How to create and send offer letters in the Applicant Tracking System

Objectives:

Creating and sending offer letters is a crucial step in the hiring process. This guide will walk you through how to create and send offer letters through the Applicant Portal, a part of the AllianceHCM Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Using these build-in offer letter capabilities ensures a streamlined and efficient experience for both HR professionals and applicants.

What's in this article?

This guide includes an overview of managing offer letters within the Applicant Tracking System, facilitating a seamless transition from candidate to employee. That includes:

💡Good to know: Your company must be using the AllianceHCM Applicant Tracking System (ATS) in order to have access to and use the built-in offer letter capabilities.

AllianceHCM tips: Keep an eye out for tips from our experts!

Creating an Offer Letter Template

1. Sign into AllPay. From your dashboard, hover to open the Onboard menu, then look at the Applicants column and select Offer Letter Templates.
2. Click on the Add New icon to start a new offer letter template. Then name the template in the Template Name field. You can choose whether to use the Applicant Filter for the template.
3. Click Save.
4. Click on Edit Offer Letter Template to open a window to paste in existing offer letter template copy (for example, from a Word file you may have) or to compose an offer letter from scratch.

Sign on and navigate to Offer Letter Templates

Click on Add New and then name your new template, then choose an applicant filter if desired

Save

Click on Edit Offer Letter Template ...

... to open a new window where you can paste in an existing offer letter template from something like Word or create a template from scratch

Customizing the offer letter with fields

Once you've created an offer letter template, you can use Display Fields to have information automatically fill in and customize the letter template.

Use the Display Field drop-down at the bottom of the composition window to insert fields like applicant name, position, and location.

Custom Fields are fields that need to be filled out manually before sending the offer letter, such as salary details or start date.

Add an Electronic Signature at the bottom of the offer letter for the applicant’s electronic signature.

Once your template is complete, click the Save button in the bottom right corner.

Configuring your ATS to send offer letters

There are three configurations in AllPay you'll want to make (or check) before you can send offer letters to an applicant.

1. Check your Applicants columns. Within the Applicants tab, you want to make sure you have the Offer Status column visible. If you don't, click on the Edit Table Columns icon in the top right and ensure Offer Status is selected and then Save at the bottom of the list.
   
   
   
2. Ensure you have Applicant Flags for offers. Within the ATS, Applicant Flags are important for tracking the progress of applicants. Make sure you have a flag set up for offers by going to the Portal Setup tab, selecting your portal, and then scrolling down to the Flags section. You can click on the Add New icon in the top right of the section if you need to create a new flag to indicate offer letters have been submitted to the applicants.
   
   
3. Ensure you have an Applicant Filter for offers. These Applicant Filters help to dictate that an applicant is in the right stage to receive an offer letter. Make sure you have the right filter in the ATS by going to the Filters tab and looking for a filter with the Has one of the Flags field set to correspond with the offer flag you're using in the previous step. If you don't have one, then click on click on Add New. Make sure you have the Filter Name filled out and the Has one of the Flags field includes the appropriate flag. Then Save.
   AllianceHCM tip: Start typing the word "offer" in the Has one of the Flags field and then your flag will pop up as an option you can select.
   
   

Sending an offer letter to an applicant

1. Select an applicant to send the offer letter to. Find all the applicants in the Onboard menu under Applicants. The applicant you're going to send the offer letter to must already have the appropriate flag on their profile, which means they're in the stage where they can receive an offer letter.
2. Click on an applicant's name to open their Profile details from the right side. Then click on the applicant's Conversations tab.
   AllianceHCM tip: Depending on your permissions in AllPay, you can also use the dropdown arrow next to the applicant's name in their Profile to click on Send Offer Letter from the list of applicant actions.
3. From the Conversations tab, click on the Send Offer Letter button.
   AllianceHCM tip: If you get a warning message that says "No Offer Letter Templates were found for this applicant," it means your Applicant Filters aren't configured properly. See the above section on Configuring your ATS to send offer letters to make sure your filters are set up correctly, and then try again.
   
4. Select your prepared template, and complete any required custom fields or make any more edits that you'd like to the offer letter.
5. When the letter is complete, click on the Create Offer Letter Message button.
6. The Offer Letter Message is the email that will go to the applicant with a link to the offer letter. Make any changes you'd like here.
7. After ensuring the message is ready, click on the Send Offer Letter button. This will send the offer letter directly to the applicant’s email.
8. After you send the offer letter, you can view the information in the applicant's Conversations tab, see the status of the offer on the applicant's record and in the Offer Status column of the Applicants tab, and download the signed letter under the applicant's Documents tab.

Navigate to the Applicants tab

From the Applicants view ...

Click on an applicant's name to open their Profile details, then click on Conversations

Click on the Send Offer Letter button

Select your template, and complete any required custom fields by clicking on them and entering the appropriate information. You can also edit the message directly in the window.

When the letter is complete, click on Create Offer Letter Message

Then you can choose to customize the email message that will go to the applicant and will include the link to the offer letter.

When the message is ready, click on Send Offer Letter

After you send the offer letter, you can view the information in the applicant's Conversations tab

You can see the status of the offer on the applicant's record

Signed offer letters are available for download under the applicant's Documents tab

Receiving and managing offer letters

The Offer Letter Message goes to applicants as an email message, and it includes a link to the offer letter. When the candidate clicks on the link, they'll view the offer letter in the Applicant Portal.

You can see a sample of the applicant's view of the email here, which includes custom fields and display fields filled in.

The applicant electronically signs the offer letter by entering their initials and selecting whether to accept or decline the offer.

Once the applicant clicks on the Submit Decision button and then confirms their decision by clicking on Submit, their Offer Status will update in the Applicants view within the Applicant Tracking System. You can also use the Offer Status filter in the Applicants view to see all applicants at various stages of the offer process.

The applicant can download their signed offer letter, and the signed offer letter is also under the applicant's Documents tab for HR staff or appropriate managers to view and download.

Once the applicant becomes an employee, the signed offer letter gets moved to the employee's Documents tab in the HR module for ongoing reference.