How can I create workflow rules?

Workflow Rules in Zoho Recruit, are a set of actions (alerts, tasks and field updates) that are executed when certain specified conditions are met. These rules automate the process of sending email alerts, assigning tasks and updating certain fields of a record when a rule is triggered.

The steps to create a workflow rule are divided into four parts:

Specify the basic details of the rule

  1. Click Setup > Automation > Workflow > Rules.
  2. In the Workflow Rules page, click Create Rule.
  3. In the New Rule page, do the following:
    • Select the Module to which the rule applies from the drop-down list.
    • Enter the Rule Name.
    • Select the Status check box if you want the rule to be active.
    • Enter the Description for the workflow rule.
  4. Click Next.

Select rule trigger option

There are two options based on which the rule will be triggered for a record that matched the rule criteria. One of these options need to be selected when you create a workflow rule and you cannot change it later by editing the rule. The two options from the Execute based on drop-down list are:

  • A Record Action - Rules can be triggered when records are created, edited, created/edited, deleted or a specific fields are updated.

  • A Date Field's Value - For all the records matching the rule criteria, rule will be triggered either monthly or yearly based on the value of the date field that is selected. This option is available only in the Enterprise Edition.

Execute Based on Record Action

When new candidates are created in Zoho Recruit you may want to automatically send an email or a series of emails at set intervals. You may also want to create tasks for these new candidates. Also, sometimes when specific fields are updated, you may want to trigger a workflow. This execution option lets you specify an action based on which workflow rules will be triggered.

  1. Select one of the following:
    • Create: Executes the rule when records are created.
    • Edit: Executes the rule when existing record are modified.
    • Create or Edit: Executes the rule when records are created or existing records are modified.
    • Field update: Executes the rule when the values of the specified fields are modified in a record.
    • Delete: Executes the rule when certain records are deleted. Only Workflow Alerts and Webhooks can be associated for such a rule. The action includes:
      • Deleting a record from the Details Page.
      • Deleting from the List View (One by one or in bulk).
      • Using the Mass Delete feature.
      • Deleting from a record's Related List. For example, deleting a contact under a Client.
    • Change status: Executes the rule when specified field(s) are changed. This rule is applicale only for Job Openings and Candidates module.
    • When Candidate is associated: Executes the rule when a candidate is associated to job opening. This rule is applicale only for Candidates module.
  2. When you select the Field update option, do the following:
    • Choose the field name from the drop-down lists.
    • Choose one of the following:
      • Execute the rule when all the selected fields are updated.
      • Execute the rule when any selected field is updated.
  3. Click Next.

Execute based on Date Field's Value

You may want to get an email reminder a week before a candidate's interview is scheduled, or may want to send an email to the customers reminding them of subscription renewals. In these cases, it is not necessary that the records should be created or edited for the rule to get triggered. It is plainly based on the value in the date fields. This execution option lets you pick a date field from a record and allows you to define the day for the rule to be triggered. Please note, with this option, a maximum of 3000 records will be triggered every hour. If there are more than 3000 records, the remaining records will be executed in the next hour. Please note, this option is available only in the Enterprise Edition.

  1. Choose a Date field from the drop-down list. 
    All the date fields in the module for which the rule is being created will be listed.
  2. Choose On, Before or After from the drop-down list to set the Date of Execution. 
    The rule can be set to trigger a maximum of 20 days Before or After the Date field specified.
  3. Specify the time of execution in hours and minutes.
    In case of Date & Time field, there is an option to trigger the rule based on the time in the field value.
  4. Select the Execution cycle as Once, Every Month or Every Year.
  5. Click Next.
Note:
  • For a rule to be triggered using the Field Update option, both the rule criteria and the execution criteria must be true.
  • If your Zoho Recruit account is downgraded or the subscription expired, the workflow rules will be disabled. If you renew the subscription, you will need to manually enable the rules.
  • When the Delete option is selected as the execution criteria, a workflow rule will not be triggered if records are deleted from the Recycle Bin.
  • You can configure and associate only workflow alerts and webhooks to a workflow rule with the execution criteria as Delete.
  • Workflow Rules will be triggered when records are modified using Mass Update, Macros and when ownership of records are changed.

Set the rule criteria

  1. In the Rule Criteria section, specify the rule criteria details.
  2. Click Add Criteria to add multiple criteria.
  3. Click Next.

Associate instant and/or time based actions

  1. In the Actions section, do the following:
  2. Note that you cannot save a rule without creating either an instant or a time based action.
    • Create Instant Action by associating alerts, tasks, and field updates. See Also Create Instant Actions
    • Create Time Based Actions and associate alerts, tasks, and field updates. See Also Create Time Based Actions 
      A maximum of 5 time based actions can be created.
  3. Click Save.