We will discuss that separately in any other article. For now we assume that partner is already configured and enabled to avail background Check service.
Steps to initiate background check
Scroll below to States for Phase: Background Check section and perform below steps
- Click on the Actions menu against state Background Screening – In Progress
- Select option Add Action
- Choose option Initiate Background Check
On the Action: Initiate Background Check page click on Save and Close button.
As we have followed earlier, you can add Reason Group for last two states in the Background Check phase.
Working on Sixth phase : HR
This is another special phase, you can’t add or remove any new state and this phase should always be the last phase in the candidate selection process. We are not doing any action on this phase. With this we have gone through each phase one by one and reviewed states within the phase.
Activate Candidate Selection Process
On the top right corner click on the Edit Process Properties button. Here you will have opportunity to activate and contextualize the CSP. In the Basic Info section change the status to Active.
scroll below to Context Information section and you will find following five heads to contextualize CSP.
- Recruiting Type
- Organization
- Location
- Job Family
- Job Function
Click on the +Add button against Recruiting Type and you will have option to choose different recruiting types configured in your pod. You can also default the CSP for that recruiting type by selecting the Default value as shown below in the screenshot.
For this article, we will not contextualize the CSP, rather we will keep it open for all. Click on the Save and Close button to active and complete Candidate Selection Process configuration.
Candidate Selection Process : Questions and Clarifications
In this article, we have covered the Candidate Selection Process (CSP) in detail. We began by copying a delivered template and then configuring our own phase with several states within it. We explored how to send automated job notifications to recruiters, managers, and candidates, as well as the process of initiating background checks and other aspects of the CSP.
The Candidate Selection Process is a prerequisite for creating a Job Requisition Template, which is discussed in this article » Learn to configure a Job Requisition Template. We recommend to read this article to see how a candidate selection process is utilized in the Job Requisition Template.
If you are planning to take the Oracle Recruitment Cloud certification 1z0-1069-23, we highly recommend thoroughly studying this article as it will present several questions challenging your knowledge of the CSP.
If you have any questions related to the Candidate Selection Process, please post them on hcmfolks.com, a community of Oracle Cloud HCM professionals from around the world who share a common goal of helping each other unconditionally. You can also register an account and showcase your talents on the platform.
